Last May 21, the Consultative Committee to Review the 1987 Constitution proposed a tribunal of high courts together with specialized courts in order to “speed up the process of delivering justice”.
According to the Consultative Committee, the three tribunals are the Federal Supreme Court, the Federal Constitutional Court, and the Federal Administrative Court. These division of courts are expected to “unclog” the present Supreme Court since they handle an average of 9,000 cases a year.
The differences among the tribunal are stated in the table below:
FEDERAL SUPREME COURT
FEDERAL CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
FEDERAL ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
COMPOSITION AND APPOINTMENT
One Chief Justice, 8 associate justices
Three, including Chief Justice, to be appointed by the President
Three to be appointed by the Federal Constitutional Court en banc
Three to be appointed by the Commission on Appointments (Congress)
One Presiding Justice, 8 associate justices
Three recognized experts on constitutional law to be appointed by the President
Three Justices of the Supreme Court to be appointed by the Federal Administrative Court en banc
Three to be appointed by the Commission on Appointments (Congress)
One Presiding Justice, 8 associate justices
Three, including Presiding Justice, who are recognized experts on administrative and election laws, to be appointed by the President
Three to be appointed by the Federal Supreme Court en banc
Three to be appointed by the Commission on Appointments (Congress)
JURISDICTION
Exercise original jurisdiction over:
Cases involving conflicts between branches and agencies within the Federal Government, conflicts between the Federal Government and the Federated Regions, and conflicts between Federated Regions
Cases involving ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls
Petitions for certiorari, prohibition, quo warranto
Review on appeal or certiorari:
Final judgments and orders of lower courts except those within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Federal Constitutional Court and Federal Administrative Court
Issues of jurisdiction of any lower court
Criminal offenses in which the penalty is life imprisonment or death
Disputes involving the constitutionality of:
a law, treaty, international or executive agreement
Presidential decrees, proclamations, orders, instructions, ordinances and other regulations, administrative issuances of the Federal Government, or any of its departments and agencies
Laws passed by the legislative assemblies of the Federated Regions, acts and issuances of their Executive
Any matter involving pure questions of constitutionality
To try cases of impeachment against all impeachable officials (Congress to initiate and prosecute)
When sought by Congress, to provide advisory opinion on the constitutionality of crucial legislation o When sought by other courts of general jurisdiction, rule on any constitutional issue that may arise during trial and affect outcome
Exclusive jurisdiction to review on appeal or certiorari the decisions. judgements, final orders or resolutions of quasi-judicial bodies.
Lastly, the committee intends to fix the impeachment process under the proposed constitution, given its prevalence in the Philippine political environment in the past few years.
The Federal Constitutional Court will serve as the impeachment court but the congress will initiate and serve as prosecutor in the trials. There will be a Joint Impeachment Committee wherein the Senate President will be serving as the Presiding Officer who will only vote in case of a tie. The committee will be composed of 12 members from each House that are selected through proportional party representation. The Joint Impeachment Committee begins its job once they receive an impeachment complaint that determines sufficiency in form and substance vis-à-vis its probable cause.
