This case has been cited 3 times or more.
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2013-01-09 |
REYES, J. |
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| Judicial power under Section 1, Article VIII of the 1987 Constitution covers the courts' power to determine whether there has been grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction committed by any branch or instrumentality of the government in the discharge of its functions. Although policy considerations call for the widest latitude of deference to the prosecutors' findings, courts should not shirk from exercising their power, when the circumstances warrant, to determine whether the prosecutors' findings are supported by the facts or by the law. In so doing, courts do not act as prosecutors but as organs of the judiciary that are exercising their mandate under the Constitution, relevant statutes, and remedial rules to settle cases and controversies. Indeed, the exercise of the courts' review power ensures that, on the one hand, probable criminals are prosecuted and, on the other hand, the innocent are spared from baseless prosecution.[33] | |||||
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2011-05-30 |
VILLARAMA, JR., J. |
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| However, this Court may ultimately resolve the existence or non-existence of probable cause by examining the records of the preliminary investigation when necessary for the orderly administration of justice.[35] Although policy considerations call for the widest latitude of deference to the prosecutor's findings, courts should never shirk from exercising their power, when the circumstances warrant, to determine whether the prosecutor's findings are supported by the facts, or by the law.[36] | |||||
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2010-10-13 |
VILLARAMA, JR., J. |
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| The determination of probable cause is part of the discretion granted to the investigating prosecutor and ultimately, the Secretary of Justice. However, this Court and the CA possess the power to review findings of prosecutors in preliminary investigations. Although policy considerations call for the widest latitude of deference to the prosecutor's findings, courts should never shirk from exercising their power, when the circumstances warrant, to determine whether the prosecutor's findings are supported by the facts, or by the law. In so doing, courts do not act as prosecutors but as organs of the judiciary, exercising their mandate under the Constitution, relevant statutes, and remedial rules to settle cases and controversies.[63] Clearly, the power of the Secretary of Justice to review does not preclude this Court and the CA from intervening and exercising our own powers of review with respect to the DOJ's findings, such as in the exceptional case in which grave abuse of discretion is committed, as when a clear sufficiency or insufficiency of evidence to support a finding of probable cause is ignored.[64] | |||||