CJ Peralta wants security team patterned after US marshals

MANILA, Philippines — Amid reports that there have been justices and judges who have been victims of killings, newly appointed Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta said he would want to create a security team patterned after the United States Marshal Service.

During his first flag ceremony, Chief Justice Peralta bared his 10-point program and mentioned that there is a need to provide protection to judges and justices, as well as increased security at the halls of justice in the country. 

“We hope that we can devise the system either through legislation or through court initiative, the creation of a security system patterned after the US marshals,” said Peralta.

According to its website, the US Marshals Service and its Judicial Security Division (JSD) protects the judicial process by protecting federal judges, jurors and other members of the judiciary.

One of the programs of the JSD is the National Center for Judicial Security (NCJS) and one of its functions is to provide protection for its judicial family.

It was reported that 30 judges have been killed since 1999.

Peralta, who was appointed by President Duterte as the 26th chief justice last Oct. 23, promised to be a public servant who would lead by example. 

“I have emphasized before that my judicial philosophy has always been to start from home and lead by example. Thus in order to achieve this first point, clerk of court will be required to conduct periodic inventory of all the cases pending in their divisions and consult with the court en banc as to how to solve the issue of backlog and other concerns,” he said. 

All other courts are expected to continue to comply with existing rules and guidelines pertaining to prescribed periods for trial dates, including promulgation of decisions and other rules geared toward the realization of speedy disposition of cases. 

The 67-year-old Chief Justice said they would sustain the program to weed out misfits from the judiciary and adopt a system where the court may initiate, on its own, the investigation of cases being handled by members of the judiciary even in the absence of complaints. 

“In order to do this, I plan to impose timelines in resolving administrative complaints, including complaint initiated by the court and timelines for the court to resolve these complaints,” he added.

Peralta also intends to strengthen the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) and implement the judicial integrity board as soon as possible. This would help the OCA monitor and effectively address the concern of the lower courts on matters of infrastructure, communication, lack of personnel, equipment and supplies issues. 

He added they would also want to address problems on the inequitable distribution of cases in the lower courts, to create an audit office dedicated to the conduct of judicial audits and to appoint more judicial supervisors to conduct and oversee these audits and implement the judicial integrity board and possibly harmonize its functions with the OCA. 

They would also create a round-the-clock help desk in the office of the chief justice and other offices to receive the concerns of court users.