SC: Members of judiciary can now teach up to 10 hours

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Supreme Court has allowed an increase in teaching hours of justices, judges and personnel of the Judiciary but made stricter rule in seeking permission to teach, amending a circular issued by the Court Administrator in 1997.

In a resolution made public Friday, the high court allowed an increase in teaching hours from eight hours to not more than 10 hours.

No teaching will be conducted earlier than 5:30 p.m. on regular working days and 2:30 p.m. on Saturdays. During regular weekdays, teaching must be two hours a day at the most.

An application to teach if filed by a judge, the high court said, must be accompanied by a certification of the Clerk of Court regarding the condition of the court docket showing:

• the number of pending cases; and
• the number of cases disposed of within a three-month period prior to the start of the semester in his or her sala.

The 1997 circular stated that permission to teach shall be subject to approval by the court, which may deny or grant a less than eight-hour teaching load.

In the recent resolution issued by the high court, an application for permission to teach shall be as follows:

• If filed by a judge or court personnel from a lower level court, it shall be subject to approval of the executive judge;

• If filed by an executive judge, it will be approved by the Court Administrator;

• If filed by an associate justice or court personnel of the Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan, Court of Tax Appeals, it shall be subject to the approval of their Presiding Justice;

• If filed by a presiding justice of the Sandiganbayan, Court of Appeals and Court of Tax Appeals or a Supreme Court personnel it shall be subject to the approval of the Chief Justice

At the end of every year, the approving authorities must submit a report of the actions taken on the applications to teach to the Chief Justice.

The resolution was issued upon the request of Supreme Court Associate Justice Roberto Abad.