The 2002 Revised Manual for Clerks of Court

The 2002 Revised Manual for Clerks of Court ammy Normal Ammy Rose G. Bobadilla 2 9 2004-11-04T18:11:00Z 2004-11-04T18:11:00Z 1 1031 5878 48 13 6896 10.2625 Clean Clean 0 6 pt 6 pt 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Chapter I

OFFICE OF THE CLERK OF COURT

A. ��� The Origin of the Office

In time past, the custody of court records was entrusted to one of the judges, custos retulorum (keeper of the rolls). � The word �clerk� at root denoted a member of the clergy, and the time was when the law and the gospel flowed from the same hand. � However, in progress of time, clerks and judges became sharply differentiated. The manifest impossibility of a judge�s having charge of and writing the records and issuing writs became apparent, and the office of the Clerk of Court was created. 1

In some jurisdictions, the term prothonotary is applied to the Clerk of Court. � The derivation of the term clerk is in a measure significant of the origin of the office. � The word is derived from the Latin clericus (clergyman), and its application to a particular officer of a court has its origin in the historical fact that in the early days of England, both before and after the Norman Conquest, the subordinate officers of courts of justice, as well as the judges, were chosen from among the clergy, to which class well-nigh all forms of learning were confined.

In England, the clerk of the peace, a county officer appointed by the custos retulorum (keeper of the rolls) of the county, was clerk of court of general sessions of the peace while the clerks of the courts known as country courts, which were presided over by the sheriffs, were appointed by the sheriffs and were sometimes known as county clerks. In the colonies, the establishment of courts of justice with the appointment of judges and subordinate officers was a prerogative of the crown. � These courts of common pleas were known as county courts, and the clerks thereof acquired the name of county clerks; they were also clerks of the general sessions of the peace and registers of deeds in their respective counties. 2

In the Philippines, upon the establishment of the first civil government in the early years of the American Regime, among the initial measures of the Philippine Commission was the enactment on June 11, 1901 of Act No.136 which abolished the existing Audiencia or Supreme Court, 3 and Courts of First Instance, 4 and set up a new judicial system modeled after that of the United States, by substituting in place thereof, the Supreme Court and Courts of First Instance established in the Act. The Philippine Commission provided for Clerks of Court and introduced the concept of sheriff as the instrumentality for the service of notices, maintenance of order in the courtroom, and the execution of court orders.

In the City of Manila , a separate office of the sheriff was created. Later, that office was merged with that of the Clerk of Court of the Court of First Instance. � In the provinces, the governors were required to act as sheriffs ex-officio, with the right, however, to decline in the event the Judge of the Court of First Instance has appointed another person to act as such. 5

B. ��� Nature of the Position

The Clerk of Court of a Court of justice is an essential officer in any judicial system. � The office is the hub of activities, both adjudicative and administrative. 6 While an officer of the Court, a public officer and an �officer of the law,� the position is not that of a judicial officer, nor is it synonymous with the Court. 7 The office is essentially a ministerial one.

A Judge alone cannot make the Court function as it should. In the over-all scheme of judicial business, many non-judicial concerns, intricately and inseparably interwoven with the trial and adjudication of cases, must perforce be performed by other individuals that make up the team that complements the Court. Of these individuals, the Clerk of Court eclipses the others in functions, responsibilities, importance and prestige.

The Clerk of Court has general administrative supervision over all the personnel of the Court. � As regards the Court�s funds and revenues, records, properties and premises, said officer is the custodian. � Thus, the Clerk of Court is generally also the treasurer, accountant, guard and physical plant manager thereof. The law also requires the Clerk of Court, in most instances, to act as ex-officio Sheriff and ex-officio Notary Public. In all official matters, and in relation with other governmental agencies, the Clerk of Court is also usually the liaison officer.

As to specific functions, the Clerk of Court attends Court sessions (either personally or through deputies), takes charge of the administrative aspects of the Court�s business and chronicles its will and directions. � The Clerk of Court keeps the records and seal, issues processes, enters judgments and orders, and gives, upon request, certified copies from the records.

The nature of the work and of the office mandates that the Clerk of Court be an individual of competence, honesty and integrity. � In relation to the Judge, said officer occupies a position of confidence which should not be betrayed. With the prestige of the office goes the corresponding responsibility to safeguard the integrity of the Court and its proceedings, to earn respect therefor , to maintain loyalty thereto and to the Judge as the superior officer, to maintain the authenticity and correctness of Court records, and to uphold the confidence of the public in the administration of justice.

Unless something is shown that may reflect against the character of the Clerk of Court, there is no justification for presuming that said officer will be a derelict in the performance of official duties. 8 The Clerk of Court is the model for the Court employees to act speedily and with dispatch on their assigned tasks to avoid the clogging of cases in Court and thereby assist in the administration of justice without undue delay. 9

C. ��� Stations

Unless otherwise provided by law, or ordered by the Supreme Court, the official stations of Clerks of Court and Assistant Clerks of Court shall be the places indicated in their respective appointments, while the stations of Branch Clerks of Court shall be the same as those of their respective branches.

D. ��� General Supervision Over Clerks of Court and Other Personnel of the Lower Courts

Clerks of Court, Assistant Clerks of Court, Branch Clerks of Court and other subordinate employees of Regional Trial Courts, Shari�a District Courts, Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts in Cities, Municipal Trial Courts, Municipal Circuit Trial Courts and Shari�a Circuit Courts shall, for administrative purposes, be under the supervision of the Supreme Court, but in the performance of their duties, shall be subject to the direct supervision of the Executive Judges or the Presiding Judges concerned.

The work and activities of the Clerk of � Court of multiple sala Courts are under the direct supervision of the Executive Judge, insofar as applicable, who shall, through the Clerk of Court, direct staff support activities to improve judiciary services.

1 State ex rel . Henson v. Sheppard, 91 SW 477 (1905).

2 10 Am. Jur . 942.

3 Act No. 136, Sec. 34.

4 Ibid., Sec. 65.

5 Jose P. Bengzon , The Philippine Judicial System, pp. 11, 20.

6 Fred Ruiz Castro, Chief Justice, February 23, 1979 .

7 14 C.J.S. 1211.

8 Dimaporo v. Estipona , 2 SCRA 282 (1961)

9 Paa vs. Remigio , 88 SCRA 593 (1979).