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.

The JBC members in the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines Panel Interview

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
Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III (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 is 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

Judicial and Bar Council office
Logo of the Supreme Court
JBC building
Entrance to the JBC offices

Members

The members of the JBC were:^[8]

Chief Justice

Main article: Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines

JBC Ex Officio Chairpersons	Position	Start of Term	End of Term
Claudio Teehankee	Chief Justice	10 December 1987	12 April 1988
Pedro L. Yap	Chief Justice	20 April 1988	29 June 1988
Marcelo B. Fernan	Chief Justice	4 July 1988	5 December 1991
Andres R. Narvasa	Chief Justice	8 December 1991	30 November 1998
Hilario G. Davide, Jr.	Chief Justice	30 November 1998	19 December 2005
Artemio V. Panganiban	Chief Justice	20 December 2005	6 December 2006
Reynato S. Puno	Chief Justice	7 December 2006	17 May 2010
Renato C. Corona	Chief Justice	17 May 2010	29 May 2012
Antonio T. Carpio	Senior Associate Justice Acting Chairperson	30 May 2012	16 July 2012
Diosdado M. Peralta	Associate Justice Acting Chairperson	16 July 2012	13 August 2012
Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno	Chief Justice	24 August 2012

Secretaries of Justice

Secretaries of Justice	Start of Term	End of Term
Sedfrey A. Ordoñez	10 December 1987	18 December 1989
Franklin M. Drilon	8 January 1990	2 July 1992
Silvestre H. Bello III	16 July 1991	3 February 1992
Eduardo G. Montenegro	17 February 1992	1 June 1992
Franklin M. Drilon	22 July 1992	14 December 1994
Demetrio G. Demetria	18 January 1995	17 March 1995
Teofisto T. Guingona, Jr.	24 May 1995	28 January 1998
Silvestre H. Bello III	18 February 1998	30 June 1998
Serafin R. Cuevas	1 July 1998	10 February 2000
Artemio G. Tuquero	11 February 2000	20 January 2001
Hernando B. Perez	23 January 2001	15 January 2003
Simeon A. Datumanong	22 January 2003	December 2003
Merceditas N. Gutierrez	28 January 2004	31 August 2004
Raul M. Gonzalez	1 September 2004	30 May 2009
Agnes VST Devanadera	8 June 2009	28 February 2010
Alberto C. Agra	1 March 2010	30 June 2010
Leila M. De Lima	1 July 2010

Representative from Congress

Since the creation of the JBC in 1987 until 1994, the representation for Congress in the body alternated between the House of Representatives and the Senate, by their respective Chairman of the Committee on Justice.

Congress representative	House	Start of Term	End of Term
Rogaciano M. Mercado	House of Representatives	10 December 1987	23 February 1989
Wigberto E. Tañada	Senate	2 March 1988	21 May 1990
Isidro C. Zarraga	House of Representatives	31 July 1989	12 August 1992
Raul S. Roco	Senate	30 September 1992	3 March 1993

By 1994, the two representatives from Congress began sitting simultaneously, each having one-half of a vote.

Congressman	Start of Term	End of Term
Pablo P. Garcia	26 August 1992	8 March 1995
Isidro C. Zarraga	28 June 1995	30 June 1998
Alfredo E. Abueg	31 July 1998	29 November 2000

Senator	Start of Term	End of Term
Alberto G. Romulo	14 April 1993	1 August 1995
Marcelo B. Fernan	2 August 1995	31 December 1996
Raul S. Roco	1 January 1997	30 July 1998
Renato L. Cayetano	31 July 1998	31 January 2000
Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr.	1 February 2000	29 November 2000
Miriam D. Santiago	10 January 2001	14 February 2001

On May 30, 2001, the JBC En Banc decided to grant the representatives from both Houses of Congress one full vote each.

Congressman	Start of Term	End of Term
Henry P. Lanot	14 December 2000	30 June 2001
Alan Peter S. Cayetano	8 August 2001	3 March 2003
Marcelino C. Libanan	4 March 2003	8 August 2003
Simeon A. Datumanong	9 August 2004	30 June 2007
Matias V. Defensor, Jr.	8 August 2007	30 June 2010
Niel C. Tupas, Jr.	29 July 2010	30 June 2013

Senator	Start of Term	End of Term
Renato L. Cayetano	16 May 2001	28 August 2001
Francis N.Pangilinan	29 August 2001	23 November 2008
Francis Joseph G. Escudero	24 November 2008	30 June 2013

On 2013, the eight-member composition of the JBC was questioned at the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court restored the composition of the JBC to seven.

Congress representative	House	Start of Term	End of Term
Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III	Senate	23 July 2013	31 December 2013
Niel C. Tupas, Jr.	House of Representatives	1 January 2014	30 June 2014
Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III	Senate	1 July 2014	31 December 2014
Niel C. Tupas, Jr.	House of Representatives	1 January 2015	30 June 2015

Retired member of the Supreme Court

Retired Supreme Court member representative	Start of Term	End of Term
Nestor B. Alampay	10 December 1987	10 December 1989
Lorenzo R. Relova	8 January 1990	9 July 1993
Jose C. Campos, Jr.	22 September 1993	9 July 1997
Regino C. Hermosisima, Jr.	24 November 1997	9 July 2013
Angelina Sandoval Gutierrez	8 October 2014	9 July 2017

Representative from the academe

Academe representative	Start of Term	End of Term
Rodolfo C. Palma	10 December 1987	9 July 1994
Cezar C. Peralejo	8 February 1995	9 July 1998
Alfredo M. Marigomen	21 July 1998	9 July 2002
Amado L. Dimayuga	9 July 2003	9 July 2010
Jose V. Mejia	28 April 2011	9 July 2018

Representative from the Integrated Bar

Integrated Bar representative	Start of Term	End of Term
Leon M. Garcia, Jr.	17 June 1988	9 July 1991
Presbitero J. Velasco, Jr.	7 January 1993	22 March 1995
Francisco B. Santiago	1 August 1995	8 July 1996
Amado L. Dimayuga	8 July 1997	9 July 2003
Conrado P. Castro	9 July 2003	17 March 2011
Maria Milagros N. Fernan-Cayosa	2 May 2011	9 July 2015

Representative from the private sector

Private sector representative	Start of Term	End of Term
Ofelia C. Santos	10 December 1987	9 July 1992
Teresita Cruz Sison	30 September 1992	9 July 2004
Raoul V. Victorino	12 July 2005	9 July 2008
Aurora Santiago Lagman	13 October 2008	9 July 2016

Notes

↑ 1987 Constitution, Article VIII, Section 8, Paragraph 1
↑ 1987 Constitution, Article VIII, Section 8, Paragraph 3
↑ 1987 Constitution, Article VIII, Section 8, Paragraph 2
↑ "SC asks JBC to comment on Chavez petition". GMANews.tv. 2012-07-03. Retrieved 2013-04-17.
↑ Punay, Edu (2012-07-03). "Only one member from Congress in JBC, SC affirms". Philippine Star. Retrieved 2013-04-17.
↑ newsinfo.inquirer.net, CA justice named to body that screens judicial appointees
↑ 1987 Constitution, Article VIII, Section 8, Paragraph 5
↑ "JBC CHAIRPERSONS, EX OFFICIO AND REGULAR MEMBERS, EX OFFICIO SECRETARIES AND CONSULTANTS". Supreme Court of the Philippines. Retrieved 2012-08-25.

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

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