{"id":165655,"date":"2018-05-31T04:29:18","date_gmt":"2018-05-31T08:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=165655"},"modified":"2018-05-31T04:29:18","modified_gmt":"2018-05-31T08:29:18","slug":"icj-views-serenos-oust-a-deterioration-of-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/05\/31\/icj-views-serenos-oust-a-deterioration-of-law\/","title":{"rendered":"ICJ views Sereno\u2019s oust a deterioration of law"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Along<\/a>
Along with other concerned institutions, ICJ cited that it also publicly condemned the SC for removing Sereno. (PNA photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) is \u201cgravely concerned\u201d over the proceedings of the Supreme Court (SC) that ruled the ousting of former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.<\/p>\n

The ICJ saw this move as a contribution to the \u201coverall deterioration in the rule of law in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPreserving the independence of the judiciary in the Philippines is crucial at a time when the government is credibly alleged to have been engaged in widespread and systematic human rights violations, amounting to crimes under international law,\u201d Frederick Rawski, the ICJ Asia Pacific Director said in a statement on May 30, Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the perception of political interference and the potential impact of this case on the credibility of the judiciary as a whole, it is imperative that the Court swiftly and fairly consider the Chief Justice\u2019s motion for reconsideration,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

According to the ICJ, the High Court\u2019s decision \u201copened the floodgates\u201d to similar attacks against members of the Judiciary or even the Philippine Commission on Human Rights (CHR).<\/p>\n

ICJ described the SC as a \u201csharply divided\u201d court, and its decision just added to the perception that government institutions are unable or unwilling to protect the rule of law. Thus, they are then attacking those that are \u201cprotecting\u201d it.<\/p>\n

Along with other concerned institutions, ICJ cited that it also publicly condemned the SC for removing Sereno.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, ICJ noted that it called on the High Court to ensure that any proceedings are conducted in observance of the highest standards of judicial ethics, \u201cas reflected in the international standards such as the Bangalore Principles of Judicial Court.\u201d<\/p>\n

These international standards it mentioned specified that the judiciary, the individual judges must be able to conduct themselves without \u201cimproper influences, inducements, pressures, threats or interferences, direct or indirect\u2026 for any reason.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ICJ released its statement in line with Sereno\u2019s lawyers filing for a 203-page motion for reconsideration against the SC\u2019s decision to oust her through a quo warranto.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn accordance with letter and spirit of Section 2, Article XI of the Constitution, this Honorable Court had consistently held in a long line of jurisprudence, that impeachable officers, especially Members of the Supreme Court, could be removed only by impeachment,\u201d she wrote, adding, \u201cNow, an impeachable officer may also be ousted via quo warranto.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) is \u201cgravely concerned\u201d over the proceedings of the Supreme Court (SC) that ruled the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":108415,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[51501,15694,47663,1144],"class_list":["post-165655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","tag-international-commission-of-jurists","tag-maria-lourdes-sereno","tag-quo-warranto","tag-supreme-court","mauthors-bea-kirstein-t-manalaysay","mauthors-philippine-canadian-inquirer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}