CONSTITUTING MUNICIPAL COURTS INTO MUNICIPAL CIRCUIT COURTS

WHEREAS, there are at present 1,444 municipal courts
exclusive of city courts in the inferior courts level all over the
country;

WHEREAS, a number of these municipal courts did not receive
a single case for investigation or trial during Fiscal Year 1971-1972
and a still much bigger number received not more than 60 cases during
the said period;

WHEREAS, these municipal courts may be constituted into
municipal circuit courts each comprising two or more municipalities
without detriment to the administration of justice;

WHEREAS, the constitution of municipal circuit courts will
mean substantial savings in public funds which can be profitably
utilized for carrying out vital projects of the national government.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the
Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution,
do hereby decree and order that municipal circuit courts be constituted
and organized out the present municipal court of the land under and in
accordance with the following conditions and criteria:

1. The capital of a province shall not be grouped with any other
   municipality except in the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh class
   provinces.
2. The municipalities to be constituted under a municipal circuit
   court shall, as much as possible, be contiguous to each other.
3. The circuit judge shall have his official station in a
   municipality within the circuit which shall be as centrally located and
   easily accessible as possible from the other municipalities comprising
   the circuit.
4. The jurisdiction of municipal circuit courts of which the
   capital of a province or sub-province is a part shall be the same as
   that of the municipal courts of provincial capitals, while the
   jurisdiction of other municipal circuit courts shall be the same as that
   of ordinary municipal courts under existing law.
5. All cases arising within the circuit shall be tried at the
   official station of the circuit judge; Provided, however, That
   whenever the number of cases or the interest of the administration of
   justice requires it, the Supreme Court may authorize the circuit judge
   to hold session outside his official station but within the circuit.
6. The municipal circuit courts shall be courts of record. All
   proceedings therein, shall be recorded, and appeals from their
   judgments shall be taken and prosecuted in accordance with the procedure
   prescribe under existing law and rules.
7. The Supreme Court shall carry out the provisions of this
   decree through implementing orders, on a province-to-province basis.

TRANSITORY PROVISIONS

1. Pending the issuance by the Supreme Court of the implementing
   orders herein above authorize, the municipal courts shall continue to
   function as presently constituted and organized.
2. The most senior in point of service in the judiciary among the
   municipal judges of the municipalities constituted into a circuit court
   shall be retained as municipal circuit judge, unless the Supreme Court,
   in the interest of a better administration of justice, deems it
   necessary to consider other factors. The judge who is retained shall,
   with the approval of the Supreme Court, appoint a clerk of court, two
   stenographers, a clerk-interpreter, and such other personnel as may be
   provided of the municipal courts comprising the circuit.

   For this purpose, the Chief Justice is hereby authorized, within the
   limits of appropriations authorized for the Municipal Courts, to create
   additional positions, to change the designations of existing positions,
   to make changes in the assignment of personnel, and to effect such
   reorganization as maybe necessary.

3. Upon the issuance of the implementing orders by the Supreme
   Court, the municipal circuit courts constituted thereunder shall
   commence to exist. The municipal courts organized into the circuit shall
   be deemed automatically abolished, and the incumbent municipal judges
   not designated to continue as circuit judge shall cease to hold office.
4. Municipal judges and subordinate employees who shall be
   separated from office by reason of this decree shall be entitled, in
   addition to the money value of their accumulated leave credits, a
   gratuity equivalent to one month salary for every year of service
   rendered but not exceeding twelve months on the basis of the highest
   salary received, chargeable against savings in appropriations
   for the courts; Provided, if said judges and employees are
   entitled to gratuity or pension under any retirement law, they shall
   select either the gratuity or pension under said retirement law or the
   gratuity provided for in this decree.
5. All cases pending in the municipal courts constituted and
   organized into a circuit shall be transferred to the proper municipal
   circuit court and shall be tried and decided therein.
6. This decree shall not apply to city courts in chartered
   cities. If a chartered city is reverted to a municipality, such
   municipality shall be grouped with other municipalities constituted
   under a municipal circuit court.

This Decree shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 12th day of August, in the
year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-four.