UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS HIGH SCHOOL

English Department
Academic Year 2013 2014

CAUSE AND EFFECTS OF THE SLOW CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM OF THE PHILIPPINES

Nabor, Dither John C.

IV - Saint Dionysius

Mrs. Maria Teresa Casado-Ramos

Subject Teacher

November 11, 2013

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
OVERVIEW
The Criminal Justice System (CJS) determines the policies and procedures to be followed to give justice to everyone, particularly those who have committed crimes and has been filed with a formal complaint. The CJS of the Philippines is decided upon by various laws 1 and is governed over by the Supreme Court. The process determines how a complaint will be filed, what will happen to it from the time it was filed until it reaches final decision from the judge/judges, who will carry the sentence, and how will the prosecuted return to his community2. In every case entered in the CJS and has been forwarded to be arraigned in a court, there will always be a prosecuting panel and the defense panel. The prosecuting panel consists of the complainant/s, witness/es, and the prosecuting lawyer/s. The defense panel is composed of the defendant/s, witness/es, and the defense lawyers. The CJS does not only include courts, lawyers, state prosecutors, and the judges, but also includes the police, correctional institutes, such as the National Bilibid Prison, and the community3. Each of these has their own role in the CJS and is vital to serving justice to the whole Filipino people.

RESEARCH AIMS
This paper aims to: 1. Analyze the current criminal justice system of the Philippines. 2. Identify different laws that can affect our criminal justice system. 3. Determine the causes of our slow justice system. 4. Determine the effects of our slow justice system. Pablo Fegi Narag, Notes on the Philippine Criminal Justice System (Quezon City: Central Book Supply, Inc., 2008), 12-13 2 Oscar Gatchalian Soriano, The Philippine Criminal Justice System: Theories, Models and Practices (Quezon City: Great Books Publishing, 2010), 11-15. 3 Alicia Gonzales-Decano, "Where Lies the Delay in the Criminal Justice System?", The Lawyers Review Vol. 27, No. 3, March 31, 2003, 2-5.
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RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The proponent intends to answer the following: 1. What is the process of the current criminal justice system of the Philippines? 2. What are the 5 pillars of our criminal justice system? 3. What are the different laws that can affects our criminal justice system? 4. What are the causes of a slow justice system? 5. What are the effects of a slow justice system?