Supreme Court of The Philippines

The judicial body comprised of the Supreme Court of the Philippines holds the powers of general legal oversight over the nation of the Philippines. In this regard, appeals filed against legal decisions previously made in any other court in the nation can last be appealed against in the setting of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, after which the complainant will have no more recourse to appellate sources of authority. The location of the Supreme Court of the Philippines can be found in Manila, specifically in buildings placed near the Philippines General Hospital. In historical terms, the Supreme Court of the Philippines can be traced back as an institution to 1901, in the beginning of the period during which the country was under American rule. In the early period of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, which scholars on the subject consider to have lasted from 1901 to 1935, most of the membership of the bench was reserved for American judges, with the exception of the seat of Chief Justice, which was invariably filled by a Filipino judge. The composition and functions of the Supreme Court of the Philippines changed somewhat in accordance with the overall shift of the nation toward independence. In this regard, 1973 reforms saw the Supreme Court of the Philippines attaining a somewhat larger membership, which was expanded to a permissible 15 judges who could sit on the bench, as well as wider powers over the country’s judicial system, as had previously been vested with the Justice Department.