Judiciary

PHILIPPINE JUDICIARY
• Independent status – specialized positions not

being open for popular elections
• Traditionally not enjoyed much attention
compared to the two other branches of
government
• Supreme Court – have been receiving
attention since 1986 as a result of its growing
role in political and economic matters
• Estrada impeachment trial and People Power 2 –
Many considered the judiciary as the only
remaining branch of government that still enjoyed
some level of public confidence.
• Supreme Court’s decision to declare Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo the rightful president after
People Power 2 added to the judiciary’s growing
role in political manner.
• Impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Hilario
Davide also boosted its growing judicial activism
Critics for judiciary includes:
• Supreme Court’s increasing rulings on economic
issues is scaring off foreign investors
• That the judiciary should not decide on political
issues such as the legality of the presidency
• Politicizes appointments to the courts, thereby
affecting its independence; charges of graft and
corruption, and incompetence within the courts
• Ineffeciency and delay in judicial administration
JUDICIARY in Democratic Setting
• Judiciary - is a branch of government empowered to
decide legal disputes
• Judges – function is to adjudicate on the meaning of
law in the sense that they interpret or “construct” law
• Such role is important in stated with codified
constitutions where it extends to the interpretation of
the constitution itself
• Allowing judges to arbitrate in disputes between major
institutions of government or between the state and
the individual
• In liberal-democratic systems, one of the chief
characteristics of the judiciary is that judges are strictly
independent and non-political actors.
• Judicial independence – constitutional principle that states
that there should be strict separation between the
judiciary and other branches of government; application of
the separation of power principle
• Judiciary is not merely an institution but a political one as
well.
• Judges play a vital role in the conflict resolution and the
maintenance of state authority-both political activities.
Two controversial questions that have to do with the political significance
of the judiciary:
FIRST, are judges political in that political considerations or pressures
shape their action?
Judges may be political in two senses: They may be subject to external
bias or internal bias.
• External bias – comes from the influence of the political groups exert on
the judiciary. It must be kept at bay by respect for the principle of
judicial independence.
• Internal bias – comes from the prejudices and sympathies of judges
themeselves, particularly from those that intrude into the process of
judicial decision making. Bias may creep in through the values and the
culture of the judiciary.
SECOND, do judges make policy in the sense that they encroach upon
the proper responsibilities of politicians?
The image of judges as simple appliers of law is a myth. No law, legal

term, or legal principle has a single, self-evident meaning. In practice,
judges impose meanings on law through a process of construction that
force them to choose among a number of possible meanings or
interpretations. Thus, every law can be considered as judge-made law.
However, the range of discretion available to judges and the
significance of the laws that they accord with meaning vary
considerably. There are two crucial factors: the clarity and detail with
which the law is specified, and the existence of codified or written
constitution.
JUDICIAL REVIEW
• proclaimed in Britain as early as the 17th century but the
philosophy of court power only received its modern significance
in the US in 1803 with the case of Marbury vs. Madison.
• It is the power of the judiciary to review and possibly to
invalidate laws, decrees, and the actions of the other branches
of government.
• Stems from the existence of a codified constitution that allows
the court to strike as “unconstitutional” such actions deemed
incompatible with the constitution.
• It seen as a cornerstone of liberal constitutionalism as it
ensures a “government of laws.”
JUDICIAL REVIEW
• More modest form is found in the uncodified
system like that of United Kingdom where it is
restricted to the review of executive actions in
light of ordinary law using the principle of
ultra vires (beyond the power) to determine
whether the executive has acted outside its
powers.
JUDICIAL ACTIVISM
• opposite of the more conservative judicial restraint
• refers to the willingness of judges to venture beyond narrow
legal decisions so as to influence public policy
Factors explaining “judicialization” of politics:
1. The increasing reliance on regulation as a mode of governing, a
system more open to judicial challenge than a taxing, spending,
and war-making government;
2. Interest groups, political parties, and rights-conscious groups
throughout the democratic world becoming more willing than
before to bring their struggles to the judicial arena
3. International conventions like the United Nations Declaration
of Human Rights that give judges an extra lever they can utilize
to break away from judicial restraint
JUDICIARY in Nonliberal Democratic Systems
• In nonliberal democratic systems, there is no pretense of

judicial independence, neutrality, or impartiality.
• In authoritarian countries ruled by single parties, the
military, the clergy, or royal families who consider
themselves as representing the “will of the people,” the
courts may be the virtual servants of their leaders and the
latter’s ideologies.
• With the downfall of numerous authoritarian regimes and
the rise of new democracies since the 1980’s, the
consolidation of the new democracies becomes important
and urgent
• Keys to this is the entrenchment of a
democratic constitution, establishment of the
rule of law, and institutionalization of an
independent and strong judiciary.

Judiciary

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Judiciary

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Judiciary

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

PHILIPPINE JUDICIARY

• Independent status – specialized positions not

The image of judges as simple appliers of law is a myth. No law, legal

• In nonliberal democratic systems, there is no pretense of

You might also like