SC: Ensure justice for all

Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo called on judges and lawyers to ensure the delivery of impartial justice to all as he led the oath-taking of the newly-elected officers of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP).

Gesmundo stressed that they are carrying on with two major changes to ensure integrity of judges such as technological innovations the SC introduced and the creation of Judicial Integrity Board.

“To this end, we introduced two major changes. As I mentioned before, we created the Judicial Integrity Board, to investigate judicial misconduct and recommend appropriate sanctions on erring members of the judiciary,” Gesmundo said.

For its part, the Judicial and Bar Council — in which the IBP is represented — has now required non-judge applicants to undergo and pass the PhilJA’s (Philippine Judicial Academy) Prejudicature Program to determine their readiness and suitability for the judicial position.

“Significantly, PhilJA is now designing prejudicatory training programs-one for those applying to trial court’s judgeship position and another for those applying to collegiate court’s position,” Gesmundo said.

The SC chief also stressed that lawyers should also conduct themselves with integrity and honesty, noting that technological innovations would only be superficial if judges and lawyers lack the integrity and wisdom to deliver justice impartially to all.

“Requiring these attributes from our magistrates is only half the solution. Lawyers too must conduct themselves with honesty and integrity in all their dealings. Truly, we expect no less from you,” Gesmundo said.