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SC to Take Up Prosecutors' Requestfor Deferment of the Judicial Affidavit Rule in Criminal Cases
Posted: January 2, 2012; By Gleo Sp. Guerra
Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P. A. Sereno, responding to a request from the Prosecutors’ League of the Philippines (PLP) for the deferment of the implementation of theJudicial Affidavit Rule for at least a year in criminal cases, has directed that the request be included in the agenda of the Supreme Court’s first En Banc session of the year on January 8, 2013. In its letter dated December 12, 2012, addressed to Chief Justice Sereno and the Associate Justices, the PLP cited as among the reasons for its request the heavy workloads of the prosecutors affording them “limited time to prepare judicial affidavits,” as well as the “deficiency in the number of prosecutors” in many field offices. The PLP, composed of active and retired prosecutors, also asked for the creation of an ad hoc Committee to revisit the Rule’s provisions.
The Rule, which is meant to address the twin problems of case congestion and delay in the resolution of cases, requires the compulsory use of judicial affidavits of witnesses in lieu of their direct testimonies in all first-level (except as to small claims cases) to third-level courts; investigating officers and bodies authorized by the SC to receive evidence; and special courts and quasi-judicial bodies whose rules of procedure are subject to the SC’sdisapproval. It further requires the parties’ documentary or object evidence to be attached to the judicial affidavits.
Relevant to the PLP’s request, the Rule applies to all criminal actions where the maximum of the imposable penalty does not exceed six years; where the parties agreed to the use of judicial affidavits irrespective of the penalty involved; or with respect to the civil aspect of the actions, whatever the penalties are. In these cases, the judicial affidavits must be submitted by the prosecution not later than five days before the pre-trial.
Prior to the Rule’s promulgation last September 4, Associate Justice Roberto A. Abad, Chair of the Sub-Committee on the Revision of Rules on Civil Procedure that drafted the Rule, met with a number of prosecutors from the Department of Justice. He, along with SC Associate Justices Diosdado M. Peralta and Lucas P. Bersamin, also met with officers of the National League of Prosecutors last December 21 to discuss the latter’s concerns regarding the Rule. Associate Justice Abad emphasized that the intent of the Judicial Affidavit Rule is to “elevate the trustworthiness and the integrity of judicial affidavits by requiring that only lawyers be allowed to draft them and that they be made accountable for their cont
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