The Supreme Court has imposed a two-year suspension on a judge after finding him guilty of delay in rendering a decision on a pending criminal case.

Ordered suspended following a per curiam decision was Judge Oscar P. Noel, Jr. of Regional Trial Court 35 in General Santos City. He was found guilty of gross neglect of duty.

Noel, who was assisting judge in Alabel, Saranggani under the Justice on Wheels Program, faced an administrative charge for allegedly failing to decide on a rape case assigned to him in 2010.

Asked to comment on the charge, Noel explained that it was not him but another judge that has been originally assigned the rape case filed against accused Jimmy Dela Torre on October 30, 2007.

He pointed out that he took over the case only on February 2010, or three years after the filing.

Further, he commented that as Assisting Judge under the Justice on Wheels (JOW) Program, he was tasked to preside over three different courts - Branch 35, RTC General Santos City; JOW Polomolok, South Cotabato and JOW Saranggani Province.

Since the rape case was being heard in Maasim town, Saranggani, transportation to the place is not immediately available. The judge explained that the JOW bus travels to the route only once per month.

The constraints he faced in visiting Maasim, the sheer number of cases assigned his sala and the frequent resetting of hearings contributed to the delay in the disposition of the case, he reasoned out.

Tasked to resolve the administrative case, the Judicial Integrity Board recommended that Noel be found guilty of Gross Neglect of Duty in the Performance or Non-Performance of Official Functions. A fine of PHP250,000 as penalty was proposed by the NIB.

The SC adopted the findings and recommendations of the NIB but modified the penalty to suspension of two years.

The High Court magistrates said that the Constitution provides that cases assigned to lower courts should be resolved within three months. Also cited was Rule 3.05, Canon 3 of the Code of Judicial Conduct mandating judges to dispose of the court’s business promptly and decide cases within the required period.

The Court further stressed that court officials should be imbued with a high sense of duty and responsibility in discharging their obligation to administer justice promptly.

In deciding the case, the High Tribunal reminded judges assigned to the JOW program that its primary objective is to speed up the resolution of the cases.

“On the part of Judge Noel, however, his languid attitude about Criminal Case no. 2642-07 failed to live up to this expectation,” the SC press release stated.

Reacting to Noel’s justification about the voluminous workload assigned him, the Court pointed out that he should have asked the SC for more time to resolve the case which he failed to do.