‘Judges should be mindful of keeping public trust’

CA Justice Gabriel T. Ingles talks about judicial independence before participants of the 15th IBP national convention. (CDN PHOTO/ JUNJIE MENDOZA)

Judges and those working in the judiciary should always consider public perception of their conduct, which the public expects to be on a high plane.

The most important quality of a good lawyer and a good judge is “respect for truth and the rule of law, said Executive Judge Gabriel Ingles of the Court of Appeals Cebu station.

Without it, “the practice of law as well as dispensation of justice becomes meaningless.”

Ingles spoke on the topic of judicial discipline during the 15th National Lawyers Convention.

“As it has been said ‘a judge occupies a position in government which gives a tangible semblance to an important intangible concept: justice in society. A judge’s appearance is the society’s aspiration for justice itself.”

Ingles said a judge is not just a person who is employed in government to decide disputes.

Confidence

During his tenure as Regional Trial Court judge in Cebu City, Ingles refused to accept monthly allowances from the city government and the province in order to maintain his independence in court.

Ingles cited a court ruling which states that “public confidence in the judicial system and in the moral authority and integrity of the judiciary is of utmost importance.”

“Hence, it is essential for all judges, individually or collectively, to respect and honor the judicial office as a public trust and to strive to enhance and maintain confidence in the judiciary,” Ingles said.

He said other employees of the judiciary should be living examples of uprightness in the performance of their official duties and in their personal and private dealings with others to preserve the good name of the courts.

Complaint

Ingles urged people who have complaints about services and personnel at the CA Cebu Station to file a complaint so they can address their concerns.

“If you have complaints of the CA here in the Visayas, be free to communicate. You can do this anonymously. Just communicate. The more effective way to correct ourselves is if somebody tells us that what we are doing wrong,” he said.

Ingles said lawyers and judges have complementary and indispensable roles.

“The court dispenses justice according to the law of the land. Thus to dispense justice, the judge must determine the truth using the law applicable to a case.  On the other hand, the function of lawyers is to establish the basis of both truth and justice,” Ingles said.

In a speech at the start of the  convention on Friday,  Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno said she would  continue to push for an increase in  salaries “that will allow judges to have a dignified lifestyle” and  ensure hat court employees are less  vulnerable to temptation. But Sereno said the court “could not depend on the kindngess of congressmen to give his PDAF for the construction” of halls of justice.  In the same way, “We could not be vulnerable to LGUS, who I know want to help,” she said because “we want to assure the IBP that when they file a case against an LGU, judges will handle the case fairly.”