2nd Sem

PS153 outline

Problem: Low salary of Public Attorneys and its effects on the Justice system/dispensation of justice

Thesis Statement tracking: The low salary of public attorneys in the Philippines negatively affects the lawyers' efficiency in handling cases,delays the dispensation of justice to the marginalized sector of society, undermines the credibility and integrity of the Judiciary.

Roots of the Problem: Causes
- inadequate government budget for the Judiciary
- low salary/low compensation for public attorneys
- small allocation of the national budget to the Judicial Department

Problem: low salary of public attorneys
Implication: on the Justice System/on the dispensation of Justice

Effects:
- inefficiency of public attorneys in handling cases due to inadequate salary and funding
- lack of public attorneys
- piling up of cases but inadequate funding = inefficiency and delays in dispensing justice
- the economically marginalized sector of society are forced to seek counsel in private firms where the fees are too expensive
- lack of motivation on the lawyer's performance due to low compensation (psychological)
- some public attorneys simultaneously engaged in private practice while handling public cases in order to augment their low salary; as a result, hindi nila natututukan ng mabuti ang mga cases na hinahandle nila kaya kadalasan nade-delay or natatalo - vulnerable to corruption (to be established/cleared during the interviews)
- slow dispensation of justice to many victims
- denial of justice to some victims due to lack of public attorneys, and as a result of losing cases (inability to preserve the person's Constitutional right), as well as limited access to public attorneys
- the credibility and integrity of the Judiciary is undermine because of the negative effects cited above (general perspective)
- inefficiency in administering/dispensing justice
- the people will lose their trust on the Justice system
- low salary renders lawyers susceptible to corruption and bribes

Three major angles of the effects:
- on the lawyer him/herself
- on the victims - on the conflicting parties
- on the Justice system

Topic Outline
I. Introduction - A Situational Analysis and INitial Case Presentation Regarding Public Attorneys
- high case load/heavy workload
- low salary/low compensation
- lack of public attorneys

II. Problem Defined
A. Roots of the Problem
B. Scope/Scale of the Problem Today

III. Effects and Implications of the Problem
A. On the Lawyer who handles the case
B. On the Victim
C. On the Judicial System

IV. Presentation of Cases and Interviews

V. Conclusion and Recommendations


Tentative Sentence Outline

I. The public attorneys in the Judiciary receive low salaries yet they are overburdened with heavy case loads and often fail to provide access to justice for the indigent victims due to their limited number.

II. The low salary/low compensation of public attorneys has negatively affected the integrity and credibility of the Philippine Judiciary.
A. The problem can be attributed to the inadequate budget that Congress has provided for the Judiciary.
B. This problem is still present today, not only in PAO but throughout the whole system, and it has threatened to undermine the integrity and credibility of the Judiciary since it has been shown that low salaries makes lawyers susceptible to corruption.

III. Low salaries have negative effects/implications on public lawyers, on the victims/litigants, and on the Judicial system as whole.
A. Low salaries can dampen a lawyer's motivation to perform well and it can also render him/her susceptible to corruption and bribes; furthermore, a lawyer's efficiency in handling a heavy case load is reduced because of lack of funding.
B. Indigent victims will have less access to public attorneys and ultimately to justice because the low salary is not an attractive or practical option for lawyers to work in PAO.
C. Since public attorneys are members of the Judiciary, their inefficiency in handling cases as well as their susceptibility to bribes and corruption can undermine the integrity and credibility of the whole Judicial system.

IV. The cases and interviews presented can support the researchers' assumptions about the negative effects of low salary/low compensation on public attorneys' performance.

V. Since a correlation has been established between low salaries of public attorneys and its negative effects on the judiciary system, an important recommendation would be for Congress to provide adequate budget for the Judiciary.

posted by Graciella @ 9:37 PM