CHIEF Justice Alexander Gesmundo yesterday said the Supreme Court’s Strategic Plans for Judicial Innovations (SPJI) will help strengthen the Shari’ah justice system.
Gesmundo made the remarks in his speech during the first National Shari’ah Summit in Cagayan de Oro City attended by more than 300 participants, including justices, judges, prosecutors, lawyers, Shari’ah counselors, Shari’ah judges, members of the academe, representatives of non-government organizations, as well as foreign delegates from countries that implement Shari’ah law.
Gesmundo said one of the tenets of the SPJI is greater access to courts through inclusivity.
“With an institutional review of the Shari’ah justice system, we hope to strengthen the foundations of Shari’ah in our national legal framework and achieve full adherence to law by all,” Gesmundo said.
“The SPJI aims to establish new frameworks and adopt new approaches, but at the same time, build on and re-purpose existing ones to achieve the long-time aspiration of delivering responsive and real justice,” he added.
Gesmundo said it is the constitutional, if not the moral duty, of everyone in the Judiciary to promote an inclusive environment free of biases against all genders and social sectors, against any religious belief, and even political persuasion.
He added that one of the objectives of the SPJI is to strengthen the Shari’ah justice system not only in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao but also in other areas where other members of the Muslim population reside.
He said even before the Summit, the SC has started working on the creation of a Committee on Shari’ah justice led by Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen as chair and Associate Justice Japar Dimaampao as vice chair.
Dimaampao is the second Muslim to be appointed to the SC, the first being Abdulwahid Bidin, who was appointed by then president Corazon Aquino.
The committee, according to Gesmundo, would “pursue an integrated effort to institute reforms and initiatives that would contribute to the facilitation of justice and the rule of law in the BARMM.”
Gesmundo added the two-day summit will give the SC and other stakeholders the opportunity to assess the institutional framework of Shari’ah within the current BARMM governance.
A review of the overall performance of Shari’ah courts as well as its strengths and weaknesses will also be discussed along with the creation of more Shari’ah courts.
The Shari’ah courts are courts of justice that have original jurisdiction over cases involving violations of PD 1083, or the Code of Muslim Personal Laws in the Philippines.
The expansion of jurisdiction of Shari’ah courts to include criminal and commercial cases will also be tackled and the feasibility on the formal organization of a Shari’ah High Court.
In his welcome remarks, Leonen spoke on the need to adjust the narrative of our histories to achieve true rule of law and justice.
“Shari’ah, coupled with customs among the peoples of Bangsamoro, already established then a sophisticated civil and criminal laws, and a political infrastructure,” Leonen said.
