JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT

It is the power to hear and decide cases pending between parties who have the right to sue in courts of law and equity. Corollary to this dictum is the principle of locus standi of a litigant. He who is directly affected and whose interest is immediate and substantial has the standing to sue. Thus, a party must show a personal stake in the outcome of the case or an injury to himself that can be redressed by a favorable decision in order to warrant an invocation of the court's jurisdiction and justify the exercise of judicial power on his behalf. Section 1, Article VIII JUDICIAL POWER The judicial power shall be vested in one SC and in such lower courts as may be established by law. Judicial power includes: 1. The duty of the courts of justice to settle actual controversies involving rights which are legally demandable and enforceable (TRADITIONAL CONCEPT OF JUDICIAL POWER); and 2. To determine whether or not there has been a grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on the part of any branch or instrumentality of the Government. (EXPANDED POWER) Jurisdiction: The power to hear and decide cases. Section 2, Article VIII—The Congress shall have the power to define, prescribe, and apportion the jurisdiction of the various courts but may not deprive the Supreme Court of its jurisdiction over cases enumerated in Section 5 hereof. No law shall be passed reorganizing the Judiciary when it undermines the security of tenure of its Members. Constitutional Safeguards that guarantee independence of Judiciary: 1. The Supreme Court is a constitutional body and may not be abolished by law; 2. The members of the SC are removable only by impeachment; 3. The SC may not be deprived of minimum original and appellate jurisdiction; appellate jurisdiction may not be increased without its advice and concurrence; 4. The SC has administrative supervision over all inferior courts and personnel; 5. The SC has the exclusive power to discipline judges/justices of inferior courts; 6. The members of the Judiciary have security of tenure; 7. The members of the SC may not be designated to any agency, performing quasijudicial or administrative functions; 8. Salaries of judges may not be reduced; the Judiciary enjoys fiscal autonomy; 9. The SC alone may initiate Rules of Court; 10.The SC alone may order temporary detail of judges; 11.The SC can appoint all officials and employees of the Judiciary. Section 3, Article VIII-The Judiciary shall enjoy fiscal autonomy. Appropriations for the Judiciary may not be reduced by the legislature below the amount appropriated for the previous year and, after approval, shall be automatically and regularly released. Fiscal Autonomy—means freedom from outside control. The Judiciary, the Constitutional Commissions, and the Ombudsman must have the independence and flexibility needed in the discharge of their constitutional duties. The imposition of restrictions and constraints on the manner the independent constitutional offices allocate and utilize the funds appropriated for their operations is anathema to fiscal autonomy and violative not only of the express mandate of the Constitution but especially as regards the SC, of the independence and separation of powers upon which the entire fabric of our constitutional system is based.