The Office of the Court Administration has ordered lower courts to speed up the release of those who are qualified to post bail or speedy trials while awaiting the Supreme Court decision on the petition seeking for the immediate release of prisoners who are vulnerable to coronavirus disease infection.
In a three-page circular, Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez reminded the judges in the first and second level courts to follow the Guidelines for Decongesting Holding Jails by Enforcing the Rights of the Accused Persons to Bail and Speedy Trial.
The circular said lower court judges should comply with Section 5 of the guidelines wherein an “accused who has been detained for a period of at least equal to the minimum of the penalty for the offense charged against him shall be ordered released motu propio or upon motion and after notice and hearing, on his own recognizance without prejudice to the continuation of the proceedings against him.”
Marquez also cited Section 10 of the guidelines that covered the rules on provisional dismissal, such as when the delays are caused by the absence of an essential witness whose whereabouts are unknown and cannot be determined. The court would then provisionally dismiss the action with the consent of the detained accused.
“All judges of the first and second level courts are therefore directed to immediately conduct an inventory of their pending criminal cases to determine if they have cases which may be covered by the above Guidelines, and if so, to comply with the said Guidelines without unnecessary delay, using their sound discretion,” Marquez said.