Legal Opinion.docx

LAW OFFICE

RNP Blvd., Kauswagan, 9000 Cagayan de Oro City ║[email protected]

August 7, 2014 To: RE:

Judge C Legal Opinion on Inhibition of the Civil Case No. 001

Dear Judge: As you disclosed in your interview at my office on July 25, 2014, the facts of the case are as follows:     

A owes X 1 million pesos. A cannot pay X. X goes to court and files a collection of sum of money. The case is pending at your office.1 X is your fellow Mason.

If any of the above-mentioned information is incorrect, please advise me immediately. Otherwise, it is assumed that all the facts stated above are true. In response to your inquiry whether you should inhibit as a Judge in X vs A2, I am of the opinion that you should voluntarily inhibit yourself from the said case due to the foregoing reasons: 1. The New Code of Judicial Conduct for the Philippine Judiciary provides that, “judges shall exercise the judicial function independently on the basis of their assessment of the facts and in accordance with a conscientious understanding of the law, free of any extraneous influence, inducement, pressure, threat, or interference, direct or indirect, from any quarter or for any reason.”3 2. More so, it is provided by the above-mentioned code that, “judges shall disqualify themselves from participating in any proceeding in which they are unable to decide the matter impartially.4 Such proceedings include, but are not limited to instances where “the judge has actual bias or prejudice concerning a party or personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceedings.”5 3. Free Mason is a fraternal society based on certain moral and religious doctrines; the moral doctrines including Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth, Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence, and Justice, and the religious doctrines comprising a belief in a Supreme Being and the immortality of the soul.6 Clearly, judges shall decide upon any case in accordance with the law and must be independent from any external influences which may affect the decision. With the relationship involved, being a fellow Mason of the plaintiff, it is deemed just and fair to withdraw from the said case to ensure the prestige of the judicial office.

Respectfully,

___________

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CC No.001 Id. 3 Canon 1, Section 1, A.M. No. 03-05-01-SC 4 Canon 2, Section 5, A.M. No. 03-05-01-SC 5 Canon 2, Section 5, paragraph (a), A.M. No. 03-05-01-SC 6 Frequently Asked Questions, Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines, May 10, 2013, available at http://www.grandlodgephils.org.ph/2012/?page_id=53 (last accessed August 2, 2014) 2