The Supreme Court has extended judicial clemency to a Quezon City judge held liable for inability to resolve pending cases with the dispatch.
 
In its ruling signed by deputy clerk of court en banc Felipa Anama, the high court said Lee was able to "satisfy all standards" to justify his request to be given judicial clemency.
 
Lee, a former presiding judge of the Metropolitan Trial Court (MeTC) Branch 38 in Quezon City, was fined P20,000 for failing to resolve cases within the period fixed by law.
 
A stern warning was also issued against him not to repeat the same or a similar offense, otherwise he faces more sever penalties.
 
In October 2007, the Office of the Court Administrator found out that Lee had eight cases pending resolution when he accepted his promotion as regional trial court judge of Branch 83, also in Quezon City.
 
The finding was contrary to an August 2005 case status report Lee had earlier submitted wherein he claimed that he had no pending cases before leaving the MeTC.
 
The OCA also saw "grossly inaccurate entries" in the report.
 
Then on February 1 this year, Lee informed the high court of his intention to "aspire for a higher position in the judiciary" but is prevented from pursuing it due to sanction imposed on him before.
 
"It precludes him from qualifying for a promotion in the judiciary, or from being appointed to any similar government office where appointment is governed by the Rules of the Judicial and Bar Council,” the court said in its ruling.
 
"[But now the court] now deems it fair, appropriate and timely to open the door to Judge Lee to allow him to seek further opportunities in the judiciary," the high court further said.
 
Under court rules, unless he secures judicial clemency, a judge is disqualified from seeking a promotion in the judiciary or the Offices of the Ombudsman and Deputy Ombudsman if he or she had been meted with a penalty of fine exceeding P10,000 in the past. — ELR, GMA News