The Five Pillars of The Criminal Justice System

The Five Pillars of the Criminal Justice System
The CJS is envisioned as being supported by five pillars, namely: law

enforcement; prosecution; courts; corrections; and the community. Each of these
five pillars plays a vital role in the administration of justice and, as such, their
interplay and cooperation are most necessary for the proper functioning of a
Criminal Justice System.
a. Law Enforcement Pillar
The first pillar is the Law Enforcement Pillar. It consists mainly of the officers
and personnel of the Philippine National Police, National Bureau of Investigation,
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC),
Armed Forces of the Philippines, and 34 other related agencies. These agencies are
“at the forefront of the Criminal Justice System of the country. They deal with the
citizens and are directly exposed to the criminal elements.” Clearly, it is thus
necessary that the member agencies within this pillar are both trained and well-
oriented with “the ways of civil society.”
Their work consists of the prevention and control of crimes, enforcement of
laws and effecting the arrest of offenders, including the conduct of lawful searches
and seizures, to gather necessary evidence so that a complaint may be filed at the
Prosecution’s Office. Identified as the first point of contact with the community,
this pillar initiates the CJS machinery upon arresting a person believed to be a
suspect.
b. Prosecution Pillar
The second is the Prosecution Pillar, which is composed of the National
Prosecution Service of the Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of the Ombudsman,
and the Public Attorney’s Office. While the focus of this pillar is the speedy
disposition of cases, its principal task is the investigation of criminal complaints
emanating from the community and the law enforcement agencies and bringing
these complaints to their successful prosecution in the judicial system. The
prosecution pillar conducts preliminary investigation of cases filed in the
prosecutor’s office and prosecutes cases filed in the court against alleged offenders
after probable cause is established.
c. Courts Pillar
The Courts Pillar adjudicates cases and renders judgment. The Philippine
Judiciary is a four-tiered court system consisting of the Supreme Court as the
highest court of the land; the intermediate courts consisting of the Court of
Appeals, Sandiganbayan, and Court of Tax Appeals; the second level courts, which
consist of Regional Trial Courts and Shari’a District Courts; and the first level courts
consisting of Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts in Cities, Municipal
Trial Courts, Municipal Circuit Trial Courts and Shari’a Circuit Courts.
The goal of the Courts Pillar is not merely to adjudicate cases, but to do so in
accordance with the Rule of Law and “without sacrificing the quality of justice.”
Interestingly enough, the overall performance of the CJS may be determined by
the performance of the Courts Pillar. Many of the factors that affect the disposition
of a litigation – such as those that are in relation to the procurement of witnesses
and evidence, the determination of probable cause and the like – are clearly
outside of the control of the Judiciary. Nevertheless, because the litigation process
brings all these factors together, “[t]he performance of the courts therefore would
serve to synthesize to a large extent the overall performance of the criminal justice
system.”
d. Corrections Pillar
Comprising the Corrections Pillar are the jails and prisons administered by
the Bureau of Corrections (BUCOR), the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology,
and by the local government units with regard to provincial and sub provincial jails.
The Philippine National Police likewise maintains detention facilities in its different
police stations nationwide.
The Corrections Pillar may also be classified into two: institution-based and
community-based corrections. On one hand, the institution-based corrections
include prisons and jails which house prisoners serving terms of imprisonment;
under detention status; and those for safekeeping in selected cases. On the other
hand, community-based corrections pertain to probation and parole. These are
being managed by the Parole and Probation Administration of the DOJ. PPA
conducts a post-sentence investigation of petitioners for probation as referred by
the courts, as well as pre-parole/pre-executive clemency investigation for those
referred by the Board of Pardons and Parole, to determine the suitability of the
offender to be reintegrated in the community instead of serving their sentence
inside an institution or prison. The PPA further supervises probationers, parolees
and conditional pardonees to promote their rehabilitation and reintegration to the
mainstream of society. It mobilizes the community resources, especially through
volunteer probation aides.
e. Community Pillar
The Community Pillar is composed of institutions such as the Department of
Social Welfare and Development, Commission on Human Rights, National
Commission on Indigenous Peoples, Public Attorney’s Office , barangays, civic
organizations, and non-governmental organizations. Members of the Community
Pillar are regarded to be both duty holders claimholders in the administration of
justice. As duty holders, they have the responsibility to assist law enforcement and
the courts in solving crime by providing information, by community participation in
crime prevention and creating a culture of peace, and by supporting the
mobilization of resources for peace and order. As claimholders, they are the
beneficiaries of the justice system and they play critical roles in holding system duty
holders accountable. Likewise,
it is emphasized that the community as a subsystem of the whole cyclical
process is the most critical and useful component of the Criminal Justice System
considering its massive and pervasive composition. This also plays a crucial role
towards the society’s common goal of a fair and equal administration of justice –
either victims or criminals.
The importance of the Community Pillar cannot be overemphasized. In its
own manner, it ideally participates in two main responsive roles of the CJS: first,
that of crime prevention, and second, that of victim prevention. As for the first, this
pillar collectively imposes limitations on individual behavior of citizens that deter
criminality and criminal behavior for the common good of civilized and democratic
society. Meanwhile, in relation to the second, it has been recommended that
communities must disseminate more information regarding the roles and functions
of the other components of the CJS, as well as broaden its own, in order to
responsively contribute to victimization prevention.
Ultimately, criminals will come from the community and some will return to
it. from this alone, it can be seen how much impact the Community Pillar can have
in the rendition of justice. By participating in government programs, though not
entirely related to the criminal justice system such as livelihood programs and the
like, the community can therefore help lessen the crimes by diverting what would
be criminal enterprise into something more productive.30 Additionally, by aiding
in the capturing of criminals and in their subsequent prosecution, they can likewise
ensure proper and just redress for crimes.

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The Five Pillars of the Criminal Justice System

The CJS is envisioned as being supported by five pillars, namely: law

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