Disini v. Secretary of Justice
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''Disini v. Secretary of Justice'' (G.R. Nos. 203335, ''et al''.) is a
landmark ruling Landmark court decisions, in present-day common law legal systems, establish precedents that determine a significant new legal principle or concept, or otherwise substantially affect the interpretation of existing law. "Leading case" is commonly ...
of the
Supreme Court of the Philippines The Supreme Court ( fil, Kataas-taasang Hukuman; colloquially referred to as the ''Korte Suprema'' lso used in formal writing is the highest court in the Philippines. The Supreme Court was established by the Second Philippine Commission on Ju ...
handed down on February 18, 2014. When the
Congress of the Philippines The Congress of the Philippines ( fil, Kongreso ng Pilipinas, italic=unset) is the legislature of the national government of the Philippines. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives of the Philippines, House of R ...
passed the
Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 The Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, officially recorded as Republic Act No. 10175, is a law in the Philippines that was approved on September 12, 2012. It aims to address legal issues concerning online interactions and the Internet in the Phi ...
the bill was immediately controversial, especially its strict penalties for the new crime of "cyberlibel", an upgraded form of the already existing criminal libel charge found in the
Revised Penal Code of the Philippines The Revised Penal Code contains the general penal laws of the Philippines. First enacted in 1930, it remains in effect today, despite several amendments thereto. It does not comprise a comprehensive compendium of all Philippine penal laws. The ...
. In the end, the Court declared that most of the law, including the cyberlibel provision, was constitutional. The ruling's abridgement of
free expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recog ...
has been widely criticized by critics of the law, including then attorney
Harry Roque Herminio "Harry" Lopez Roque Jr. (; born October 21, 1966) is a Filipino lawyer, politician, and former law professor. He served as the presidential spokesperson of President Rodrigo Duterte from 2017 to 2018 and from 2020 to 2021. He was the p ...
. The decision reached in ''Disini'' paved the way for the anti-
fake news Fake news is false or misleading information presented as news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person or entity, or making money through advertising revenue.Schlesinger, Robert (April 14, 2017)"Fake news in reality ...
provisions of the
Bayanihan to Heal as One Act The Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, also known as the Bayanihan Act, and officially designated as Republic Act No. 11469, is a law in the Philippines that was enacted in March 2020 granting the President additional authority to combat the COVID-19 ...
.


Petition

Several petitions were almost immediately submitted to the
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
questioning the constitutionality of the Act upon its signing, including the petition of Jose Jesus M. Disini, Jr. on September 25, a Harvard-educated lawyer and
law professor A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...
at the
University of the Philippines College of Law The University of the Philippines College of Law (often referred to as UP Law) is the law school of the University of the Philippines Diliman. Formally established in 1911 in UP Manila, it is the third oldest continually-operating law school ...
from whose name the title of the case derives.


Initial deferment and protests

On October 2, the Supreme Court initially chose to defer action on the petitions, citing an absence of justices which prevented the Court from sitting ''
en banc In law, an en banc session (; French for "in bench"; also known as ''in banc'', ''in banco'' or ''in bank'') is a session in which a case is heard before all the judges of a court (before the entire bench) rather than by one judge or a smaller ...
''. The initial lack of a
temporary restraining order An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in par ...
meant that the law went into effect as scheduled on October 3. In protest, Filipino netizens reacted by blacking out their
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
profile pictures and trending the
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#NoToCybercrimeLaw on
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
. " Anonymous" also defaced government websites, including those of the
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (; commonly abbreviated as BSP in both Filipino and English) is the central bank of the Philippines. It was established on July 3, 1993, pursuant to the provision of Republic Act 7653 or the New Central Bank Act ...
, the
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and the Intellectual Property Office.


Temporary restraining order

On October 8, 2012, the
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
decided to issue a
temporary restraining order An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in par ...
(TRO), pausing implementation of the law for 120 days. In early December 2012, the government requested the lifting of the TRO, which was denied. The TRO consolidated all fifteen petitions filed up to that point into one case.


Oral arguments

Over four hours of
oral arguments Oral arguments are spoken presentations to a judge or appellate court by a lawyer (or parties when representing themselves) of the legal reasons why they should prevail. Oral argument at the appellate level accompanies written briefs, which also ad ...
by petitioners were heard on January 15, 2013, followed by a three-hour rebuttal by the
Office of the Solicitor General The Office of the Solicitor General of the Philippines ( fil, Tanggapan ng Taga-usig Panlahat), formerly known as the Bureau of Justice, is an independent and autonomous office attached to the Department of Justice. The OSG is headed by Menardo G ...
, representing the government, on January 29, 2013. This was the first time in Philippine history that oral arguments were uploaded online by the Supreme Court.


