Our slow justice system

FOR DECADES, many have decried how our justice system runs slowly and inefficiently. Despite our Constitution’s directive that every accused has the right not only to a speedy trial, but also to the speedy judgment or disposition of their cases, sadly it’s already taken as a fact of life that the wheels of justice in our country turn at a snail’s pace.

This only contributes to the continuous erosion of trust in our public institutions, making it all the more difficult for the rule of law to prevail. since our people are so starved of retribution for the crimes committed against them, it’s no wonder some have little qualms about taking shortcuts or circumventing the law.

That our jails are inhumanely congested only illustrates this problem.  A 2017 Commission on Audit (COA) report on the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) showed that while the 466 jail and penal facilities under its jurisdiction have an ideal holding capacity of 20,653 individuals, the present cell population of the bureau is a staggering 146,302 as of Dec. 31, 2017.  That means BJMP facilities on average house up to 6 times the number of detainees they’re meant to hold. In some cases, it’s up to 9 times the holding capacity.

Such congestion has been noted by past COA reports.  Aside from the lack of facilities and limited building space, the slow action or inaction of the courts has been cited as a major cause of the congestion.  A 2015 version of the COA report even cited that one detainee’s case remained pending since 1996 due to “lack of judges, postponement of hearings, and slow disposition of criminal cases.”

In fact, according to Asian Development Bank (ADB) data, up to 60 percent of the country’s total prison population were unsentenced detainees — or individuals simply waiting for trial. In fact, according to BJMP data as of May 31, 2018, up to 97.6 percent of its jail population — 141,422 out of 144,871 — were either awaiting trial, undergoing trial or awaiting final judgment.

This poses no insignificant cost to the country’s coffers.  Some even estimated that in 2016, the government spent up to P74,000 a year per prisoner, which is three times what was spent by the Department of Education (DepEd) on students.

Raymund Narag, an assistant professor at Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice of the Southern Illinois University Carbondale, recently argued that pretrial detention in the Philippines is one of the longest in the world.  He calculated that inmates stay in jail for an average of 528 days before they are even convicted or acquitted.  Some even stay incarcerated for 10 years to only be freed with no charges.

This isn’t to say however that the courts aren’t working hard. In many salas, judges and court employees work double or triple time just to get through their daily caseloads. In fact, a National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) study of the Philippine criminal justice system between 2005 and 2010 calculated that lower courts had an annual average load of 1,059,484 cases.  If a judge were to finish this caseload within the year, that would mean having to achieve the impossible task of hearing and dispensing more than 4,000 cases a day.

Recently, we co-sponsored with Sen. Richard Gordon SBN 2065 creating positions in the lower courts for so-called “Judges-at-large,” who will help unclog court dockets and speed up the resolution of cases.  These judges-at-large will have no permanent salas and will be deployed by the Supreme Court wherever their assistance will be needed.

During the public hearing on the measure, Atty. Raul Villanueva from the Office of the Court Administrator under the Supreme Court said that much of the congestion is found in the regional trial courts (RTCs). Hence, to serve this need, the proposal we co-sponsored provides for 100 “judges-at-large” positions, as compared only 50 in the municipal trial courts (MTC), where the caseload appears to be more manageable.

Of course, our proposal is but one step to solving the problems of our slow justice system.  Clearly, a comprehensive host of initiatives is needed such as increased public investments in our justice system, constant training, upskilling and capacity-building among the officers and workers of the courts, deployment of technology solutions wherever possible and appropriate, and reforms in criminal procedure. But hopefully, having “judges-at-large” serving around the country will help ongoing efforts in improving the pace of our courts so that justice is not only served timely, but also swiftly.

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Sen. Sonny Angara was elected in 2013, and now chairs the Senate committees on local government, and ways and means. (Email: sensonnyangara@yahoo.com| Facebook, Twitter & Instagram: @sonnyangara/PN)