1 Catbalogan City Jury Law Initiative Article X
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CATBALOGAN CITY JURY LAW INITIATIVE ARTICLE X IMPLEMENTING AUTHORITY FOR THE JURY SYSTEM Section 1. The Entity known as the “Catbalogan City Jury Management Authority,” also briefly named as the “CJMA” has been created under Article VI of the Catbalogan City Jury Law Initiative. Its additional attributes and powers are as follows: (a) Composition - It shall be composed of nine (7) members consisting of two (2) Regional Trial Court Judges; one (1) Municipal Trial Court Judge; two (2) City Prosecutors; one (1), the President of the local chapter of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, as members; and the most senior Executive Judge in Catbalogan City as chairperson. Its members shall be nominated from, and elected by, the regional and municipal trial court judges, and the prosecutors office, respectively, of the City of Catbalogan. The President of the Local Chapter of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines becomes an automatic member of the CJMA. (b) Location - The Court Room of the Executive Judge in Catbalogan City shall be the seat of office of the CJMA. (c) Functions - (1) To promulgate the implementing rules and regulation of the Grand Jury and Trial Jury Systems; (2) To supervise trial court judges in the enforcement of the rules of Jury Trials; (3) The Executive Judge, with the assistance of his Clerk of Court, shall be the sole authority in supervising the formation of the Grand Jury systems for the entire city and shall 1 enforce the strict confidential policy in the recruitment of the members of the Grand Jury once every six (6) months from January to June and from July to December each year. He has no deciding role in the Grand Jury operation, except supervision in organizing this Body once every six months. On the drawing date and time to select the grand jurors, all Raffle Bins containing grand jury membership applications from different grand jury districts shall be brought into the court room of the Executive Judge and kept separated by Grand Jury District number to maintain the Grand Jury location where the applicants wish to serve. (4) To prepare the annual budget to finance the operation of the Jury Systems and to submit the same to the City Council of Catbalogan City within the customary annual time frame required by said Council. Any budgetary allotment relating to the creation and maintenance of the Jury System shall be reflected in the books both of the CJMA and the City Government of Catbalogan City with the same account name as “Jury Fund”. (5) To establish the additional amount of compensation of the officials and other staff members of the Catbalogan City Jury Management Authority as an incentive of operating the Jury Systems in consultation with, and approval by, the City Council of Catbalogan City. (6) Upon approval of this Jury Law by the People of Catbalogan City as a public initiative, the CJMA shall promptly establish its Table for Criminal Jury Instruction and its Table for Civil Jury Instruction. It shall use the following sample forms in preparing such instructions: Form TJ-121 for Table For Criminal Jury Instruction; and Form TJ-126 for Table for Civil Jury Instruction. The said forms can be viewed in the following web site: http://www.the-filipino-people.com/TJ-Table-Of-Forms.html 2 Section 2. Creation of Reserve pool for pro-temp presiding jury trial judges and community deputy prosecutors with supervision by the CJMA - (a) The CJMA shall require each trial court to create separate reserve pools for volunteer lawyers to serve as pro-temp presiding jury trial judges or community deputy prosecutors, respectively, with pay from among private practicing attorneys who have been engaged in the practice of law for at least three (3) years to ensure availability at all times of the required service of presiding jury trial judges and prosecution attorneys to prevent delay in the administration of justice. Their names shall be drawn by lottery from among applicants. The CJMA shall set up a standard uniform durable form for this purpose, separately: One for the application of pro-temp presiding judges, and another for community deputy prosecutors. A durable form is a document in which its terms and condition cannot be amended or modified by the applicant. (b) Each trial court, and prosecutor’s office, respectively, shall set up separate lottery bins for this purpose wherein an applicant shall drop in his application at any time and shall be ready for drawing of his name. Once he drops in his application in the lottery bin, he shall be bound to report for service. If he shall decline to accept his assignment, it must be based on a life threatening situation or if any party to the case at hand is his client and his written notice to decline to serve shall have been received by the presiding judge, or prosecutor’s