The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) recently released the calendar of activities and prohibited acts in connection with the 2007 synchronized national and local elections. The full calendar is provided in Resolution No. 7707. Here are some dates to remember: Continue reading ‘Calendar of Activities - 2007 synchronized national and local elections’
Archive Page 17
Calendar of Activities - 2007 synchronized national and local elections
Published by October 7th, 2006 in Elections and Constitutional Law. 1 CommentThe best law firm in the Philippines. An extremely sensitive matter, just like asking which law school is the best. I wouldn’t even attempt to give my personal top list, so, for now, let’s leave it to institutions which prepare directories and rankings. Here goes. Continue reading ‘Best Law Firms - Philippines’
Paraphrasing the words of technorati’s Matt:
“55 Million blogs…some of them may just be libelous.”
Courts are being asked to crack down on bloggers and websites, reads a USA Today article. In a legal first, David Milum became the first blogger in the United States to lose a libel suit. The libel case stemmed from an article posted by Milum in a blog, accusing his former lawyer of bribing judges on behalf of drug dealers. The article reads in part: Continue reading ‘Crackdown on bloggers, websites’
The subject on “sentencing law†is not really important to the general public, but it’s included in this Forum for reference and discussion. Foreign jurisdictions have a more extensive online record and discussion on “sentencing law†(for instance, the sentencing project and the sentencing law and policy. Let’s do that here, still with the Plain Language Initiative in mind.
A “sentenceâ€, in law, is the penalty imposed by the court in a criminal case against a person, known as the “accusedâ€, who is found guilty of committing the crime charged. There is no law known as “sentencing law†in the Philippines. For our purposes, however, it refers Continue reading ‘Sentencing Law’
The Office of the Ombudsman, mandated as Protector of the People
Published by October 3rd, 2006 in Elections and Constitutional Law. 1 CommentToday, 2 October 2006, the Ombudsman absolved all respondents involved in the Mega Pacific controversy of all administrative and criminal liabilities. To recall, the Supreme Court threatened to cite the Ombudsman in contempt for its delay in determining the criminal liability, if any, of the public officials (COMELEC) involved in the bungled automation of the 2004 elections (Information Technology Foundation of the Philippines [ITF] vs. COMELEC, G.R. No. 159139 [2004]). The Ombudsman, in the person of the Honorable Ma. Merceditas N. Gutierrez, is now the subject of scathing public criticisms.
Let’s examine the history and constitutional mandate of the Ombudsman in the Philippines. Continue reading ‘The Office of the Ombudsman, mandated as Protector of the People’
The explosive growth of the internet has long caught up with legal research. Back in law school, we had the Lex Libris and PhilJuris, which are electronic compilations of laws and jurisprudence. These convenient research tools, however, didn’t come cheap and must be installed in your computer.
This time, you could do legal research online or through the internet Continue reading ‘Internet/Online Legal Research’
The explosive growth of the internet has long caught up with legal research. Back in law school, we had the Lex Libris and PhilJuris, which are electronic compilations of laws and jurisprudence. These convenient research tools, however, didn’t come cheap and must be installed in your computer.
This time, you could do legal research online or through the internet (as an aside, the Supreme Court issued the Rules on Electronic Evidence, which is applicable whenever electronic documents and electronic data messages are offered or used in evidence).
Here are some tips:
1. The usual way is to use Google or Yahoo search. Enter or type in your key words or search parameter, with space between words (for example: bp 22 bouncing checks). Press “Search” or simply press your computer’s “Enter” key.
For best results, focus the search at certain sites. If you want to limit the search at the Supreme Court site, for instance, simply add “site:supremecourt.gov.ph” (without the quotation marks) at the end of the search parameter. By way of caveat, remember that it takes time before recent posts are reflected in Google or Yahoo. Also, legal matters are not taken in isolation - there may be other related or applicable laws or jurisprudence. No legal advice is given in these sites, including this one.
2. There are great repositories of laws and jurisprudence, like the LawPhil Project (www.lawphil.net) and the Supreme Court (www.supremecourt.gov.ph). These sites contain laws and jurisprudence or Philippine Supreme Court decisions. The SC has the E-Library as a primary research tool, but access is limited. Hopefully, the E-Library will soon be available to the general public, or, at the very least, to all lawyers.
The LawPhil Project has a better search engine (try searching “bp 22″ using the Supreme Court search engine and you’ll get results that include “IBP” and “subpoena”, so better use the first suggested technique). The Supreme Court site also has a limited law-base and its jurisprudence-base goes back only until 1996. The good thing is that the Supreme Court is continuouslly improving its site.
3. Go to the appropriate government agency (see the government links at the right sidebar of this site), then simply browse through its website. This, of course, is a tedious process.
If you’re reading this post in this site (Philippine e-Legal Forum), you can also use the search engine at the top or the right sidebar. If you have other tips, please feel free to post it here and share it with everyone.
Philippine Constitution (1987)
Published by September 30th, 2006 in Elections and Constitutional Law. Closed(Full text also here)
Preamble
Article I. National Territory
Article II. Declaration of Principles and State Policies
Article III. Bill of Rights
Article IV. Citizenship
Article V. Suffrage
Article VI. The Legislative Department
Article VII. The Executive Department
Article VIII. The Judicial Department
Continue reading ‘Philippine Constitution (1987)’
Steps and Procedure in Annulment and Declaration of Nullity of Marriage
Published by September 30th, 2006 in Annulment and Legal Separation and Litigation and Labor Law. 48 CommentsYou thought you’ve found your perfect match. You thought your marriage is bound to last forever, or, at the very least, until the last breath. You’ve thought wrong, you say, and you now think of seeking legal remedy to end your marriage. Here are “steps” or suggestions in deciding whether to step out of the ring or not: Continue reading ‘Steps and Procedure in Annulment and Declaration of Nullity of Marriage’
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