Ruling

On February 18, 2014, in a ruling penned by justice
Roberto Abad Roberto A. Abad (born May 22, 1944) is a lawyer and judge who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from August 7, 2009, to May 22, 2014. Law career Abad was on the Dean's honor list at the Ateneo de Manila Univ ...
, the Supreme Court ruled 12–1–2 that most of the law was constitutional, although it struck down other provisions, including the ones that violated
double jeopardy In jurisprudence, double jeopardy is a procedural defence (primarily in common law jurisdictions) that prevents an accused person from being tried again on the same (or similar) charges following an acquittal or conviction and in rare case ...
. ''Disini v. Secretary of Justice'', G.R. Nos. 203335, ''et al''. (
Supreme Court of the Philippines The Supreme Court ( fil, Kataas-taasang Hukuman; colloquially referred to as the ''Korte Suprema'' lso used in formal writing is the highest court in the Philippines. The Supreme Court was established by the Second Philippine Commission on Ju ...
)
In total, §4(c)(3), §5 (only in relation to §4(c)(2), §4(c)(3), and §4(c)(4)), §7 (only in relation to sections §4(c)(2) and §4(c)(4)), §12, and §19 were struck down by the Court as
unconstitutional Constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applicable constitution. When l ...
. Notably, " likes" and "
retweet Reblogging (or, in Twitter parlance, retweeting) is the mechanism in blogging which allows users to repost the content of another user's post with an indication that the source of the post is another user. It was first developed by Jonah Peretti ...
s" of libelous content, originally themselves also criminalized as libel under the law, were found to be legal, and this was the only instance in which the court modified the interpretation of section 4(c)(4). Only justice
Marvic Leonen Marvic Mario Victor Famorca Leonen (born December 29, 1962) is the Senior associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines since May 14, 2022 upon the retirement of Senior Associate Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe. He became an associate ...
dissented from the ruling, writing that he believes the whole idea of criminal libel to be unconstitutional, and assailing the Court for not finding so. Of note also was the Court's justification for the higher penalties given to cybercrimes, such as '' prisión mayor'' (six to twelve years in prison) for cyberlibel:
There exists a substantial distinction between crimes committed through the use of information and communications technology and similar crimes committed using other means. In using the technology in question, the offender often evades identification and is able to reach far more victims or cause greater harm. The distinction, therefore, creates a basis for higher penalties for cybercrimes.
The Court's ruling also puts the burden of proof for whether or not there was malice on the defendant rather than the petitioner, even if the petitioner is a
public figure A public figure is a person who has achieved notoriety, prominence or fame within a society, whether through achievement, luck, action, or in some cases through no purposeful action of their own, In the context of defamation actions (libel and ...
. In his dissent in part, justice
Antonio Carpio Antonio Tirol Carpio (; born October 26, 1949) is a former associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He was sworn in as member of the High Court by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on October 26, 2001, and served until his ret ...
called this provision "clearly repugnant to the Constitution."


Motion for reconsideration

While motions for reconsideration were immediately filed by numerous petitioners, including the
Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) is a private, non-stock, non-profit foundation in the Philippines that has focused its endeavor on press freedom protection along with the establishment of a framework of responsibility for ...
, they were all rejected with finality on April 22, 2014. However, justice
Arturo Brion Arturo Dizon Brion (born December 29, 1946) is a former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He took his oath as a member of the Supreme Court on March 17, 2008. From 2006 until his appointment to the Supreme Court, Brion s ...
, who originally wrote a separate concurring opinion, changed his vote to dissent after reconsidering whether it was just to impose higher penalties for cyberlibel than for regular libel. ''Disini v. Secretary of Justice'' (Ruling on Motion for Reconsideration)
Dissent by Brion, ''J.''
/ref>


See also

* ''
People of the Philippines v. Santos, Ressa and Rappler ''People of the Philippines v. Santos, Ressa and Rappler'' (R-MNL-19-01141-CR), also known as the Maria Ressa cyberlibel case, is a high-profile criminal case in the Philippines, lodged against Maria Ressa, co-owner and CEO of Rappler, Rappler ...
''


References


External links


Selected briefs


For petitioners

* *


For government respondents

*


Rulings

* * {{Citation, title=Jose Jesus M. Disini Jr., et al. v. Secretary of Justice, et al., type=Ruling on Motion for Reconsideration, publisher=Supreme Court of the Philippines, id=G.R. Nos. 203335, ''et al''., date=2014-04-22, url=https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2014/apr2014/gr_203335_so_2014.html, ref={{harvid, DisinivSecretaryR Supreme Court of the Philippines cases 2014 in the Philippines 2014 in case law Cybercrime