Causes appealed to the Supreme Court are disposed of
promptly, and as a general rule it does not take over six months to
get a decision.
Defendants in criminal cases have now been granted by the Philippine
Bill certain fundamentally important rights which they did not formerly
enjoy; namely, to appear and defend in person or by counsel at every
stage of the proceedings; to be informed of the nature and cause of the
accusation; to testify as witnesses in their own behalf; to be exempt
from testifying against themselves; to be confronted at the trial by,
and to cross-examine, the witnesses against them; to have compulsory
process issue for obtaining witnesses in their own favour; to have
speedy and public trials; to be admitted to bail with sufficient
sureties in all cases, except for capital offences. None of these
rights were enjoyed under the procedure in effect during the Spanish
regime. A man was prosecuted without being notified of the charges
against him, and he was only made aware of the case against him after
the _sumario_. When all of the evidence of the prosecution had been
taken the accused was heard in his own defence. He was compelled
to testify, and was subjected to a very inquisitorial examination,
including questions which incriminated him.
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