Judicial and Bar Council

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

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.

In 2012, a petition at the Supreme Court questioned on who should occupy the seat allocated for Congress. Currently, there are two members of Congress in the council: the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Justice and the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights.^[4] The Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that there should only be one member of the JBC from Congress; the court left to Congress whom among the two would be its representative to the JBC.^[5]

The council is the only government body that has members from all three branches of the government, excluding ad hoc and advisory bodies.

Current membership

The members of the Judicial and Bar Council are:

Ex officio chairman

• Maria Lourdes Sereno, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court

Ex officio members

• Leila de Lima - Secretary of Justice
• Francis Escudero - incumbent Senator and Chairman, Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights
• Niel Tupas, Jr. - incumbent Congressman and Chairman, House Committee on Justice

Regular members

• Ma. Milagros Fernan-Cayosa - Integrated Bar representative, a private practitioner
• Jose Mejia - representative from the academe
• Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez - retired Associate Justice of the Supreme Court
• Aurora Santiago-Lagman - representative from the private sector^[6]

As a matter of tradition, the two (2) senior associate justices of the Supreme Court also take part in the JBC deliberations.

Function

The function of the Council is to recommend to the president of possible appointees to the Judiciary.^[7]

The president shall choose from among those nominated, before the president may ask the Council to nominate somebody else and add it to the list, but this not allowed anymore. 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.

Prior to the creation of the JBC, judges and justices were appointed by the president as per and the 1973 constitution, and with confirmation by the Commission on Appointments as per the 1935 constitution.

Former 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.

Gallery

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  Judicial and Bar Council office

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  Logo of the Supreme Court

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  JBC building

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  Entrance to the JBC offices

Members

The members of the JBC were:^[8]

Chief Justice

Secretaries of Justice

• Sedfrey Gonzalez (December 10, 1987 to December 18, 1989)
• Franklin Drilon (January 8, 1990 to July 2, 1992)
• Silvestre Bello (July 16, 1991 to February 3, 1992)
• Eduardo Montenegro (February 17, 1992 to June 1, 1992)
• Franklin Drilon (July 22, 1992 to December 14, 1994)
• Demetrio Demetria (January 18, 1995 to March 17, 1995)
• Teofisto Guingona, Jr. (May 24, 1995 to January 28, 1998)
• Silvestre Bello (February 18, 1998 to June 30, 1998)
• Serafin Cuevas (July 1, 1998 to February 10, 2000)
• Artemio Tuquero (February 11, 2000 to January 20, 2001)
• Hernando Perez (January 23, 2001 to January 15, 2003)
• Simeon Datumanong (January 22, 2003 to December 2003)
• Merceditas Gutierrez (January 28, 2004 to August 31, 2004)
• Raul Gonzalez (September 1, 2004 to May 30, 2009)
• Agnes Devanadera (June 8, 2009 to February 28, 2010)
• Alberto Agra (March 1, 2010 to June 30, 2010)
• Leila de Lima (July 1, 2010 to present)

Representative from the Senate

Ordinarily the Chairman of the Committee on Justice.

• Wigberto Tañada (March 2, 1988 to May 21, 1990)
• Raul Roco (September 30, 1992 to March 3, 1993)
• Alberto Romulo (April 14, 1993 to August 1, 1995)
• Marcelo Fernan (August 2, 1995 to December 31, 1996)
• Raul Roco (January 1, 1997 to July 30, 1998)
• Renato Cayetano (July 31, 1998 to January 31, 2000)
• Miriam Defensor Santiago (January 20, 2001 to February 14, 2001)
• Renato Cayetano (May 16, 2001 to August 28, 2001)
• Francis Pangilinan (August 29, 2001 to November 23, 2008)
• Francis Escudero (November 24, 2008 to 2013)
• Aquilino Pimentel III (July 2013 to present)

Representative from the House of Representatives

Ordinarily the Chairman of the Committee on Justice.

• Rogaciano Mercado (December 10, 1987 to February 23, 1989)
• Isidro Zarraga (July 31, 1989 to August 12, 1992)
• Pablo P. Garcia (August 26, 1992 to March 8, 1995)
• Isidro Zarraga (June 28, 1995 to June 30, 1998)
• Alfredo Abueg (July 31, 1998 to November 29, 2000)
• Henry Lanot (December 14, 2000 to June 30, 2001)
• Alan Peter Cayetano (August 8, 2001 to March 3, 2003)
• Marcelino Libanan (March 4, 2003 to August 8, 2003)
• Simeon Datumanong (August 9, 2004 to June 30, 2007)
• Matias Defensor, Jr. (August 8, 2007 to June 30, 2010)
• Niel Tupas, Jr. (July 29, 2010 to present)

Retired member of the Supreme Court

• Nestor Alampay (December 10, 1987 to December 10, 1989)
• Lorenzo Relova (January 8, 1990 to July 9, 1993)
• Jose Campos, Jr. (September 22, 1993 to July 9, 1997)
• Regino Hermosisima, Jr. (November 24, 1997 to present)

Representative from the academe

• Rodolfo Palma (December 10, 1987 to July 9, 1994)
• Cezar Peralejo (February 8, 1995 to July 9, 1998)
• Alfredo Marigomen (July 21, 1998 to July 9, 2002)
• Amado Dimayuga (July 9, 2003 to July 9, 2010)
• Jose Meija (April 28, 2011 to present)

Representative from the Integrated Bar

• Leon Garcia, Jr. (June 17, 1988 to July 9, 1991)
• Presbitero Velasco, Jr. (January 7, 1993 to March 22, 1995)
• Francisco B. Santiago (August 1, 1995 to July 8, 2003)
• Conrado Castro (July 9, 2003 ro July 9, 2011)
• Maria Milagros Nolasco Fernan-Cayosa (May 2, 2011 to present)

Representative from the private sector

• Ofelia Santos (December 10, 1987 to July 9, 1992)
• Teresita Cruz Sison (December 10, 1992 to July 9, 2004)
• Raoul Victorino (July 12, 2005 to July 9, 2008)
• Aurora Lagman (October 8, 2008 to present)

Notes

See also

• Judicial nominating commission

References

• Chan Robles Virtual Law Library: Article 8
• Atty. Rita Linda V. Jimeno. "Attracting the best and the brightest". Retrieved 2006-08-08. 

External links

• Official website of the Judicial and Bar Council
• Official Gazette of The Philippines JBC Brifer

See also

• Supreme Court of the Philippines
• Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
• Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
• Constitution of the Philippines

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