The Role of the Supreme Court in Unstable Democracies: The Case of the Philippine Supreme Court - An Empirical Analysis 1986-2010

The role of abstract values such as equity and fairness in our law of contract has been the subject of controversy for a number of years. In 2002 the Supreme Court of Appeal took the position that these values do not constitute self-standing grounds for interfering with contractual relationships. Despite this being consistently maintained by the SCA in a number of cases, some High Court judges deviated from this position on the basis that they were permitted to do so by some minority judgments and obiter dicta in the Constitutional Court. The uncertainty thus created has fortunately now been removed by the judgment of the Constitutional Court in Beadica v The Trustees for the Time being of the Oregon Trust.

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Informal networks and judicial decisions: Insights from the Supreme Court of the Philippines, 1986–2015

International Political Science Review ◽

10.1177/0192512118795314 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 39 (5) ◽

pp. 616-633 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Björn Dressel ◽

Tomoo Inoue

Keyword(s):

Supreme Court ◽

Political Influence ◽

The Philippines ◽

Informal Networks ◽

Significant Evidence ◽

Presidential Appointments ◽

High Profile ◽

Judicial Decisions ◽

The Supreme Court

To what extent do informal networks shape the decisions of the Supreme Court of the Philippines? Though often raised in the Philippines, this question has never been studied empirically. To answer it, we constructed a set of social network variables to assess how informal ties, based on university connections and work affiliations, may have influenced the court’s decisions between 1986 and 2015 in 47 politically high-profile cases. Providing statistically significant evidence for the effects of political influence (presidential appointments) and hierarchical pressure (the vote of the Chief Justice) on related networks, our analysis suggests a continuing tension on the Supreme Court bench between professionalism and informality. Because the findings advance both theoretical and empirical understanding of larger issues at the intersection of courts and society throughout the region, we recommend more attention to the role of judicial networks, external to the courts as well as within them.

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The Role of Courts in Rifted Democracies

Israel Law Review ◽

10.1017/s0021223700015983 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 33 (2) ◽

pp. 216-258 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Ruth Gavison

Keyword(s):

Supreme Court ◽

Rule Of Law ◽

Judicial Review ◽

Public Life ◽

The Political ◽

The Rule Of Law ◽

Independent Judiciary ◽

The Supreme Court ◽

Harsh Criticism

A discussion of the role of courts in Israel today demands some introductory remarks. The Supreme Court and the President of the Supreme Court enjoy great acclaim and respect within Israel and abroad, but have recently come under attack from a variety of sources. These attacks are often confused, and many of them are clearly motivated by narrow partisan interests and an inherent objection to the rule of law and judicial review. But these motives do not necessarily weaken the dangers which the attacks pose to the legitimacy of the courts in general, and the Supreme Court in particular, in Israel's public life. The fact that in some sectors extremely harsh criticism of the court is seen to be an electoral boost, testifies to the serious and dangerous nature of the threat. This situation creates a dilemma for those who want a strong and independent judiciary, believing it is essential for freedom and democracy, but who also believe that, during the last two decades, the courts have transgressed limits they should respect. The dilemma becomes especially acute when the political echo sounds out in one's criticism, and when one is part of the group that believes that the legal and the judicial systems have made some contribution to the prevalence of these hyperbolic and dangerous attacks, as I am.

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Undoing historical injustice: the role of the Forest Rights Act and the Supreme Court in departing from colonial forest laws

Indian Law Review ◽

10.1080/24730580.2020.1783941 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 221-243

Author(s):

Deirdre N. Dlugoleski

Keyword(s):

Supreme Court ◽

Historical Injustice ◽

The Supreme Court

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The Non-Professional Judge as a Component of Civic Culture in Poland

Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric ◽

10.2478/slgr-2020-0051 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 65 (1) ◽

pp. 121-132

Author(s):

Dariusz Kużelewski

Keyword(s):

Supreme Court ◽

Justice System ◽

Civic Culture ◽

Gradual Reduction ◽

The Supreme Court ◽

Polish Law ◽

Justice Of The Peace ◽

Selection Of

Abstract The objective of the paper is to present the role of the non-professional judge in Poland as an important manifestation of civic culture based on citizens’ activity in the sphere of justice among other things. The paper also highlights the importance of an appropriate selection of citizens who are to adjudicate and possibly place restrictions on access to judicial functions using the example of Polish law. The last part addresses the problem of the gradual reduction of the participation of lay judges in the Polish justice system and the controversial attempts to halt this trend, such as the introduction of lay judges to the Supreme Court and the start of discussions on the introduction of the justice of the peace to common courts.

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