Question & AnswerQ&A (PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1482)
The main purpose of Presidential Decree No. 1482 is to amend the Judiciary Act of 1948 by increasing the number of Associate Justices of the Court of Appeals to forty-four to address the clogged dockets and delays in justice.
The Court of Appeals shall have forty-four Associate Justices apart from the Presiding Justice.
The President of the Philippines appoints the Presiding Justice and Associate Justices of the Court of Appeals.
Precedence among Associate Justices is determined according to the date of their respective commissions, or if dated the same, according to the order in which their commissions have been issued by the President.
The member shall receive compensation from the other branch not less than his compensation in the Court of Appeals, and if reappointed to the Court, his service is considered continuous, retaining his original precedence.
The Court of Appeals shall sit en banc as a body, but it may also sit in fifteen divisions of three justices each, and these divisions may sit simultaneously.
Twenty-four Justices constitute a quorum for en banc sessions of the Court of Appeals.
Three Justices constitute a quorum for the sessions of a division of the Court of Appeals.
A unanimous vote of the three Justices in the division is necessary. If not unanimous, the Presiding Justice will designate two additional Justices to form a division of five, and a majority vote of this five-member division is required.
The Court of Appeals may appoint fifteen deputy clerks of court, who must have the same qualifications as the clerk of the Court of Appeals.
Two Million Pesos is appropriated for salaries, allowances, office expenses, and equipment for the new Justices and personnel.
The decree took effect immediately upon its signing on June 10, 1978.