Judge suspended for child abuse stopped from hearing cases until cleared
A judge in the Philippines who has been convicted on two counts of child abuse, has been suspended from her duties, in keeping with the high standards demanded of persons who judge others.

NCHR's Comments:

The stand taken by the Philippine court is that people who are accused of crimes and litigants seeking justice in courts are entitled to a hearing by judges whose moral qualifications are not placed in serious doubt.

In Sweden in March 2005, a High School student accused a Supreme Court judge of buying sex from him on several occasions. Buying sex is an offence punishable by the Criminal Code. The judges at the Supreme Court are appointed by the government. This judge has had several cases of sex-buying before him. He admitted one such incident and he had to pay a fine. However he was not discharged from the Supreme Court. Instead he was offered another job at the Legislative Council.

The Head of the Supreme Court claimed that the judge's own experiences made him specially qualified to handle such cases.

In June 2005, a judge in a district court in the south of Sweden admitted that he was a customer at a brothel in Malmö. Also that judge continued to judge other people. In August 2006 the media published articles about an ordinary worker who surfed the Internet for child pornography and was dismissed from his employment. He was allowed to have foster children.

A quick comparison between the stand taken in the Philippines and in Sweden concerning the moral fabric demanded of the judges, shows that the latter is undermining the authority of the court system.

Judge suspended for child abuse: ‘Stop hearing cases until cleared’
By Armand Nocum

THE Supreme Court has suspended Caloocan Regional Trial Court Judge Adoracion Angeles who had been convicted for child abuse by a Quezon City court on July 17.

The high court said Angeles would be suspended “from performing her judicial functions while awaiting the final resolution of her

criminal cases or until further orders from the court.”

Inquirer October 10, 2006

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