Lawyer challenges DOJ circular on standards of evidence
A lawyer on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court (SC) to annul a circular of the Department of Justice (DOJ) that raised the standards of evidence.
In an 8-page petition for certiorari, Hazel Meking challenged the DOJ circular dated July 2024 before the court, saying she was filing the petition on behalf of victims whose complaints have been dismissed and other lawyers.
Under DC 15, dated July 2024, the standard of proof was raised from probable cause to prima facie evidence with reasonable certainty of conviction.
'Paano maging certain ang conviction, diba? Wala pang ebidensya, wala pang witness, wala pang trial. So napakahilaw pa ng kaso para i-dismiss,' Meking said in an ambush interview.
(How can the conviction be certain, right? There's no evidence yet, no witnesses, no trial. So the complaint is still too premature to be dismissed.)
Meking said that each prosecutor's office had a different way of implementing the circular.
''Yung iba, ang ginagawa nila, pagkakita pa lang nila, ah, walang certainty of conviction. 'Yung iba, nire-refer sa investigating prosecutor. 'Yung iba, nire-refer naman nila sa committee. Tapos doon nila tinitingnan, sila-sila lang, walang hearing. Tapos kino-close na 'yung kaso,' she said.
(What others do is, upon seeing the case, they already conclude there's no certainty of conviction. Some refer it to the investigating prosecutor. Others refer it to the committee. Then they assess it among themselves, without any hearing. Then they just dismiss the complaint.)
'Yung iba, binabalik na agad sa mga biktima.Napakalaking impact nito sa mga biktima ng krimen dahil hindi ka makapush. Hindi makakaakyat sa korte,' she added.
(Some complaints are returned to the victims. This has a huge impact on crime victims because they can't push forward. The complaint can't reach the court.)
She expressed concern that some prosecutors may be using the circular as an excuse to not do their jobs.
'Kasi yung—pwede nating sabihin eh, walang certainty of conviction. 'Yun pala, nag-aayaw lang sila, dahil ayaw na lang ang trabaho nila,' she said.
(Because—what we could say is, there's no certainty of conviction. But in reality, they just don't want to do the work anymore.)
GMA News Online has asked the DOJ for comment. — BM, GMA Integrated News
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