AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF COURTS IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.

• Number: Act No. 136
• Sections: 92

Section 1

SECTION 1. Courts of justice to be maintained in every province. Courts of justice shall be maintained in every province in the Philippine Islands in which civil government shall be established; which courts shall be open for the trial of all causes proper for their cognizance, and justice shall be therein impartially administered without corruption or unnecessary delay.

Section 2 Constitution of judiciary.

SEC. 2. Constitution of judiciary.—The judicial power of the Government of the Philippine Islands shall be vested in a Supreme Court, Courts of First instance, and courts of justices of the peace, together with such special jurisdictions of municipal courts, and other special tribunals as now are or hereafter may be authorized by law. The two courts first named shall be courts of record.

Section 3 Qualifications of judges, and so forth.

SEC. 3. Qualifications of judges, and so forth.—In order to be eligible to the office of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, or judge of the Supreme Court, or judge of a Court of First Instance, or Attorney-General, a person must:

Be more than thirty years of age;

Be a citizen of the United States or a native of the Philippine Islands, or have acquired, by virtue of the Treaty of Paris, the political rights of a native of the Islands;

He must have practiced law, or have been a judge of a court of record, in the United States or the Philippine Islands, or in Spain, or, previous to the date of the ratification of the Treaty of Paris, in any Spanish territory, for a period of five years, or must for a like period have filled any office which requires a legal degree as an indispensable qualification in the Philippine Islands or, previous to the date of the ratification of the Treaty of Paris, in any Spanish territory.

Section 4 Hours of labor of court employees.

SEC. 4. Hours of labor of court employees.—The hours of labor of all employees in and about the Supreme Court and the Courts of First Instance shall be regulated by section one of Act Numbered Eighty, entitled, "An Act regulating the hours of labor, leaves of absence, and transportation of appointees under the Philippine Civil Service," enacted January twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred and one.

Section 5 Leaves of absence.

SEC. 5. Leaves of absence.—All leaves of absence of the judges of the Supreme Court, the Attorney-General, Solicitor-General, and Assistant Attorney-General, clerk, and other subordinates of the Supreme Court, and judges of Courts of First Instance, shall be granted by the Chief Justice.

Leaves of absence of clerks and other subordinates, officials or employees of Courts of First Instance shall be granted by the judge of the Court of First Instance, for each province within his judicial district. The Chief Justice shall determine his own leave of absence, but his leave of absence and that of all the other officials and employees in this Act named shall be governed by sections two and three of Act Numbered Eighty, above referred to.

Section 6 Transportation of judges, and salary while traveling.

SEC. 6. Transportation of judges, and salary while traveling.—A person residing in the United States who is appointed judge of the Supreme Court, or judge of the Court of First Instance of the Philippine Islands, shall be paid the traveling expenses of himself and family from his place of residence to Manila, if he shall come by the steamer and route directed by the Chief Executive of the Islands. He shall be allowed one-half salary from the date of leaving home to come to Manila, and full salary from the date of his arrival in the Islands, provided that he proceeds directly to the Islands. Otherwise, he shall be allowed half salary for such time only as is ordinarily required to perform the journey from his place of residence to Manila. If he has been employed as judge in the Philippine Islands for three years or more he shall, if he so requests, upon his retirement from the service, be furnished with transportation for himself and family from Manila to his place of residence, and be allowed half salary for thirty days, in addition to full salary for the period for which he may be entitled as leave of absence, under the provisions of this Act, and of said Act Numbered Eighty.

Section 7 Official oath of judicial officers.

SEC. 7. Official oath of judicial officers.—The judges and justices of the several courts shall, before they proceed to execute the duties of their respective offices, take and subscribe to the following oath or affirmation, to wit:

"I, ______________________solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that 1 will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me as ______________________, according to the best of my ability and understanding, agreeably to the laws of the Philippine Islands. And that recognize and accept the supreme authority of the United States of America in these Islands, and will maintain true faith and allegiance thereto; that I impose upon myself this obligation voluntarily, without mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God." (The last four words to be stricken out in case of affirmation.)

"(Signature)____________________________

"Subscribed and sworn to (or affirmed) before me this ______________________ day of __________________, 19_____."

The oath may be administered by any member of the Philippine Commission, or by any judge or justice of the peace duly qualified to act, and shall be filed with the clerk of the court in which the official taking the oath presides, and be by him recorded in the records of the court.

Section 8 Supreme Court.

SEC. 8. Supreme Court.—The Supreme Court shall consist of a Chief Justice and six associate judges, any five of whom when convened shall form a quorum, and may transact any of the business of the court; but in the absence of a quorum the member or members present may adjourn the court from time to time with the same effect as if all were present. The concurrence of at least four members of the court shall be necessary to pronounce a judgment. They shall be appointed by the Commission, and shall hold office during its pleasure. The word "Judges'' or "Judge's of the Supreme Court," when used in this Act, shall include the Chief Justice.

Section 9 Salaries of the judges of the Supreme Court.

SEC. 9. Salaries of the judges of the Supreme Court.—The annual salary of the Chief Justice shall be seven thousand five hundred dollars, and of the associate judges seven thousand dollars, all payable monthly.

Section 10 The Supreme Court to sit in banc.

