Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study Conflicts among inhabitants of a community is inevitable and the necessity of establishing a formal institution such as trial courts or courts of justice, to address conflict resolution is indispensible. The establishment of this formal institutions is based on the social contract theory wherein the government is duty bound to maintain order in a community and to protect and enforce the fundamental rights of its inhabitants in exchange for the surrender of some rights of the latter. All these, follow the course of administration of justice. Administration of Justice examines the structure, function, laws, procedures, and decision-making processes of agencies that deal with crime management. Courts of justice plays a very important role in the administration of justice. Almost all countries experience problems in the administration of justice. The degree of seriousness of these problems varies depending on several factors. The most common among these problems is the increasing number of court dockets and flaws in the laws being interpreted and implemented. In the Philippines, Courts, in the administration of justice, follows a hierarchy of courts. There are four (4) levels of courts in the Philippines, wherein it is the Supreme Court that is at the apex of this four-tiered hierarchy. At the lowest level of the hierarchy are the first-level courts, consisting of the Municipal Trial Courts (MTCs), Metropolitan Trial Courts (MeTCs), and Municipal Circuit Trial Courts (MCTCs). These are basically called trial courts. These Trial Courts are the front liners in most of the civil and criminal cases filed in courts. However before a case reaches the Supreme Court, it must pass through the Regional Trial Courts and the Court of Appeals. In each of these courts, attached so many legal remedies that may be