TO ensure the Judiciary remains drug-free, the Supreme Court said it will require drug testing as part of the pre-employment requirements while random drug tests will also be conducted.
These measures are included in A.M.No.23-02-11, or the Guidelines for the Implementation of a Drug-Free Policy in the Judiciary, an offshoot of an en banc resolution dated April 18, 2023.
The SC said the guidelines “take effect immediately after its publication in a newspaper of general circulation on September 17, 2023.”
On the pre-employment drug testing, the SC said a “negative drug test result within one year from the application date shall be a requirement for initial entry to the Judiciary.
“For this purpose, all courts reserve the right to require applicants to disregard an earlier drug test result and to undergo a new drug test in a government-accredited drug testing laboratory of the court’s own choice,” it added.
The SC said that within six months from the effectivity of the guidelines, the Drug-Free Workplace Committees (DFWC) shall conduct an initial mandatory, random and suspicion-less drug testing of its incumbent employees, while subsequent drug testing shall be periodically conducted in an interval not exceeding two years, taking into consideration the number of court employees discharged from dangerous drug use and other logistical requirements.
It said that Judiciary employees found positive for dangerous drug use shall be dealt with administratively, and such findings shall be grounds for suspension or termination from work, subject to the provisions of the Civil Service Law and the Rules of Court.
However, a court employee who tested positive for drug use during a confirmatory test will have 15 days to file a request to challenge the result through a “challenge test at his or her expense.
“The challenge test shall be conducted by a government drug testing laboratory or by a drug testing laboratory duly authorized and accredited by the Department of Health using the same specimen,” the SC said, adding that failure to file a request for challenge within 15 days shall make the positive drug test result from the confirmatory test final.
Court employees who tamper with any drug test result, interfere in the conduct of the drug test or the release of the result, those who refused to undergo or complete their treatment or rehabilitation once found positive for drug use and fail, without a valid reason, to undergo mandatory drug testing after being randomly selected will be considered as gross insubordination with the attendant administrative penalty.
“Court employees found to have used dangerous drugs during the prescribed period of their intervention or rehabilitation shall also be charged with the administrative offense of Gross Misconduct,” the SC said.
The guidelines seek to enhance awareness about the use, abuse, and adverse effects of dangerous drugs among the Judiciary’s officials and employees through information dissemination, education and training.
“It also aims to institute other measures that address drug abuse among judicial employees,” the SC said, adding the guidelines apply to “all officials or personnel of the Judiciary, regardless of status of appointment, who are employed at the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, the Sandiganbayan, the Court of Tax Appeals, and the first- and second-level courts under the direct supervision of the Office of the Court Administrator.”
It also covers employees in the Judicial and Bar Council, Judicial Integrity Board, Philippine Judicial Academy, Office of the Judiciary Marshalls, Mandatory Continuing Legal Office, and all other offices placed under SC supervision.
“Other workers detailed or working in the courts such as security and janitorial services personnel hired through service contracts as well as employees detailed as members of the Senate Electoral Tribunal and House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal are also subject to the Guidelines,” the SC added.
