Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla has issued a department circular raising the bar for the filing of criminal cases in court.
The circular issued on Friday directed state prosecutors to immediately withdraw the charges that have no “reasonable certainty of conviction,” in effect doing away with preliminary investigations meant to determine “probable cause” to pursue the case.
The circular defined charges with a “reasonable certainty of conviction” as those supported by “prima facie evidence,” meaning the case could hold water or stand scrutiny at the court.
Citing the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) policy direction to file only cases with reasonable certainty of conviction and the Justice Sector Coordinating Council’s (JSCC) efforts to resolve court backlogs, Remulla advised the prosecutors to “carefully assess all their cases and to determine if each has a reasonable certainty of conviction based on the evidence in hand, availability of witnesses, and continued interest of private complainants.”
The Rules of Court, under Rule 112 on preliminary investigations, currently requires only that there should be a “well-founded belief that a crime has been committed and the respondent is probably guilty thereof, and should be recommended for trial.
Remulla initially suggested raising the degree of proof for filing criminal cases in court from “probable cause” to “reasonable certainty of conviction” before a JSCC meeting in Baguio in January.
A press statement by the Supreme Court (SC) quoted Remulla as saying; “We all know that there is a need to narrow the great divide between the current degree of proof needed for the filing of a criminal information, probable cause, and that of conviction, which is proof beyond reasonable doubt.”
The JSCC is jointly chaired by the Chief Justice and the secretaries of the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
DOJ spokesman Mico Clavano said the circular was based on the executive function of the Justice Secretary.
“His policy is to file only quality cases in court—cases that will yield convictions,” Clavano said.
He explained that as a result of the big difference between ‘probable cause’ and ‘proof beyond reasonable doubt,’ conviction rate suffers and the congestion in jails worsened with some inmates released only after they are acquitted.
“In other words, the resources of the government are wasted when weak cases are filed. These problems, among others, can be solved by filing only cases with a reasonable certainty of conviction,” he added.
However, the Rules of Court must first be amended by the SC before the DOJ can implement a new standard for preliminary examinations.
Clavano said the provision on preliminary investigation under the Rules of Court may either be amended or completely done away with.
“An amendment of Rule 112 is forthcoming as the Supreme Court has agreed to let the DOJ take the lead. It is also possible that Rule 112 will be completely removed from the Rules of Court to make it a purely executive function,” he said.