Article VIII: - Page 2 of 3

The Supreme Court shall have the administrative supervision over all courts and the personnel thereof.

1. No person shall be appointed Member of the Supreme Court or any lower collegiate court unless he is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines.  A Member of the Supreme Court must be at least forty years of age and, must have been for fifteen years or more a judge of a lower court or engaged in the practice of law in the Philippines.
2. The Congress shall prescribe the qualifications of judges of lower courts, but no person may be appointed judge thereof unless he is a citizen of the Philippines and a member of the Philippine Bar.
3. A Member of the Judiciary must be a person of proven competence, integrity, probity, and independence.

1. A Judicial and Bar Council is hereby created under the supervision of the Supreme Court composed of the Chief Justice as ex officio Chairman, the Secretary of Justice, and a representative of the Congress as ex officio Members, a representative of the Integrated Bar, a professor of law, a retired Member of the Supreme Court, and a representative of the private sector.
2. The regular Members of the Council shall be appointed by the President for a term of four years with the consent of the Commission on Appointments.  Of the Members first appointed, the representative of the Integrated Bar shall serve for four years, the professor of law for three years, the retired Justice for two years, and the representative of the private sector for one year.
3. The Clerk of the Supreme Court shall be the Secretary ex officio of the Council and shall keep a record of its proceedings.
4. The regular Members of the Council shall receive such emoluments as may be determined by the Supreme Court.  The Supreme Court shall provide in its annual budget the appropriations for the Council.
5. The Council shall have the principal function of recommending appointees to the Judiciary.  It may exercise such other functions and duties as the Supreme Court may assign to it.

The Members of the Supreme Court and judges of lower courts shall be appointed by the President from a list of at least three nominees prepared by the Judicial and Bar Council for every vacancy.  Such appointments need no confirmation.

For the lower courts, the President shall issue the appointments within ninety days from the submission of the list.

The salary of the Chief Justice and of the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court, and of judges of lower courts shall be fixed by law.  During their continuance in office, their salary shall not be decreased.

The Members of the Supreme Court and judges of lower courts shall hold office during good behavior until they reached the age of seventy years or become incapacitated to discharge the duties of their office.  The Supreme Court en banc shall have the power to discipline judges of lower courts, or order their dismissal by a vote of a majority of the Members who actually took part in the deliberations on the issues in the case and voted thereon.

The Members of the Supreme Court and of other courts established by law shall not be designated to any agency performing quasi-judicial or administrative functions.

The conclusions of the Supreme Court in any case submitted to it for decision en banc or in division shall be reached in consultation before the case is assigned to a Member for the writing of the opinion of the Court.  A certification to this effect signed by the Chief Justice shall be issued and a copy thereof attached to the record of the case and served upon the parties.  Any Member who took no part, or dissented, or abstained from a decision or resolution must state the reason therefor.  The same requirements shall be observed by all lower collegiate courts.