SC asks decrease court docket judges for stock of pending instances of violence towards attorneys

MANILA, Philippines – The Workplace of the Supreme Court docket Administrator (OCA) of the Supreme Court docket has ordered first- and second-level court docket judges to current a listing of pending instances involving violence towards attorneys.

“A listing of prison instances pending earlier than the courts involving attorneys harassed, threatened, attacked and even killed is underway. Due to this fact, all first and second stage court docket judges are hereby invited to conduct the nationwide inquiry inside 10 days of this publication, ”reads the OCA round signed by receiver Midas Mark.

The OCA issued the round on Tuesday, March 9, in accordance with a memorandum issued by Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta urging it to reply to “rising concern over continued assaults on attorneys and judges.”

A day earlier, attorneys and authorized teams urged the Excessive Court docket to intervene to finish assaults on members of the authorized career.

READ: SC urged to embark on continued assaults on attorneys and activists

The most recent assault was towards lawyer Angelo Guillen, who is without doubt one of the attorneys for the petition filed by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) towards anti-terrorism legislation enforcement (ATA).

Guillen can be Deputy Vice President of the Nationwide Union of Folks’s Advocates (NUPL) for Visayas and Secretary Basic of the NUPL Panay Chapter.

From June 2016 to January this 12 months, 56 attorneys, judges and prosecutors had been killed. This determine is excessive in comparison with the 41 attorneys killed from 2001 to 2014 primarily based on a report revealed in December 2014 by the Endangered Lawyer Day Basis, the Affiliation of European Democratic Legal professionals (AED-EDL) , the European Affiliation of Legal professionals for Democracy (ELDH) and the NUPL.