{"id":983522,"date":"2018-04-19T07:04:20","date_gmt":"2018-04-18T23:04:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsinfo.inquirer.net\/?p=983522"},"modified":"2018-04-19T04:42:43","modified_gmt":"2018-04-18T20:42:43","slug":"lawyers-ask-un-to-probe-attacks-on-ph-judiciary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinfo.inquirer.net\/983522\/lawyers-ask-un-to-probe-attacks-on-ph-judiciary","title":{"rendered":"Lawyers ask UN to probe attacks on PH judiciary"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

REPORT TO UNITED NATIONS Lawyers Arpee Santiago, Neri Colmenares, Ade Fajardo, Ryan
Jay Roset and Tony La Vi\u00f1a show the report their groups submitted to the UNspecial rapporteur,
narrating the recent government attacks on the judiciary that, they say, have a negative impact
on the independence of judges and lawyers. \u2014EDWIN BACASMAS<\/p><\/div>\n\n

Groups led by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) have asked the United Nations special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers to look into the Duterte administration\u2019s actions that undermine the judiciary and threaten the lives of lawyers.<\/p>\n\n

The 16-page report filed on Wednesday appealed for \u201curgent action\u201d on the part of UN Special Rapporteur Diego Garcia-Sayan, saying the administration\u2019s infringing judicial independence \u201cjeopardizes the very essence of democracy in the Philippines.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

The report cited President Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s public tirades against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and the administration\u2019s two-pronged effort to unseat her through impeachment in Congress and a quo warranto petition in the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n\n

It also pointed to the threats to the lives of lawyers who represent drug suspects and peasant groups.<\/p>\n\n

\u2018Undermining judiciary\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

\u201cThe inability of the State to prevent the apparent weakening and undermining of the judiciary gives rise to international responsibility, especially considering the pronouncements of the President relating to immediate ouster of [Chief Justice] Sereno and against the legal profession that performs their duties under its Code of Professional Responsibility,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n\n

Joining the IBP in filing the report were the National Union of People\u2019s Lawyers (NUPL), Alternative Law Groups (ALG), Ateneo Human Rights Center (AHRC), Free Legal Assistance Groups (FLAG), Manananggol Laban sa EJKs (Manlaban), and International Pro Bono Alliance.<\/p>\n\n

Commenting on the legal community\u2019s move, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque denied that the executive department was attacking the judiciary or its independence.<\/p>\n\n

Roque insisted that Malaca\u00f1ang was is not behind the moves to unseat Sereno, and played down the President\u2019s tirades against the Chief Justice, saying these were just an expression of dislike because of her insinuations against the President.<\/p>\n\n

According to Roque, the President had kept silent on the impeachment moves against Sereno for a long time, but the Chief Justice accused him of having a hand in the efforts to remove her from office.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThe President\u2019s rebuke of the Chief Justice must therefore be taken as a dislike of the Chief Justice and not an attack [on] the judiciary or an affront to judicial independence,\u201d Roque said.<\/p>\n\n

In a press briefing, IBP national president Abdiel Dan Fajardo said the purpose of filing the report was \u201cto relay to the United Nations the recent events in our country [that] we believe will impact negatively on the independence of judges and lawyers in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

\u201cIt is our position that the judicial independence is fundamental to the protection of human rights, democracy and the rule of law,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThere is a direct relation between the weakening of safeguards for the judiciary and lawyers and the gravity and frequency of human rights violations,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n

\u2018Public vilifaction\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

NUPL chair Neri Colmenares, a former Bayan Muna congressman, said the President had resorted to \u201cpublic vilification using presidential platform.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Antonio La Vi\u00f1a of Manlaban said \u201can independent judiciary is essential\u201d to solving the problem of the killings hounding the administration\u2019s brutal war on drugs.<\/p>\n\n

Colmenares said that should the UN special rapporteur conduct an investigation and report that the Philippines\u2019 legal system had been put at risk, it would cast the country in a negative light before the international community.<\/p>\n\n

AHCR executive director Arpee Santiago said the Duterte administration should be open to an investigation if it wants to be exonerated.<\/p>\n\n

\u2018As if on cue\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

The report noted that the \u201clong-winded attacks on judicial independence\u201d has been going on for more than two years since \u201cthe Chief Justice dared resist an apparent intrusion into judicial power\u201d\u2014referring to President Duterte\u2019s order to\u00a0 seven judges whom he had linked to the illegal drug trade to surrender.<\/p>\n\n

It noted that lawyer Lorenzo Gadon, identified as president of the Pro-Duterte Constitutional Reformers to Federalism, filed the impeachment complaint \u201cas if on cue,\u201d a few weeks after Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said Sereno was facing the prospect of ouster.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThe case of [Chief Justice] Sereno clearly shows that the Philippine State reneges on its obligation to ensure that the suspension or removal of a judicial officer must only be for cause (incapacity or behavior that renders them unfit to discharge their duties). The State also violates the right of a judge to be accorded fair treatment and hearing under an appropriate procedure,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n\n

It stated that the administration\u2019s actions against Sereno would \u201cdeter judges from asserting their judicial independence and exercising their freedom of expression.<\/p>\n\n

Lawyers at risk<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

The law groups also brought up the \u201charassment\u201d of lawyers who criticize government policies and represent clients tagged as \u201cdissenters\u201d or \u201cactivists.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

It cited the example of NUPL-Negros secretary general Benjamin Ramos, who works with peasant and human rights groups. A police poster tagged him as one of the alleged communists whom the public should report.<\/p>\n\n

This is \u201cblatantly opposed\u201d to Principle 18 of the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, stating that lawyers \u201cshall not be identified with their clients or their clients\u2019 causes,\u201d the report said. \u2014With a report from Leila B. Salaverria<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Groups led by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) have asked the United Nations special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers to look into the Duterte administration\u2019s actions that undermine the judiciary and threaten the lives of lawyers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":983523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,45],"tags":[1400,3087,8330,206124],"byline":[185425],"source":[206078],"column":[],"editor":[],"videographer":[],"position":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLawyers ask UN to probe attacks on PH judiciary | Inquirer 黑料社<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Groups led by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) have asked the United Nations special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers to look into the Duterte administration\u2019s actions that undermine the judiciary and threaten the 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