Chapter 2

Probation and the Courts:

History and Administration
 Order of presentation

Court Systems of the Philippines:

• Jurisdiction and Power of Courts
 Order of presentation
Probation History
• Early Probation and John Augustus
• Early Probation Statutes
• Probation at the Turn of the Century
Administration of Probation
Philippine Court System
 PHILIPPINE COURT SYSTEM
Review Courts Trial Courts
 Supreme Court  Regional Trial Court
 Court of Appeals  Provincial Regional Trial Court
 Metro Manila Regional Trial
Special Courts Court
 Court of Tax Appeals  Metropolitan Trial Court
 Sandiganbayan  Municipal Trial Court
 Municipal Circuit Trial Court
Supreme Court (SC)
• It is presided over by a Chief Justice and is
composed of fifteen (15) Justices, including the
Chief Justice.

María Lourdes PA Sereno

24th Chief Justice SC
• Pursuant to the Constitution, the Supreme Court
has "administrative supervision over all courts and
the personnel thereof".

• These functions may be generally divided into two – judicial

functions and administrative functions.
• The administrative functions of the Court pertain to the
supervision and control over the Philippine judiciary and its
employees, as well as over members of the Philippine bar.
• Pursuant to these functions, the Court is empowered to
order a change of venue of trial in order to avoid a
miscarriage of justice and to appoint all officials and
employees of the judiciary.

• The Court is further authorized to promulgate the rules

for admission to the practice of law, for legal assistance
to the underprivileged, and the procedural rules to be
observed in all courts.
• The other mode by which a case reaches the Supreme Court is
through an original petition filed directly with the Supreme
Court, in cases where the Constitution establishes “original
jurisdiction” with the Supreme Court.

• Under Section 5(1), Article VIII of the Constitution, these are

“cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls,
and over petitions for certiorari, prohibition, mandamus, quo
warranto, and corpus”.

• Resort to certiorari, prohibition and mandamus may be availed

of only if "there is no appeal, or any plain, speedy, and adequate
remedy in the ordinary course of law".
• The Court of Appeals shall be composed of a Presiding Justices
and sixty-eight (68) Associate Justices who shall sit in twenty-
three (23) Divisions of three (3) Justices each.

• The members of the Court are classified into three (3) groups
according to their seniority or precedence.

• The Twenty-three most senior members shall be the Chairmen

of the Divisions unless any them declines in writing to be the
Chairman of a Division, in which case the senior member next-
in-rank and willing shall be designated by the Presiding Justice
as Chairman of said Division.
• The Twenty-three (23) members next in precedence shall
compose the senior members of the Divisions and the rest shall
be junior members.
Unless otherwise provided by law or the Rules of Court, the Court of
Appeals shall have:

(a) Original jurisdiction to issue writs of mandamus,

prohibition, certiorari, habeas corpus, and quo
warranto, and other ancilliary writs or processes
whether or not in aid of its appellate jurisdiction;

(b) Exclusive original jurisdiction over actions for

annulment of judgments of Regional Trial Courts;
(c) Exclusive appellate jurisdiction over all other final
judgments, decisions, resolutions, orders or awards of
Regional Trial Courts and quasi-judicial agencies,
boards, commissions or offices not falling within the
exclusive jurisdiction of the Supreme Court or other
tribunals;

(d) Authority to receive other evidence and perform acts

necessary for the resolution of factual issues raised in
cases falling within its original and appellate
jurisdiction;
(e) Authority to receive newly discovered evidence
relied upon by the movant in cases within its appellate
jurisdiction wherein new trial has been granted by the
Court;
(f) The power to —

(1) Decide cases or resolve incidents deliberated upon by its members;

(2) Cite and punish for contempt any person guilty of any contumacious
act against the Court, its Division or any member thereof in connection
with a case cognizable by the Division;

(3) Decide whether or not to give due course to original petitions,

including petitions for review; and

(4) Subject to constitutional and statutory requirements, adopt its own

rules in the conduct of hearings, preparation of agenda, determination of
cases and incidents and rendition of decisions or resolutions. (Sec. 3, Rule 2,
RIRCA)