The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-01-25
TWO LANGUAGES
USED IN COURT
CHARLES A. WILLARD TELLS OF
FILIPINO LEGAL PROCEDURE.
Spanish and American Jurisprudenc
|, Mixed in Settling of Civil and Crimi-
nal Filipino Justices Men of
Culture and Ability Catches in
Criminal Code-Some of the Cases.

An American court where Spanish is
a mixture of Spanish and American
Jurisprudence, and where arguments in
court are made in duplicate in two
tongues, is that to which Charles A.
| Willard of Minneapolis has just been
appointed at Manila in the Philippines.
For three years, or from the time the
court was first organized, Mr.. Willard
served as one of the associate justices
Of the supreme court Of the islands,
sions Of the new Philippine bill he has
been reappointed and will leave for his
post in a few weeks.
The court is the tribunal of highest
/ appeal in the islands. When first estab-
lished, there was no appeal beyond it,
but now, in cases involving over $780,
600 in money, or where an interpreta-
ton Of United States statutes is IN
question, an appeal may be taken to
the supreme court of the United States.
The composition of this remarkable
island tribunal is evidenced by it's mem
bership. There are seven justices, three
OF whom are native Filipinos and the
other four Americans. The chief JUS
tlce is Tagalo, or countryman OF Agul.
J naldo, and bears the romantic name of
Cayetano Arellano. The other two
also Tagalo, and Victorino Mapa,
Judge Willard pays an enthusiastic
tribute to his associates on the bench
of the island court. -.
"These men, he explained yester-
day to The Journal, "were edu-
Gated in Manila at Santa Tomas uni
versity. The educational institutions
Of the islands are ancient. Before the
| nj (rri 1ov, lad OF o,1{h
universities of Santa Tomas and San
Jose were quarreling for precedence:
Both Arellano and Torres are men Of
great wealth as well as men OF wide
information and Of culture. Judging
from them, would say the individual
Filipino was capable Of any develop,
ment; but the mass of inhabitants are
SO Ignorant that it will be a long time
before they make great strides in the
, direction Of civilization r~
A Queer Legal Admixture.
Not only is Spanish the official lang
uage Of the island courts, but Spanish
law is on the statute books, altho with
some important changes. The Ameri
l can Judge or LAWYER who would pre-
, pare himself to appear in the Filipino
, courts must accordingly not only pre-
pare himself in the Spanish language
but must also. familiarize himself with
the Spanish laws as well. 49,.
Tho American code Of civil procedure
Mr.. Willard explains, has been substi
tuted for the, Spanish system, but thu
Spanish penal and criminal code re
, mains intact. can attempt has beer
made, to change this for the American
code,' said Mr.. Willard, "but it hal
been resisted by the Filipinos, and I an
inclined to believe it will not be changed
In fact, when I was in. Washington
recently, and in conversation with Sec
. rotary Taft, he told me he was not Ger
, tain that the Spanish law was not bet
ter than ours. And beside that, tht
Fiipinos are used to it. There. have
been some changes, as for example, un
der the old Spanish regime all witnessed
were examined in writing, and were no
cross-examined. This has been changed
under American rule, and the Filipino
are the first to acknowledge the benef
= of the change. .,.-.
: :some other important change
= which have been made in the islant
Jurisprudence are the right Of appeal an,
the right Of challenge. Under the oil,
n custom the most trivial case could b.
T. appealed. The right Of challenge wa
! another q source Of abuse. For example
n Judge on the ground, that he was preju
o diced. either by relationship, interest
q etc, in the case under hearing. Thu
If Judge A were challenged he was no
competent to pass on the challenge him
self and had to pass it on to Judge
who would in turn be challenged, and s
the endless chain would grow. Filipin
- lawyers told me that under this cond
ton Of affairs clever lawyer could dc
Q lay a case, forever.' -...-...
|: Judicial Discretion Limited.