📋 Tender Overview
Affected provisions of Rule 112 (Preliminary Investigation) of the 2000 Revised Rules on Criminal Procedure will be deemed repealed once the 2024 Department of Justice (DOJ)-National Prosecution Service (NPS) Rules on Preliminary Investigations and Inquest Proceedings (2024 DOJ-NPS Rules) are promulgated by the DOJ.
This was the ruling of the Supreme Court En Banc in a Resolution penned by Associate Justice Rodil V. Zalameda, which recognized the authority of the DOJ to promulgate its own rules on preliminary investigation. Nevertheless, it was ruled that only the Court could repeal the Rules of Court, including the rules on criminal procedure.
Under the Constitution, the Supreme Court has the exclusive power to promulgate rules on pleading, practice, and procedure in all courts.
However, preliminary investigation, which determines whether there are sufficient grounds to charge a person with a crime, is part of the prosecution’s duty and, thus, a function of the executive, not the judiciary.
Given the DOJ’s prerogative to direct and control the conduct of preliminary investigations, the Court will not interfere as long as there is no grave abuse of discretion.
To remove obstacles in the DOJ’s implementation of the 2024 DOJ-NPS Rules, the Court ruled that a repeal of inconsistent provisions in Rule 112 is warranted.
This is without prejudice to the Court’s promulgation of a new rule on preliminary investigation consistent with the 2024 DOJ-NPS Rules.
The Supreme Court Public Information Office will upload a copy of the Resolution in A.M. No. 24-02-09-SC (Re: Draft Department of Justice-National Prosecution Service Rules on Preliminary Investigations and Inquest Proceedings) once it receives the same from the Office of the Clerk of Court En Banc.
