CHAPTER II Supreme Court Section 9.

The Supreme Court; quorum of the court; designation of Justices

of the Court of Appeals and District Judges to sit in the Supreme Court; number of Justices necessary to
reach a decision. – The Supreme Court of the Philippines shall consist of a Chief Justice and ten
Associates Justices, which shall sit in banc in the hearing and determination of all cases within its
jurisdiction. The presence of six Justices shall be necessary to constitute a quorum except when the
judgment of the lower court imposes the death penalty, in which case the presence of eight Justices shall
be necessary to constitute a quorum. In the absence of a quorum, the Court shall stand ipso facto
adjourned until such time as the requisite number shall be present, and a memorandum showing this
fact shall be inserted by the clerk in the minutes of the court. If on account of illness, absence, or
incapacity upon any of the grounds mentioned in Section [O]ne, Rule One [H]undred and [T]hirty-seven
of the Rules of Court, of any of the Justices of the Supreme Court, or whenever, by reason of temporary
disability of any Justice thereof, or vacancies occurring therein, the requisite number of Justices
necessary to constitute a quorum or to render a judgment in any given case, as heretofore provided, is
not present, the President of the Philippines, upon the recommendation of the Chief Justice, may
designate such number of Justices of the Court of Appeals or District Judges as may be necessary, to sit
temporarily as Justices of the Supreme Court in order to form a quorum, or until a judgment in said case
is reached: Provided, however, That no Justice of the Court of Appeals or District Judge may be
designated to act in any case in the decision of which he has taken part. The concurrence of at least six
Justices of the Court shall be necessary for the pronouncement of a judgment. However, for the purpose
of declaring a law of a treaty unconstitutional, at least eight Justices must concur. When the necessary
majority, as herein provided, to declare a law or a treaty unconstitutional cannot be had, the Court shall
so declare, and in such case the validity or constitutionality of the Act or treaty involved shall be deemed
upheld. Whenever the judgment of the lower court imposes the death penalty, the case shall be
determined by eight Justices of the Court. When eight Justices fail to reach a decision as to the propriety
of the imposition of the death penalty, the penalty next lower in degree shall be imposed. (As amended
by RA No. 5440, September 9, 1968.) Section 10. Place of holding sessions. – The Supreme Court shall
hold its sessions in the City of Manila. Whenever the public interest so requires, it may hold its sessions
in any other place within the Philippines. Section 11. Appointment and compensation of Justice of the
Supreme Court. – The Chief Justice and the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court shall be appointed
by the President of the Philippines. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall receive a compensation
of seventy-fi ve thousand pesos per annum, and 25 LAWS ON THE SUPREME COURT REPUBLIC ACT NO.
296 each Associate Justice shall receive a compensation of sixty thousand pesos per annum. The Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court shall be so designated in his commission; and the Associate Justice shall
have precedence according to the dates of their respective commissions, or when the commissions of
two or more of them bear the same date, according to the order in which their commissions may have
been issued by the President of the Philippines: Provided, however, That a member of the Supreme
Court appointed to any other branch of the government shall receive as compensation from the branch
not less than his compensation in the Supreme Court. Any such member who is reappointed to that
Court after rendering service in any other branch of the government shall retain the precedence to
which he is entitled under his original appointment and his service in the Court shall, to all intents and
purposes, be considered as continuous and uninterrupted. (As amended by PD No. 974, August 9, 1976.)
Section 12. Vacancy in offi ce of Chief Justice. – In case of a vacancy in the offi ce of Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court or of his inability to perform the duties and powers of his offi ce, they shall devolve upon
the Associate Justice who is fi rst in precedence, until such disability is removed, or another Chief Justice
is appointed and duly qualifi ed. This provision shall apply to every Associate Justice who succeeds to the
offi ce of Chief Justice. Section 13. Authority of Supreme Court over administration of its own aff airs. –
The Supreme Court shall have exclusive administrative control of all matters aff ecting the internal
operations of the Court. Section 14. Status of subordinates. – Except as regards the appointment and
compensation of the Reporter, Clerk, and such private secretaries to the individual Justices as the Court
may authorize, all subordinates and employees of the Supreme Court shall be governed by the
provisions of the Civil Service Law; but the Court may, by resolution, remove any of them for cause.
Section 15. Clerk of the Supreme Court; his appointment; his compensation; his bond. – The Supreme
Court of the Philippines shall appoint a Clerk of Court who shall exercise powers and perform duties in
regard to all matters within its jurisdiction, as are heretofore exercised and performed by the Clerk of the
Supreme Court of the Philippines; and in the exercise of those powers and in the performance of those
duties the Clerk shall be under the direction of the Court. No person may be appointed Clerk of the
Supreme Court unless he has been engaged for fi ve years or more in the practice of law, or has been
clerk or deputy clerk of a court of record for the same period of time. The clerk shall have the rank of a
bureau director and shall receive an annual compensation of seven thousand and two hundred pesos.
