ARTICLE VIII : JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT

Section 1. The judicial power shall be vested in one Supreme Court

and in such lower courts as may be established by law.
Judicial power includes the duty of the courts of justice to settle
actual controversies involving rights which are legally demandable
and enforceable, and 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.
Section 7. (1) No person shall be appointed Member of the Supreme
Court or any lower collegiate court unless he is a natural-born citizen
of the Philippines. A Member of the Supreme Court must be at least
forty years of age, and must have been for fifteen years or more, a
judge of a lower court or engaged in the practice of law in the
Philippines.
(2) The Congress shall prescribe the qualifications of judges of lower
courts, but no person may be appointed judge thereof unless he is a
citizen of the Philippines and a member of the Philippine Bar.
(3) A Member of the Judiciary must be a person of proven
competence, integrity, probity, and independence.
Section 9. The Members of the Supreme Court and judges of the
lower courts shall be appointed by the President from a list of at least
three nominees prepared by the Judicial and Bar Council for every
vacancy. Such appointments need no confirmation.
For the lower courts, the President shall issue the appointments
within ninety days from the submission of the list.



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Section 15. Qualifications. No persons shall be appointed
Regional Trial Judge unless he is a natural-born citizen of the
Philippines, at least thirty-five years of age, and for at least ten years,
has been engaged in the practice of law in the Philippines or has
held a public office in the Philippines requiring admission to the
practice of law as an indispensable requisite.
Section 18. Authority to define territory appurtenant to each branch.
The Supreme Court shall define the territory over which a branch
of the Regional Trial Court shall exercise its authority. The territory
thus defined shall be deemed to be the territorial area of the branch
concerned for purposes of determining the venue of all suits,
proceedings or actions, whether civil or criminal, as well as
determining the Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts, and
Municipal Circuit Trial Courts over the said branch may exercise
appellate jurisdiction. The power herein granted shall be exercised
with a view to making the courts readily accessible to the people of
the different parts of the region and making the attendance of
litigants and witnesses as inexpensive as possible.
Section 26. Qualifications. No person shall be appointed judge of
a Metropolitan Trial Court, Municipal Trial Court, or Municipal Circuit
Trial Court unless he is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, at
least 30 years of age, and, for at least five years, has been engaged
in the practice of law in the Philippines, or has held a public office in
the Philippines requiring admission to the practice of law as an
indispensable requisite.




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Section 5. Inherent powers of court. Every court shall have
power:
(a) To preserve and enforce order in its immediate presence;
(b) To enforce order in proceedings before it, or before a
person or persons empowered to conduct a judicial
investigation under its authority;
(c) To compel obedience to its judgments, orders and
processes, and to the lawful orders of a judge out of court, in
a case pending therein;
(d) To control, in furtherance of justice, the conduct of its
ministerial officers, and of all other persons in any manner
connected with a case before it, in every manner
appertaining thereto;
(e) To compel the attendance of persons to testify in a case
pending therein;
(f) To administer or cause to be administered oaths in a case
pending therein, and in all other cases where it may be
necessary in the exercise of its powers;
(g) To amend and control its process and orders so as to
make them conformable to law and justice;
(h) To authorize a copy of a lost or destroyed pleading or
other paper to be filed and used instead of the original, and
to restore, and supply deficiencies in its records and
proceedings.