ADMINISTRATIVE
CIRCULAR NO. 6 [1977]
TO:
ALL
JUDGES OF THE COURTS OF FIRST INSTANCE, CIRCUIT CRIMINAL COURTS, COURTS
OF AGRARIAN RELATIONS, JUVENILE AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS COURTS, CITY AND
MUNICIPAL COURTS AND ALL CLERKS OF COURT
SUBJECT:
APPLICATIONS FOR TRANSFER OF PRISONERS FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER FOR
PURPOSES
OF TESTIFYING AT THE HEARING OR THE TRIAL OF AN ACTION.
In connection
with
the transfer of prisoners from their original places of confinement or
the New Bilibid Prisons, Muntinlupa, Metro Manila, effected by virtue
of
subpoenas or summonses issued by Judges or Clerks of Court requiring
the
said prisoners to appear before their Courts for purposes of testifying
at hearings or trials, the attention of the Supreme Court has been
called
to the fact that prisoners make use of applications for transfer as a
convenient
subterfuge in order to escape, enjoy extended vacations in their home
provinces,
extort money from local residents, intimidate prisoners in local jails
who may be important witnesses in other cases, or conduct other
unscrupulous
and pernicious activities.cralaw:red
Effective
immediately,
every Judge and/or Clerk of Court of the aforementioned Courts is
hereby
directed [1] to examine and study carefully any application for the
issuance
of subpoena or summons involving detention prisoners filed with their
Court;
[2] to deny the application if it appears that the appearance or
attendance
of the prisoner at the hearing or trial involved is unnecessary,
considering
all the circumstances of the case; and [3] to grant the application
only
if it appears that the appearance or attendance of the prisoner at the
hearing or trial involved is indispensable or that his complicity in
the
commission of the offense subject of the hearing or trial has been
fully
established. Whenever circumstances justify the issuance of a subpoena
or summons effecting the transfer of a prisoner, his testimony should
be
taken at once, and immediately thereafter, he should be returned to his
original place of confinement or the new Bilibid Prisons, as the case
may
be.cralaw:red
However,
pursuant
to Administrative Circular No. 2 dated December 2, 1976, no prisoner
sentenced
to death or life imprisonment or detained upon legal process for the
commission
of any offense punishable by death or life imprisonment confined in the
New Bilibid Prisons, is allowed to be brought outside the said penal
institution
for appearance or attendance in any Court except when the Supreme Court
authorizes the Judge, upon proper application, to effect the transfer
of
the said prisoner. In addition, the said Circular directs every Judge
in
Metro Manila and the Provinces of Rizal, Bulacan, Cavite and Laguna who
requires the appearance or attendance of any of the aforestated
prisoners
confined in the New Bilibid Prisons in any judicial proceeding, to
conduct
such proceeding within the premises of the said penal institution.cralaw:red
Proper
compliance
herewith is hereby enjoined.cralaw:red
December 5,
1977.
[Sgd.]
FRED
RUIZ CASTROChief
Justice
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