CHAPTER XV
The Administration of Justice
In no branch of the public administration have there been more
numerous or more beneficial reforms than in the administration of
justice. They have resulted in simplifying organization, in decreasing
the possibility of corruption and partiality, and in diminishing the
cost of litigation and the time which it requires.
For the benefit of those especially interested I give in the appendix
the past and present organization of the courts. [495] The subject
is too technical to interest the average layman.
The slender salaries paid to judges, the fact that in the majority
of cases their appointment and promotion were due to influence and
suggestion, their liability to be transferred from one court to another
or from the Philippines to the Antilles, as frequently happened, and
the further fact that the subordinate personnel of the courts was not
a salaried one, caused the administration of justice in the Philippine
Islands to be looked upon askance. There was a general belief, well
founded in many instances, that lawsuits were won through influence
or bribery. Clerks and the subordinate personnel of the courts were
readily bribed. Indeed, they frequently demanded bribes from litigants,
or from defendants in criminal cases, under promise to expedite the
trials if paid to do so, or under threat to commit some injustice
if payment was not forthcoming.
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