CHAVEZ vs JBC
GR No. 202242
April 16, 2013
Petitioner asked the Court whether (a) Paragraph 1, Section 8, Article VIII of the
Constitution allows for more than (1) member to sit in the JBC, and (b) if the practice of having
two representatives from Congress is a violation of the Constitution.
His petition was due to the departure of former Chief Justice Renato Corona, wherein
the petitioner is nominated as former CJ Corona’s successor.
Facts
●The Judicial and Bar Council, an initiative from the Constitutional Commission, is a
separate, competent and independent body responsible for the judicial appointment
process to be recommended to the President.
●Paragraph 1, Section 8, Article VIII of the Constitution states that the Judicial and Bar
Council (JBC) should only comprise of: the Chief Justice (as ex-officio Chairman),
Secretary of Justice, 1 representative from Congress (as one of the ex-officio members),
a representative from the Integrated Bar, a Professor of Law, a Retired member of the
Supreme Court, and a representative from the private sector. (7 members in total)
●Since Congress is allowed to send 1 member, each house sends representatives and
should sit in alternately or by rotation
●In 1994, an eight member- an addition from the Congress began attending wherein each
member from the Congress has ½ of a vote. (magets ra ba? Basta naging 8 ang members
sa JBC since together nagsit in ang gikan sa congress tapos since 7 ra ila gina honor na
votes and attendees sa JBC, ½ each ang 2 ka members)
●In 2011, JBC en banc allowed the Senate and House of Representative to 1
representative with 1 vote each- making the JBC comprise 8 members.
Issue
●WON having more than one member from the Congress to join the JBC is constitutional
(NO)
Ruling
●The current count of the members of the JBC is unconstitutional. With respect to
Paragraph 1, Section 8, Article VIII of the Constitution, the JBC should only consist of
seven (7) members, thus, the JBC is enjoined to reconstitute to allow only one member
of the congress to sit in its proceedings.
●The reason for the seven members is that Congress would not have much influence in
