Case Digest (G.R. No. 252986)
Facts:
In Boris Mejoff v. Director of Prisons, G.R. No. L-4254, decided on September 26, 1951, the petitioner Boris Mejoff, an alien of Kusaian (Russian) descent, was brought from Shanghai to the Philippines in 1944 as a secret operative of the Japanese forces during the occupation. Upon liberation, U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps arrested him as a Japanese spy and turned him over to the Commonwealth Government under Commonwealth Act No. 682. The People’s Court ordered his release, but the Deportation Board later found that Mejoff had entered without inspection or admission, referred him to immigration authorities, and on April 5, 1948, the Board of Commissioners of Immigration ordered his deportation to Russia on the first available vessel. Arrested on March 18, 1948, the petitioner was detained first at Cebu Provincial Jail (May 1948) pending transport. Two Russian-flag vessels called at Cebu in July and August but refused to accept him for lack of authority. In October 1948 heCase Digest (G.R. No. 252986)
Facts:
- Petitioner’s identity and initial arrest
- Boris Mejoff, an alien of Kusaian descent, brought from Shanghai as a secret operative by Japanese forces during the occupation.
- Upon liberation, arrested by the U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps as a Japanese spy, then handed to the Commonwealth Government; later released by the People’s Court.
- Deportation proceedings and detention
- Deportation Board found him illegally in the Philippines for lack of travel documents; referred to immigration authorities.
- On April 5, 1948, the Board of Commissioners of Immigration ordered deportation to Russia; petitioner arrested March 18, 1948, and detained at Cebu Provincial Jail and subsequently Bilibid Prison for over two years due to lack of receptacle or transport.
- Prior habeas corpus petition and dissent
- First petition (G.R. No. L-2855) denied July 30, 1949, as “temporary detention” for deportation process.
- Dissent by Justices Paras, Feria, Perfecto, and Tuason: argued for release if deportation not effected within a fixed reasonable period (suggested two to six months).
- Legal and international framework
- Philippine Constitution (Art. II, Sec. 3) adopts generally accepted international law; UDHR prohibits arbitrary arrest or detention.
- U.S. cases (U.S. vs. Nichols; Staniszewski v. Watkins) hold that indefinite detention of aliens pending deportation is unlawful once it becomes apparent deportation cannot be effected.
Issues:
- Whether detention of petitioner for over two years pending deportation without prospect of removal is lawful.
- Whether due process and international human rights protections against arbitrary detention extend to non-enemy aliens in immigration custody.
- What remedy should be granted given the failure to effect petitioner’s deportation within a reasonable time.
Ruling:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Ratio:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Doctrine:
- (Subscriber-Only)