The Supreme Court (SC) has started preparations for the setting up of a Shari’ah High Court in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) to resolve appeals from rulings handed down by the Shari’ah district courts.

Decisions of the Shari’ah High Court are final and executory except for cases involving questions of law which should be appealed before the SC.

There will be five justices of the Shari’ah High Court – a presiding justice and four associate justices whose rank and compensation will be the same as those of the presiding justice and associate justices of the Court of Appeals (CA).

At present, there are eight Shari’ah district courts (equivalent to regional trial courts) and 63 Shari’ah circuit courts (equivalent to municipal trial courts).

There are several Shari’ah district and circuit courts outside of the BARMM which is composed of five provinces -- Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, and Tawi-Tawi.

The setting up of the Shari’ah High Court as part of the country’s judicial system is provided for under Article X of Republic Act No. 11054, the Bangsamoro Organic Law.

It will exercise exclusive original jurisdiction over cases where either or both parties are Muslims provided that the non-Muslim party voluntarily submits to its jurisdiction.

The setting up of the Shari’ah High Court was contained in a resolution written by Associate Justice Japar B. Dimaampao. The resolution acted favorably on the request of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA).

The SC said that for the Shari'ah High Court to be functional, it must not only be properly funded, but must also be staffed by qualified magistrates and personnel.

Qualified to be a justice of the Shari’ah High Court are natural-born citizens who are Muslims, regular members of the Philippine bar, at least 40 years old, and must have engaged in the practice of law for 15 years or more, and have completed at least two years of Shari 'ah or Islamic Jurisprudence.

Fundings for the Sharia’s district and circuit courts are included in the judiciary’s annual expenditure program.

While Article X of RA 11054 is silent as to the source of funding for the Shari’ah High Court, the SC said the law empowers the Bangsamoro government to allocate its annual block grant from the national government to fund its various agencies and projects.

At the same time, the SC said the Bangsamoro government is authorized to enact a law that would allow the Chief Minister, the Speaker of the Parliament, and the Presiding Justice of the Shari' ah High Court to augment any item in the general appropriations law for their respective offices from savings in other items of their respective appropriations.

However, the SC said the General Appropriations Act of the Bangsamoro for the fiscal years 2021 to 2024 showed that the BTA did not include any allocation for the Shari' ah High Court.

Thus, it also said: “It may be reasonably deduced that the funding for the Shari'ah High Court must similarly be included in the Judiciary' s annual expenditure program. Much like the Shari' ah district courts and the Shari'ah circuit courts, the Shari'ah High Court is an integral part of the Philippine judicial system.”

It added that RA 12233, the Judiciary Fiscal Autonomy Act, enables the SC to submit the judiciary's original budget proposal directly to Congress as an attachment to the National Expenditure Program.

In its resolution, the SC directed its Fiscal Management and Budget Office to prepare and submit the budget and staffing pattern necessary for the operationalization of the Shari'ah High Court.

Also, the Office of the Court Administrator, and the Fiscal Management and Budget Office were ordered to report within 30 days the actions taken to implement the resolution.