SC set to tackle March 23 issues on lawyers’ protection, trial courts’ search warrants

The Supreme Court (SC) is expected to tackle in its full session on Tuesday, March 23, the request of the country’s lawyers for their protection amidst the rising incidents of harassments, assaults, and even deaths inflicted on the members of the legal profession.

Led by Dean Edgardo Carlo Vistan II of the University of the Philippines College of Law, the lawyers also cited not only the assaults and killings of lawyers but also their red-tagging.

Vistan pointed out the attempt of a police officer to get from a trial court a list of lawyers representing suspected members of the Communist Terror Group (CTG).

Several lawyers’ groups have said that more than 60 lawyers, including prosecutors and judiciary members, have been killed since 2016.

Vistan suggested the creation and convening of a Special Committee to Protect Lawyers which will be headed by a senior SC justice with representatives from the trial courts, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, lawyers’ networks, and the legal academe.

Chief Justice Diosdado M. Peralta said that aside from the request of lawyers for their security and protection, the issue on search warrants may also be taken up during the session, the last he would preside before his early retirement on March 27.

Several lawyers’ groups have asked the SC to re-examine the issuance by trial courts of search warrants.  They cited the search warrants issued by the Manila and Quezon City regional trial courts (RTCs). When enforced by the police and the military last March 7, the operations resulted in the deaths of nine persons in South Luzon provinces.

“Let's see what happens next Tuesday (March 23)," Peralta said last week.

But Peralta did not state up to what extent the SC discussion on the issue on search warrants would go, since they have to wait until the return of the warrant is submitted to the courts which issued them.

"It would depend on what is contained in the return of the search warrant. If there's something wrong in the return of the search warrant, the court may require further explanation,” he said.

In his letter to Peralta and the other justices, Vistan said:

“We do believe that this Court is vested with sufficient power under the Constitution to protect its officers, including lawyers, prosecutors, and judges, as well as its staff and personnel from such threats, intimidation, and even killings.

“For this reason, we now seek the Court’s intervention to protect its lawyers, its officers, and to ensure that the administration of justice is not held hostage by threats, pressure, and intimidation by yet unidentified people acting with impunity.”

He underscored the “urgency” of his plea because the threats and killings of lawyers are “directly detrimental to the independence of the Judiciary and the role of lawyers in ensuring fairness and justice in the Judiciary’s work.”