CIVIL PROCEDURE

INTRODUCTION
The first thing that we will take up in Civil Procedure are basic concepts. We are going to discuss the
legal
concept of courts. As you will know, whenever we talk of procedural law, we have no choice but to
involve
courts in our discussion.
Let’s try to have a mental picture of courts. If I (Dean Iñigo) say ‘courts’, please tell me the scene that
comes into your mind. What do you see? There is a table, a gavel, there is someone sitting there. Then
below,
there are lawyers sitting down. That is how everybody pictures a court. But actually, what was pictured
out was
a courtroom and not a court.
Similar example: How can you picture a corporation? A corporation, as you know in Persons, is a
juridical
entity. It is a creature of the law. It is a person under the law but it has no physical existence. But what
you see
in a corporation is a building and people who are running the office business. Well, that is the office of
the
corporation.
A corporation cannot run without people running it. But a corporation can own properties, kaya you see
the
building, the office, the equipments there. The president or the vice-president are the officers of the
corporation. But the officers are not the corporation, they run the affairs of the corporation. Ganoon din
ang
court. A court has no physical existence, only a legal one.
Q: What is a court?
A: A court is an entity or body vested with a portion of the judicial power. (Lontok vs.
Battung, 63
Phil. 1054)
Q: Why ‘portion’ only?
A: This is because the Constitution provides that “the judicial power shall be vested in one Supreme
Court
(SC) and in such other lower courts as may be established by law.” (Art. VIII, Section 1, 1987
Constitution.
The reason that the law creates different courts is to divide the cases or judicial power among them so
that
one court may not be burdened with so many cases. So, judicial power is not exercised only by one
court, but
by several courts. It is like a cake. You slice the cake into parts – this part is for you, this part is mine.
So, kanyakanya
tayo ng trabaho. You cannot put the burden only in one court.
For example, you want to sue your debtor for not paying a loan. You mean to tell me that you will go to
the
SC? All cases in the Philippines will have to filed there? NO. You cannot do it. You have to start from
certain
courts in you city or municipality.
Ngayon, pag-sinabi mo kung saan ako mag-file, sa Regional Trial Court (RTC) ba? O sa Municipal Trial
Court
(MTC)? Of course, depende yan on how much you are claiming. If you are claiming so much, dito ka. If
you claim
is lower, dito ka naman. Why is that? Because each has its own work. Each one has its own portion –
what is
yours is yours, what is mine is mine.
Thus, each court has its own jurisdiction and may only try cases within its jurisdiction. No court has all
the
power of the judiciary but only a portion of it. So there is a division of labor.
Just as corporations cannot act without its officers, a court cannot function without a judge. But do not
say
that the court and the judge mean the same thing. The judge is the person or officer who presides over
a court.
Q: Distinguish court from judge.
A: The following are the distinctions:
1.) Court is the entity, body, or tribunal vested with a portion of the judicial power, while judge is the
person or officer who presides over a court. Judges are human beings – they die, they resign, they
retire, they maybe removed. The court continues to exist even after the judge presiding over it
ceases to do so.
2.) The two concepts may exist independently of each other, for there may be a court without a judge
or a judge without a court. (Pamintuan vs. Llorente, 29 Phil. 342)
EXAMPLE: The present Supreme Court (SC), the justices presiding over it are not the same
justices who presided it in the early part of this century yet the Court in some decisions states that
“as early 1905, ‘WE’ have already ruled such as such…” Why do they use ‘WE’? They are talking
about the court, they are not talking about themselves. The court is continuous. It does not die
alongside with the justices who presided on it.
Q: Classify courts in general.
A: Generally, courts may be classified as:
1.) Superior Courts and First-Level courts (inferior courts);
2.) Courts of Original jurisdiction and Courts of Appellate jurisdiction;
3.) Civil Courts and Criminal Courts;
4.) Courts of law and Courts of equity;
5.) Constitutional Courts and Statutory Courts.