June 17, 2011 · 03:06

A hopeless suit

The United Church of Christ in the Philippines filed a suit for P6 million in damages against former president – and now Pampanga Representative – Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo with regards to alleged extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances during her presidency. Here are some details from PhilStar:

In the 18-page complaint filed at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court, UCCP demanded that P1 million be paid to the organization by Arroyo for moral damages; P500,000 each for the relatives of the six supposed victims; P500,000 for exemplary damages and P300,000 each for litigation and attorney’s fees.

UCCP is bringing the suit on the legal theory of command responsibility, i.e. as president she commands the Armed Forces of the Philippines and is responsible for disciplining any human rights violations that occur.

It’s worth noting that other suits against AFP commanders, most notably Jovito Palparan, have failed to gain much traction in the courts. Plaintiffs need to provide clear evidence that the commander (or president) knew of the abuses, difficult even in the best of circumstances. However, one new factor in their favor could be Aquino, or namely whether the Aquino administration provides support for such suits. I’d be surprised if there were a major ruling against Arroyo, but then again the Philippine judiciary has always been full of surprises.

Comments Off on A hopeless suit

Filed under ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, Philippines

June 15, 2011 · 02:44

Burma Constitution articles

Wow, I almost forgot to post these on the blog. First, my article for the Australian Journal of Asian Law on Burma’s new constitution was finally published. Second, I wrote a brief article summarizing Burma’s constitutional debates for Tom Ginsburg’s Comparative Constitutions blog. In both, I argue that the new Constitutional Tribunal will likely help the government centralize control over local government bodies and help manage and update constitutional interpretations. I’m looking forward to seeing whether my predictions come true over the next few years.

Comments Off on Burma Constitution articles

Filed under Burma, constitution, Myanmar

June 14, 2011 · 18:55

Philippine Replacements and Acquittals

I apologize as I’ve been traveling a bit and hadn’t had time to update my posts recently, but there are a few pieces of news from the Philippines.

First, Justice Carpio-Morales, the lone dissenter in the de Castro v. JBC case last year that paved the way for President Arroyo to appoint the chief justice, is resigning from the Supreme Court. However, she’s already decided what to do next. Merceditas Gutierrez had resigned as Ombudsman earlier this summer after facing impeachment complaints from the Congress. Justice Carpio-Morales is the frontrunner to replace her. Her nomination is being considered by the JBC right now. Whether she gets the position or not she is approaching the retirement age of 70 and must step down soon anyways, giving Aquino another Supreme Court seat to fill.

Second, the Supreme Court finally denied a petition to hold Senator Lacson liable for the murders of publicist Salvador Dacer and his driver. The case is from 2000 and had been litigated for quite some time. Dacer’s daughters sought to overturn a Court of Appeals ruling that cleared Lacson of the murder, but the Supreme Court found that they lacked standing. In particular, Philippine criminal procedure law gives only the state the ability to appeal the dismissal of a criminal action (with one or two exceptions of course). Sadly, given the problems Filipino human rights activists have faced in cajoling prosecutors to bring these cases, this ruling could limit the ability of advocates to pursue these cases through the criminal justice system.

Finally, the Marcus burial issue has yet to be resolved. However, Vice President Binay has proposed burying Marcos with full military honors Marcos’ home province of Ilocos Norte as a compromise. I haven’t seen any further word on the lawsuit brought by Marcos allies for him to be buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani (national cemetery).

Comments Off on Philippine Replacements and Acquittals

Filed under Philippines

June 10, 2011 · 03:51

Commentary on Indonesian Judicial Reform

Hikmahanto Juwana, professor of law at the University of Indonesia, recently penned a commentary in The Jakarta Post about judicial reform in Indonesia. He makes a distinction between system reforms, which he believes are on path, and personnel reform, which is floundering. In essence, he sees the major problem to judicial reform as recruiting qualified and honest judges, as well as gathering sufficient evidence to punish corrupt judges. He advocates more administrative mechanisms to punish wayward judges. Lisa Hilbink’s book about judges under Chile shows the danger that senior judges can manipulate internal disciplinary mechanisms in order to influence the rulings of lower judges. Still, given how desperate the situation in Indonesia’s judiciary has become, such measures might be warranted. At the very least, it appears this latest judicial corruption scandal has more people talking about the problem at higher levels.

Comments Off on Commentary on Indonesian Judicial Reform

Filed under indonesia, judicial reform

June 4, 2011 · 17:25

More details about Indonesian judicial corruption scandal

The Jakarta Globe has more details about the corruption scandal involving Judge Syarifuddin Umar. The Bengkulu Legal Aid Office claims the judge took some Rp 5 billion ($585,000) while presiding over the graft trial of Bengkulu Governor Agusrin Najamuddin. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court announced that it would temporarily suspend Judge Syarifuddin Umar pending the investigation.

Comments Off on More details about Indonesian judicial corruption scandal

Filed under corruption, indonesia, KPK