of the Philippines the criminal justice system is - Article 2

Six suggestions to improve the
criminal justice system of the
Philippines
Asian Legal Resource Centre, Hong Kong
The Asian Legal Resource Centre and Asian Human Rights
Commission call for the following steps to be taken as
top priorities in order to address the grave problems
afflicting the criminal justice system of the Philippines, which
deeply undermine the possibility of all persons in the country
obtaining their fundamental human rights and cause a loss of
respect and expectations in the role of institutions for the rule of
law in the Philippines and the functioning of the state itself.
1. An independent commission be established with the
guidance and technical support of key United Nations agencies
and other international bodies, comprising of senior judges,
competent jurists, reputed academics and representatives from
civil society, including human rights organizations, to undertake
a comprehensive review of the country’s criminal justice system,
and specifically the investigation, prosecution and adjudication
of cases, by way of public consultations and other relevant
methods, in order to identify defects and hindrances and make
full recommendations to the government and notify the public of
the same, in full, within six months.
2. In the interim, both the Department of Justice and
Philippine National Police clarify and widely publicise a rational,
accessible and comprehensive system of witness and victim
protection in accordance with the Witness Protection, Security
and Benefit Act (RA 6981), together with an explicit set of
operational guidelines for police that clearly stipulate officers’
duties to provide protection and spell out the sanctions that will
be taken against officers failing to comply. A full review of the
implementation and limitations of the Witness Protection,
Security and Benefit Act must be included as part of the work of
the abovementioned independent commission.
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article 2 • February 2007 Vol. 6, No. 1