Before entering upon the discharge of the duties of his offi ce, he shall fi le a bond in the amount of six
thousand pesos, such bond to be approved by the Treasurer of the Philippines. The bond shall be kept in
the Offi ce of the Treasurer of the Philippines and entered in his books, the same being subject to
inspection by interested parties. The Clerk of Court may require any of his deputies or assistants to give
an adequate bond as security against loss by reason of any wrongdoings or gross negligence on the part
of such deputies or assistants. Section 16. Vacation period. – The regular sessions of the Supreme Court
may, in the discretion of the Court, be suspended for the period beginning with the fi rst of April and
closing with the fi fteenth of June of each year, which, in case of such suspension, shall be known as the
Supreme Court vacation. During vacation at least one of the Justices, to be designated in such manner as
the Court by resolution shall direct, shall remain on duty. Section 17. Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. –
The Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction over cases aff ecting ambassadors, other public
ministers, and consuls; and original and exclusive jurisdiction in petitions for the issuance of writs of
certiorari, prohibition and mandamus against the Court of Appeals. 26 2019 AMENDMENTS TO THE 1997
RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE (A.M. NO. 19-10-20-SC) In the following cases, the Supreme Court shall
exercise original and concurrent jurisdiction with Courts of First Instance: 1. In petition for the issuance
of writs of certiorari, prohibition, mandamus, quo warranto, and habeas corpus; and 2. In actions
brought to prevent and restrain violations of law concerning monopolies and combinations in restraint of
trade. The Supreme Court shall have exclusive jurisdiction to review, revise, reverse, modify or affi rm on
appeal, as the law or rules of court may provide, fi nal judgments and decrees of inferior courts as herein
provided, in (1) All criminal cases involving off enses for which the penalty imposed is death or life
imprisonment; and those involving other off enses which, although not so punished, arose out of the
same occurrence or which may have been committed by the accused on the same occasion, as that
giving rise to the more serious off ense, regardless of whether the accused are charged as principals,
accomplices or accessories, or whether they have been tried jointly or separately; (2) All cases involving
petitions for naturalization or denaturalization; and (3) All decisions of the Auditor General, if the
appellant is a private person or entity. The Supreme Court shall further have exclusive jurisdiction to
review, revise, reverse, modify or affi rm on certiorari as the law or rules of court may provide, fi nal
judgments and decrees of inferior courts as herein provided, in (1) All cases in which the constitutionality
or validity of any treaty, law, ordinance, or executive order or regulation is in question; (2) All cases
involving the legality of any tax, impost, assessment or toil, or any penalty imposed in relation thereto;
(3) All cases in which the jurisdiction of any inferior court is in issue; (4) All other cases in which only
errors or questions of law are involved: Provided, however, That if, in addition to constitutional, tax or
jurisdictional questions, the cases mentioned in the three next preceding paragraphs also involve
questions of fact or mixed questions of fact and law, the aggrieved party shall appeal to the Court of
Appeals; and the fi nal judgment or decision of the latter may be reviewed, revised, reversed, modifi ed
or affi rmed by the Supreme Court on writ of certiorari; and (5) Final awards, judgments, decisions, or
orders of the Commission on Elections, Court of Tax Appeals, Court of Industrial Relations, the Public
Service Commission and the Workmen’s Compensation Commission. (As amended by RA No. 5440,
September 9, 1968.) Section 18. Regular terms of Supreme Court. – The Supreme Court shall hold at
Manila two regular terms for the hearing of cases, the fi rst commencing on the second Monday of
January and the second on the last Monday of June. Each regular term shall continue to and include the
day before the opening of the next regular term. The Offi ce of the Clerk of the Supreme Court shall
always be open for the transaction of business, except upon lawful holidays, and the Court shall always
be open for the transaction of such interlocutory business as may be done by a single member thereof.
The sessions of the Court for the hearing of cases shall be held on such days in the week, and for such
length of time, as the Court by its rules may order. 27 LAWS ON THE SUPREME COURT REPUBLIC ACT NO.
