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THE Supreme Court has abolished the Judicial Integrity Board (JIB) and replaced it with the Judicial Integrity Office (JIO), in a move to streamline the handling of administrative disciplinary cases in the judiciary and strengthen accountability in its ranks.
In a resolution penned by Associate Justice Antonio Kho Jr., the court en banc approved the reorganization as part of the Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022-2027 (SPJI), aimed at enhancing efficiency in addressing complaints against judges, court officials, and employees.
Established in 2020, the JIB underwent an organizational review and process mapping, after which a technical working group recommended the shift to a single-office setup.
The court adopted group’s recommendation, replacing the five-member board with a judicial integrity officer who will serve a four-year term, renewable once, and who may be replaced when the incumbent chief justice retires.
The judicial integrity officer must be at least 45 years old, with 15 years of legal practice and experience in investigating and evaluating administrative complaints.
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To avoid conflicts of interest, the officer cannot be related within the third degree to any justice, judge, or judiciary employee.
The JIO will receive and investigate complaints against justices of the Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan, Court of Tax Appeals, and Shari’ah High Court, as well as judges of first- and second-level courts, and officials and personnel of the Supreme Court and its attached offices. The office is authorized to issue subpoenas, recommend preventive suspensions, and endorse penalties or clemency to the Supreme Court.
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Administrative complaints filed against Supreme Court members will still be handled by the court’s ethics committee.
The JIO may also initiate investigations on its own or act on referrals from government agencies.
For the first time, the system will require mandatory grievance conferences for light or less serious offenses within the same court or office before formal docketing.
During the transition, the acting JIB chair will serve as judicial integrity officer, while other members will act as consultants until their terms expire.
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Current JIB personnel will be absorbed into the JIO, pending approval of its staffing pattern.
The resolution also clarified that the Corruption Prevention and Investigation Office has been rendered functus officio following the enactment of the Judiciary Marshals Act, with its powers now lodged in the Judiciary Marshals.
In its resolution, the court stressed that it “will not hesitate to rid its ranks of undesirables who undermine its efforts toward an effective and efficient administration of justice, thus tainting its image in the eyes of the public.”
