JBC sets minimum years left in service as requirement for applicants to Supreme Court posts

The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) will soon be considering applicants to Supreme Court (SC) posts only if they have at least 2.5 to 5 years of service left before retirement.

In revised rules that will take effect on June 8, the JBC, which screens applicants to judiciary posts, said applicants for the position of SC associate justice or chief justice should have at least 2.5 years left to serve if they have previously served as any of the following:

• associate justice or presiding justice of an appellate court;
• court administrator;
• chairperson of a constitutional commission;
• solicitor general; or
• department secretary

If they had not served any of these positions or are private practitioners, applicants should have at least five years left in service.

"In the selection of nominees for a vacancy in the Supreme Court, the Council must consider their age with a view to discourage the appointment of those who would not be able to serve it for a reasonably sufficient time," the JBC said.

Applicants who are division chairpersons of the appellate courts will be given preference "to foster careerism in the judiciary," the council said.

As the retirement age for justices is 70, the new requirement effectively sets an age limit of 65 to 67.5 years old for aspiring SC magistrates.

However, a member of the JBC said sitting associate justices of the SC who are applying for chief justice are "not contemplated" by the new requirement.

Council member Jose Mendoza, a retired justice, told reporters that the provision covers only an associate justice or presiding justice of appellate courts — the Court of Appeals, the Court of Tax Appeals, and the Sandiganbayan.

The 1987 Constitution says members of the SC or any lower collegiate court must be a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, and that SC justices must be at least 40 years old, must have been a judge of a lower court or practicing law in the country for at least 15 years.

The Constitution also says a member of the judiciary must be a person of proven competence, integrity, probity, and independence.

The revised JBC rules also say applicants must get at least 4 votes from the council to be included in the list of nominees to be submitted to the president. The number of nominees for every vacancy should be at least three and not more than seven unless there is a tie.

The revised rules were signed by JBC ex-officio chairperson Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta, ex-officio members Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, Senator Richard Gordon, Leyte Third District Representative Vicente Veloso, and regular members Mendoza, retired justice Noel Tijam, and retired judges Toribio Ilao Jr.  and Franklin Demonteverde. — Nicole-Anne C. Lagrimas/RSJ, GMA News