296 Section 19. Preservation of order in Supreme Court. – The sheriff of the City of Manila or of the
province where the Supreme Court may be in session shall, in person or by deputy, attend the sessions
of the Supreme Court, enforce proper decorum in the court room, and preserve good order in its
precincts. To this end he shall carry into eff ect the rules or orders of the Court made in this behalf, or of
any judge thereof, and shall arrest any person there disturbing the court or violating the peace. Section
20. Service of process of Supreme Court. – Writs, processes, and orders of the Supreme Court, or of any
justice thereof, shall be served or executed by the sheriff of the City of Manila or of the province where
the Supreme Court may be in session, or by any offi cer having authority to execute the writs, processes,
or orders of a Court of First Instance. Section 21. Form of decisions—When opinion to be reported. –
When a decision is rendered by the Supreme Court, a written opinion or memorandum exemplifying the
ground and scope of the judgment of the court shall be fi led with the Clerk of the Court and shall be by
him recorded in an opinion book. When the Court shall deem a decision to be of suffi cient importance
to require publication, the Clerk shall furnish a certifi ed copy thereof to the Reporter. Dissenting
opinions shall be published when the justices writing such opinions shall so direct. Section 22.
Preparation of opinions for publication. – The Reporter shall prepare and publish with each reported
decision a concise synopsis of the facts necessary to a clear understanding of the case and shall state the
names of counsel, and concisely the material and controverted points made, and the authority therein
cited by them, and shall prefi x to each case a syllabus, which shall be confi ned, as near as may be, to
points of law decided by the Court on the facts of the case, without a recital therein of the facts. Section
23. General make-up of volumes. – Each volume of the decisions of the Supreme Court shall contain a
table of the cases reported and of the cases cited in the opinions and a full and alphabetical index of the
subject matters of the volume prepared by the Reporter, shall contain not less than seven hundred and fi
fty pages of printed matter, shall be well printed, upon good paper, and well bound in the best law sheep
substantially in the manner of the reports of the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States,
and shall be styled “Philippine Reports,” and numbered consecutively, in the order of the volumes
published. CHAPTER III Court of Appeals Section 24. The Court of Appeals. – The Court of Appeals of the
Philippines shall consist of a Presiding Justice and forty-four Associate Justices who shall be appointed by
the President of the Philippines. The Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeals shall be so designated in
his commission, and the other Justices of the Court shall have precedence according to the date of their
respective commissions, or when the commissions of two or more of them shall bear the same date,
according to the order in which their commissions have been issued by the President of the Philippines.
Provided, however, That a member of the Court of Appeals appointed to any other branch of the
government shall receive as compensation from that branch not less than his compensation in the Court
of Appeals. Any such member who is reappointed to that Court after rendering service in any other
branch of the government shall retain the precedence to which he is entitled under his original
appointment and his service in the Court shall, to all intents and purpose, be considered as continuous
and uninterrupted. The Court of Appeals shall, as a body sit in banc but it may sit in fi fteen divisions of
three justices each. The fi fteen divisions may sit at the same time. (As amended by PD No. 1482, June
10, 1978.) 28 2019 AMENDMENTS TO THE 1997 RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE (A.M. NO. 19-10-20-SC)
Section 25. Presiding Justice to preside sessions of Court. – If the Presiding Justice is present in any
session of the Court, whether in banc or in division, he shall preside. In his absence, the Associate Justice
attending who is fi rst in precedence in accordance with the preceding section of this Act, shall preside.
Section 26. Vacancy in Offi ce of Presiding Justice. – In case of a vacancy in the Offi ce of Presiding Justice
of the Court of Appeals, or in the event of his inability to perform the duties and powers of his offi ce,
they shall devolve upon the Associate Justice of the Court who is fi rst in precedence, until such disability
is removed, or another Presiding Justice is appointed and has qualifi ed. This provision and the provision
of the preceding section shall apply to every Associate Justice who succeeds to the offi ce of the
Presiding Justice. Section 27. Designation of District Judges to sit in the Court of Appeals. – In case of
vacancy in the offi ce of any one of the Associate Justices of the Court of Appeals, or in the event that
any one of said Associate Justices is absent, or disabled, or incapacitated for any reason, to perform the
duties and powers of his offi ce, the President of the Philippines, upon the recommendation of the
Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeals, may designate a District Judge to sit temporarily in the Court of
Appeals, until such disability is removed or the vacancy is permanently fi lled. However, no District Judge
so appointed shall act in the Court of Appeals in any case in which his ruling or decision is the subject of
review. Section 28. Qualifi cations and compensations of Justices of Court of Appeals. – The Justices of
the Court of Appeals shall have the same qualifi cations as those provided in the Constitution for
members of the Supreme Court. The Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeals shall receive an annual
compensation of sixteen thousand pesos, and each Associate Justice, an annual compensation of fi fteen
thousand pesos. (As amended by RA No. 1186, June 20, 1954.) Section 29. Jurisdiction of the Court of
Appeals. – The Court of Appeals shall have exclusive appellate jurisdiction over all cases, actions, and
proceedings, not enumerated in [S]ection [S]eventeen of this Act, properly brought to it, except fi nal
judgments or decisions of Courts of First Instance rendered after trial on the merits in the exercise of
appellate jurisdiction, which affi rm in full the judgment or decision of a municipal or city court, in which
cases the aggrieved party may elevate the matter to the Court of Appeals only on petition for review, to
which the Court of Appeals shall give due course only when the petition shows prima facie that the court
has committed errors of fact or of fact and law that would warrant reversal or modifi cation of the
judgment or decision sought to be reviewed. The decision of the Court of Appeals shall be fi nal:
Provided, however, That the Supreme Court in its discretion may, in any case involving a question of law,
upon petition of the party aggrieved by the decision and under rules and conditions that it may
prescribe, require by certiorari that the said case be certifi ed to it for review and determination, as if the
case had been brought before it on appeal. (As amended by RA No. 5433, June 27, 1968.) Section 30.