office or his clerk, at which he is called to serve not later than three working days prior to the date he is required to serve, otherwise he shall be liable for disciplinary action for failure to honor his commitment to serve. (c) The community deputy prosecutor shall serve under the supervision of a regular city prosecutor. (d) The formula to determine the compensation of the pro-temp presiding jury trial judge and community deputy prosecutor, computed on a daily basis, shall be based on the annualized pay of a newly appointed regular judge or provincial or city prosecutor divided 3 by two hundred fifty days. (e) In the event that a defense attorney who shall appear in court and willing to serve and defend a criminal defendant on short notice within 3 days before the commencement of a jury trial, or when ordered by a Jury Presiding Judge to defend the criminal defendant, his fee shall likewise be paid by Catbalogan City Government at the rate as determined in the foregoing sub-paragraph (d) of this Section. Section 3. The CJMA shall have the power to create positions for jury commissioner in trial courts who shall have the duty and power to serve summons for jury duty to citizens and to prepare such citizens ready for empanelling for jury service provided that a cluster of trial courts regardless of hierarchy or jurisdiction shall be serve by the same jury commissioner. It shall further have the power to create a position for trial jury interpreter in each trial court to serve during a jury trial who must be proficient in speaking both the English language and the local vernacular commonly spoken and understood by the trial jurors on duty. Section 4. Proceeding the case for jury trial: (a) Within thirty (30) days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and Holidays, following the arraignment of the accused, a pretrial conference shall be held upon motion by the court or by the prosecutor or by the accused to set the firm date of the trial. The farthest estimated period to prepare for trial not exceeding three months if the accused is detained, or six months if such accused is free on bail, starting from the pretrial date presented by either party shall be the basis of setting the firm trial date (FTD) of the jury trial. The jury trial shall be continuous from day to day with no recess longer than 3 days shall be allowed. If the cause for continuance is life threatening to the accused, his personal appearance in court shall be excused and the jury trial shall proceed with the presence of his defense counsel. If he is not represented, a presiding judge of the jury shall appoint a competent counsel for the accused at government expense who may be drawn from the pool of the Community Deputy Prosecutor, or from a Public Attorney’s Office . 4 (b) The case shall be dismissed without prejudice of refiling by a government prosecutor if the prosecution is unable to proceed to trial or the prosecutor presents an affidavit of desistance allegedly signed by a victim. In such event, the presiding judge shall have the mandatory duty to refer in writing within thirty (30) days from the date of the dismissal of the matter to the grand jury for investigation of any cause or act of obstruction of justice by the prosecutor or defense counsel for presenting a procured affidavit of desistance allegedly from the complaining witness or victim of the crime to determine whether the witness have been unduly pressured or coerced by any person to sign the same. (c) If the presiding judge fails or refuses to report the dismissal of the case to the grand jury of his mandatory duty in the foregoing Subsection (b), any party to the case or any member of the media or person may report both the prosecutor and such judge to the grand jury for investigation and indictment for obstruction of justice. (d) If the continuance of the jury trial is sought on the basis of a life threatening medical emergency with the issuance of a medical certificate of incapacity of any one involved in a jury trial, the act of a medical doctor, orthopedic doctor, chiropractic doctor, internal medicine doctor, cardiologist, physician, or psychologist, of issuing said certificate of incapacity without knowing the prior history of the medical, physical, or psychological, condition of such judge, lawyer, party litigant in said trial for the sole purpose of aiding a judge, lawyer, or party litigant in a jury trial to delay, or obstruct, said trial, shall be liable of the crime of obstruction of justice upon indictment by a grand jury. (e) If the certificate referred to in the preceding subparagraph (c) shall require incapacity for more than three (3) days of the subject of the certificate from attending the jury trial, the issuing doctor, physician or psychologist shall be required to attend in person before the court to explain the basis of the issuance of his certificate of incapacity to delay the jury trial.