GENEVA (1 June 2018) – A UN human rights expert has expressed grave concerns about public threats issued against the Philippines’ Chief Justice by the country’s President, saying her dismissal, that followed those threats, is sending a chilling message to other supreme court judges and members of the judiciary posing a serious threat to judicial independence.
On 11 May 2018, the Supreme Court voted 8-6 to remove Maria Lourdes Sereno from her job on the grounds she had failed an ‘integrity test’. Chief Justice Sereno was appointed the country’s top judge position in 2010.
“The decision of the Supreme Court was issued two days after the President of the Philippines publicly threatened the Chief Justice by saying that she was his enemy and that she should be removed from her job or resign,” said Diego García-Sayán, Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers.
Roundtable Discussion: Judicial Integrity and Independence, held on May 30th to 31st, 2018 in Manila. The Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA) and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Rule of Law Programme Asia.
Roundtable Discussion: Judicial Integrity and Independence, held on May 30th to 31st, 2018 in Manila. The Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA) and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Rule of Law Programme Asia.
Roundtable Discussion: Judicial Integrity and Independence, held on May 30th to 31st, 2018 in Manila. The Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA) and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Rule of Law Programme Asia.
Roundtable Discussion: Judicial Integrity and Independence, held on May 30th to 31st, 2018 in Manila. The Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA) and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Rule of Law Programme Asia.