Bar Matter No. 850

Supreme Court, En Banc Resolution.

Re: Rules on Mandatory Continuing Legal Education for Active Members of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.

The COURT RESOLVED to REQUIRE all members of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines to file a written entry of appearance indicating their MCLE exemption or compliance number for the current or immediately preceding compliance period and date of issuance thereof before appearing as counsel or engaging in oral argument in open court or before a Quasi-Judicial body. However, counsels who affixed their signatures in their pleadings and indicated their MCLE exemption or compliance number in their pleadings need not file a separate entry of appearance. Henceforth, all counsels, including partners of law firms whose names appear in the said pleadings, shall also indicate their MCLE exemption or compliance number.

Notices of Coverage & Acquisition after the 10 year of CARP

Republic Act 8532 extended the term of the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL). Consequently, Notice of Coverage (NOC) and Notice of Acquisition (NOA) issued by the DAR after 15 June 1998 or beyond the 10-year of implementation provided for in Section 5 of RA6657, are valid.
(DAR, etc. vs Woodland Agro-Development, Inc., G.R. No. 188174, June 29, 2015)

Void Judgment

A void judgment, for want of jurisdiction is no judgment at all. It cannot be the source of any right nor the creator of any obligation. All acts performed pursuant to it and all claims emanating from it have no legal effect. Hence, it can never become final and any writ of execution based on it is void. It may be said to be "a lawless thing which can be treated as an outlaw and slain at sight, or ignored wherever and whenever it exhibits its head."

Sheriffs, agents of the Law

Sheriffs play an important role in the administration of justice. They are tasked to execute final judgments of the courts. If not enforced, such decisions become empty victories of the prevailing parties. As agents of the law, sheriffs are called upon to discharge their duties with due care and utmost diligence because in serving the court's writs and processes and implementing its orders, they cannot afford to err without affecting the integrity of their office and the efficient administration of justice. Sheriffs ought to know that they have a sworn responsibility to serve writs of execution with utmost dispatch. When writs are placed in their hands, it is their ministerial duty to proceed with reasonable celerity and promptness to execute them in accordance with their mandate. As agents of the law, high standards are expected of sheriffs.

Misconduct/Grave Abuse of Authority

To warrant dismissal from service, misconduct must be grave, serious, important, weighty, momentous, and not trifling. The misconduct must imply wrongful intention and not a mere error of judgment and must also have a direct relation to and be connected with the performance of the public officer's official duties amounting either to maladministration or willful, intentional neglect, or failure to discharge the duties of the office. In order to differentiate grave misconduct from simple misconduct, the elements of corruption, clear intent to violate the law, or flagrant disregard to established rule, must be manifest in the former. These acts are inimical to judicial service and constitute conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service as they violate the norm of public accountability and diminish or tend to diminish the peoples faith in the Judiciary.