Justice Delayed or Justice Upheld: As Assessment of Naga City's Justice System in the Disposition of Cases

Abstract

Naga City is one of the progressive cities in Region V. It is a highly-urbanized and first class city that has 27 barangays and a total population of 137,810 as of 2002. The Naga City courts are composed of twelve (12) branches of Regional Trial Court (RTC) and three ⑶ branches of Municipal Trial Court in City (MTCC). Out of these 15 courts, only one is vacant. The performance of Naga City courts for the last three to four years was assessed to come with a conclusion to the problem whether the Naga City courts have delivered a speedy and quality justice with regard to the disposition of cases. Two specific functions of the courts are the adjudicative and the management functions. The performance of courts in the delivery of justice can be evaluated through statistics, records, inferences, observations and opinions with regard to the disposition of cases. Speedy justice is one of the polestars in Philippine justice system. Article III (Bill of Rights) Section 16 of the Philippine Constitution provides that "all persons shall have the right to a speedy, inexpensive and fair justice." Various Philippine laws have emphasized the importance of this kind of justice. Many juridical persons have stressed explicitly and implicitly that speedy administration of cases is indispensable in the administration of justice. Naga City is undeniably progressive in terms of its economic and industrial sectors. Nevertheless, it is important to ask: Has Naga City's delivery of quality and speedy justice been also put as priority?