EDITORIAL — Improving the justice system

This month, the Philippines will be hosting the 11th meeting of the Council of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Chief Justices. The four-day event beginning on Nov. 18, to be held in Cebu, should provide an opportunity for the Philippines to take away best practices for making the administration of justice faster and more efficient.

Most of the ASEAN member states are hardly shining examples of strong judiciaries and the rule of law. There is one standout – Singapore – which ranked 16th overall in this year’s Rule of Law Index drawn up by the World Justice Project. The Philippines, at 99th spot among 142 states and jurisdictions, again lagged behind the other original ASEAN founding members Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, and even latecomer Vietnam.

Of the eight indicators used in the index, the Philippines obtained the lowest score in criminal justice, ranking 124th. It ranked below all the global averages in terms of civil justice, regulatory enforcement, fundamental rights, absence of corruption, open government, constraints on government powers as well as order and security.

The weakness of the rule of law is seen as one of the reasons for the persistence of extrajudicial killings in the name of law enforcement. Former president Rodrigo Duterte, in justifying his bloody crackdown against illegal drugs as he faced the Senate last week, cited the slow pace of justice in resorting to the short cuts. His crackdown enjoyed a measure of public and political support also partly because of frustration over the slow, inefficient and corrupted criminal justice system.

The glacial pace of justice in this country leads to failure in holding offenders to account for their crimes. Already, too many cases involving large-scale corruption, including those dating back to the martial law years, have been tossed out by the courts for “inordinate delay” in the prosecution. Such failure breeds impunity, institutionalizing thievery in government and rewarding wrongdoing.

Surely improving the administration of justice is not an impossible task. The Supreme Court, which supervises the judiciary, need not wait for Congress to pass relevant legislation. The SC can coordinate with the executive, which is in charge of the prosecution service, as well as the Office of the Ombudsman in implementing reforms. Other countries can deliver justice swiftly and with credibility. Why can’t we?