Original jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals. – The Court of Appeals shall have original jurisdiction to
issue writs of mandamus, prohibition, injunction, certiorari, habeas corpus, and all other auxiliary writs
and process in aid of its appellate jurisdiction. Section 31. Transfer of cases from Supreme Court and
Court of Appeals to proper court. – All cases which may be erroneously brought to the Supreme Court or
to the Court of Appeals shall be sent to the proper court, which shall hear the same, as if it had originally
been brought before it. Section 32. Place of holding sessions. – The Court of Appeals shall have its
permanent offi ce in the City of Manila. Upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Justice, with the
certifi cation of the Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeals and when public interest demands, the
Supreme Court of the Philippines may authorize any division or divisions of the Court to hold sessions
periodically at such time and place 29 LAWS ON THE SUPREME COURT REPUBLIC ACT NO. 296 outside
the City of Manila as the Supreme Court may determine for the purpose of hearing and deciding cases
originating from a specifi c group of judicial districts. Copy of the rules or resolution for the holding of
sessions outside Manila shall be sent to the Secretary of Justice, who, upon receipt thereof, shall make
the necessary arrangements with the provincial or national offi cers concerned to provide the divisions
with appropriate halls, offi ce spaces and accommodations for the holding of said sessions. (As amended
by RA No. 5204, June 15, 1968.) Section 33. Quorum of the Court. – Twenty-four Justices of the Court of
Appeals shall constitute a quorum for its sessions in banc; and three Justices shall constitute a quorum
for the sessions of a division. In the absence of a quorum, the Court or the division shall stand ipso facto
adjourned until such time as the requisite number shall be present, and a memorandum showing this
fact shall be inserted by the clerk in the minutes of the Court. The affi rmative vote of twenty-four
Justices is necessary to pass a resolution of the Court in banc. The unanimous vote of the three Justices
of a division shall be necessary for the pronouncement of a judgment. In the event that the three
Justices do not reach a unanimous vote, the Presiding Justice shall designate two Justices from among
the other members of the Court to sit temporarily with them, forming a division of fi ve justices, and the
concurrence of a majority of such division shall be necessary for the pronouncement of a judgment. (As
amended by PD No. 1482, June 10, 1978.) Every decision of the Court of Appeals shall continue complete
fi ndings of fact on all issues properly raised before it. All cases submitted to a division of the Court of
Appeals for decision shall be decided or terminated therein within the term in which they were heard
and submitted for decision: Provided, however, That when a case is complicated or otherwise attended
with special circumstances which demand additional time for its study or consideration, the Court of
Appeals, sitting in banc, may, upon petition of the division concerned, grant an additional period not
exceeding three months for its disposition or termination. Section 34. Distribution of cases between
divisions. – All the cases of the Court of Appeals shall be allotted between the diff erent divisions thereof
for trial and decision. Whenever in any criminal case submitted to a division the said division should be
of the opinion that the penalty of death or life imprisonment should be imposed, the said Court shall
refrain from entering judgment thereon and shall forthwith certify the case to the Supreme Court for fi
nal determination, as if the case had been brought before it on appeal. Section 35. Power of the court to
adopt rules. – The Court of Appeals, sitting in banc, shall make proper orders or rules to govern the
allotment of cases between the diff erent divisions, the constitution of such divisions, the regular
rotation of Justices between them, the fi lling of vacancies occurring therein, and other matters relating
to the business of the Court; and these rules shall continue in force until repealed or altered by it or by
the Supreme Court. Section 36. Clerk of the Court of Appeals; his appointment; his compensation; his
bond. – The Court of Appeals shall appoint a clerk of court, who shall exercise the same powers and
perform the same duties in regard to all matters within its jurisdiction, as are exercised and performed
by the clerk of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, insofar as the same may be applicable; and in the
exercise of those powers and in the performance of those duties, the clerk shall be under the direction
of the Court. No person may be appointed clerk of the Court of Appeals unless he has been engaged for
fi ve years or more in the practice of law, or has been clerk or deputy clerk of a court of record for the
same period of time.