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TO: ALL JUDGES SUBJECT: JOINT MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR OF THE SUPREME COURT, THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AND THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT ON THE GUIDELINES ON POLICE WITNESSES AND ARREST OF ACCUSED WHO JUMPED BAIL. For the information and guidance of all concerned, quoted hereunder are the pertinent provisions of the Joint Memorandum Circular of the Supreme Court, the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior and Local Government on the guidelines of police witnesses and arrest of accused who jumped bail, to wit: x x x "Section 1. - The Supreme Court, through the Office of the Court Administrator, shall: A. Require
all Clerks
of Court that:
[2] In case several police witnesses are summoned to attend a scheduled hearing, all of them shall be furnished individually of copies of the notice of hearing/subpoena; [3] In all cases, notice of the hearing/subpoena shall be sent at least thirty (30) days prior to the scheduled hearing to the police witness and his/her commanding officer or immediate superior officer; [4] In issuing the warrants of arrest, the pictures of the accused, whenever available or feasible, or a summary of the physical description of the accused, must be appended to the warrants before the same are transmitted to the law enforcement agencies for service; and [5]
Companies or
entities engaged in the business of bailing out accused persons shall
maintain
a personal data file of all their clients, particularly those who
jumped
bail, and make these data available to law enforcement operatives once
a warrant is issued for their arrest.
[2] To avoid unnecessary postponements of hearing, especially when the police witness present comes from a far-flung police unit or station; [3] Not to be too lenient or liberal in accepting the explanation of police witnesses who fail to attend scheduled hearings despite due notice to them; [4] To impose the maximum penalty to police witnesses and their superiors when warranted, if the explanation of the offending witness should be found unsatisfactory; and [5] To
inform the
head of the law enforcement agency to which the offending witness
belongs,
of the sanction imposed against the said witness for further
administrative
action.
x x x "Section 5. This Joint Memorandum Circular shall take effect immediately. "11 January 1996, Malacañang, Manila." |
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