Judicial and Bar Council

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The Judicial and Bar Council of the Philippines is a body that recommends appointees for vacancies that may arise in the composition of the Supreme Court and other lower courts.

1 Composition
2 Function
3 Notes
4 References

[edit] Composition

The Council is composed of a representative of the Integrated Bar, a professor of law, a retired member of the Supreme Court, and a representative of the private sector. They are the "regular" members, as opposed to the Secretary of Justice and a representative of Congress who are the ex-officio members. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is the ex-officio chairman,^[1] while the Clerk of the Supreme Court shall serve as the ex-officio secretary.^[2]

The regular members would be nominated by the President with the consent of the Commission on Appointments for a term of four years. However, since the terms will be staggered, the first set of members would a different lengths of service: the representative of the Integrated Bar shall serve for four years, the professor of law for three years, the retired Justice for two years, and the representative of the private sector for one year.^[3] The following members shall be given the full four-year term.

[edit] Function

The function of the Council is to recommend to the president of possible appointees to the Judiciary.^[4]

The president shall choose from among those nominated, although she may ask the Council to nominate somebody else and add it to the list. The person then chosen by the president then becomes a member of the Judiciary, and is not anymore reviewed by the Commission on Appointments. This is to prevent politicking and horse-trading among political parties.

Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban said that the Council's principal objective is to attract the best and brightest to the judiciary and to make them remain there.