The Office of the Court Administrator (, abbreviated OCA) is a department 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 ...

tasked primarily with investigating

judicial misconduct Judicial misconduct occurs when a judge acts in ways that are considered unethical or otherwise violate the judge's obligations of impartial conduct. Actions that can be classified as judicial misconduct include: conduct prejudicial to the effect ...

in the lower courts through audits and filing administrative cases against judges who they find guilty of corrupt practices,

gross negligence Gross negligence is the "lack of slight diligence or care" or "a conscious, voluntary act or omission in reckless disregard of a legal duty and of the consequences to another party." In some jurisdictions a person injured as a result of gross negl ...

, and/or

ignorance of the law In law, (Latin for "ignorance of the law excuses not"),''Black's Law Dictionary'', 5th Edition, pg. 672 or ("ignorance of law excuses no one"),''Black's Law Dictionary'', 5th Edition, pg. 673 is a legal principle holding that a person who is un ...

, which are then heard and ruled on by the Supreme Court ''

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 ...

''. Cases brought by the Court Administrator can lead to sanctions starting at warnings and fines all the way up to

disbarment Disbarment, also known as striking off, is the removal of a lawyer from a bar association or the practice of law, thus revoking their law license or admission to practice law. Disbarment is usually a punishment for unethical or criminal con ...

from the

Integrated Bar of the Philippines The Integrated Bar of the Philippines ( fil, Pinagsamang mga Abogasya ng Pilipinas abbreviated as IBP) is the national organization of lawyers in the Philippines. It is the mandatory bar association for Filipino lawyers. History The IBP was establ ...

, forfeiture of benefits, and banning from serving in any public office or government-owned corporation. The office was established in 1975 by then-President

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...

; On March 1, 2022, Raul B. Villanueva was appointed as the Court Administrator who is tasked to oversee more than 2,600 judges and 25,000 court personnel.

References

External links

* {{official, oca.judiciary.gov.ph Supreme Court of the Philippines Judicial misconduct Oversight and watchdog organizations