SEC. 10. The Supreme Court to sit in banc.—The Supreme Court shall sit in bane as a body composed of all its members, and the Chief Justice shall be the presiding officer thereof. In case of his absence at a session of the court, the judge present next in seniority to the Chief Justice shall preside. The seniority of the associate judges shall be determined by the dates of their respective commissions.

Section 11 Sessions of the Supreme Court.

SEC. 11. Sessions of the Supreme Court.—The Supreme Court shall always be open for the transaction of business. It shall hold regular terms for the hearing of causes at Manila, commencing on the second Monday of January and July, and at Iloilo, commencing on the first Monday of November and at Cebu on the first Monday of December of each year, and special sessions at either of the above-named places at such other times as may be prescribed by the judges thereof. The regular terms at Manila shall each continue for at least four successive months unless all the business of the sessions has been sooner completed. The rooms at other times occupied by the Courts of First Instance at Cebu and Iloilo shall be available for the use of the Supreme Court in its sessions at those cities. Sessions of the court for hearing causes shall be held on five days in each week, when there is business to be transacted, and the sessions shall continue not less than four hours on each day.

Section 12 Allowance for traveling expenses.

SEC. 12. Allowance for traveling expenses.—The judges and officers of the Supreme Court, the Attorney-General, the Solicitor-General, and assistant attorney-general shall be allowed their actual expenses of travel and subsistence when absent from Manila on the business of the court, or to attend its sessions, upon the certificate of the Chief Justice and the approval of the Auditor.

Section 13 Where actions shall be heard.

SEC. 13. Where actions shall be heard.—All actions coming into the Supreme Court from Courts of First Instance situated in the Islands of Luzon, Mindoro, Marinduque, and Paragua, shall be heard at Manila. Those coming into the Supreme Court from Courts of First Instance situated in the Islands of Romblon, Panay, Masbate, and Negros, the Sulu Archipelago, and the south half of Mindanao, shall be heard at Iloilo. Those coming from the Islands of Cebu, Bohol, Samar, Leyte, and the north half of Mindanao, shall be heard at Cebu. Original actions in the Supreme Court shall be filed in Manila, but may be hoard at Iloilo or Cebu, if the Court shall so order.

Section 14 Transferring of hearings.

SEC. 14. Transferring of hearings.—Whenever the public good, or the convenience of individuals, or the necessity for speedy hearings, requires that any action, or any number of actions, which would by the terms of this Act be properly triable at either one of said places, should be hoard at another of them, the Supreme Court may order such action or actions to be heard at either Manila, Cebu, or Iloilo, as it finds most expedient, and with the same effect as though such actions or actions had been heard at the place provided in the preceding section.

Section 15 Decisions to be in writing.

SEC. 15. Decisions to be in writing.—In the determination of causes, all decisions of the Supreme Court shall be given in writing, signed by the judges concurring in the decision, and the grounds of the decision shall be stated as briefly as may be consistent with clearness.

Section 16 Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.

SEC. 16. Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.—The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court shall be of two kinds:

Original; and

Appellate.

Section 17 Its original jurisdiction.

SEC. 17. Its original jurisdiction.—The Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction to issue writs of mandamus, certiorari, prohibition, habeas corpus, and quo warranto in the cases and in the manner prescribed in the Code of Civil Procedure, and to hear and determine the controversies thus brought before it, and in other cases provided by law.

Section 18 Its appellate jurisdiction.

SEC. 18. Its appellate jurisdiction.—The Supreme Court shall y have appellate jurisdiction of all actions and special proceedings properly brought to it from Courts of First Instance, and from other tribunals from whose judgment the law shall specially provide an appeal to the Supreme Court.

Section 19 Power to issue all necessary auxiliary writs.

SEC. 19. Power to issue all necessary auxiliary writs.—The Supreme Court shall have power to issue writs of certiorari and all other auxiliary writs and process necessary to the complete exercise of its original or appellate jurisdiction.

Section 20 The clerk and his assistants.

SEC. 20. The clerk and his assistants.—The Commission shall appoint a clerk, who shall be the recording officer and interpreter and translator of the Court, and perform such duties as are prescribed in the Code of Civil Procedure. He shall receive a salary at the rate of three thousand dollars per year, and all fees charged by him for his own services or those of his assistants shall belong to the Government. He may be at any time removed by the judges of the Supreme Court, and his successor may be appointed by them from a list of eligibles provided by the Civil Service Board under the rules of the Civil Service Act. He may employ such deputies and assistants as the majority of the judges of the Supreme Court may decide to be necessary, and at salaries to be by them fixed, all with the approval of the Chief Executive. The selection of such assistants shall be made in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Service Act.

Section 21 Clerk's bond.

SEC. 21. Clerk's bond.—Before entering upon the performance of his duties the clerk of the Supreme Court shall execute a bond to the Government of the Philippine Islands in the penal sum of ten thousand dollars, with sufficient surety, to be approved by the Insular Treasurer, conditioned for the faithful performance of his duties and for the payment to those entitled thereto of all sums of money that shall come into his hands or into those of his deputies and assistants by virtue of his office. The bond shall be recorded in the books of the Insular Treasurer and be retained in his office, and shall be available for any party in interest. The clerk may require of his deputies and assistants a sufficient bond to indemnify him against the malfeasance or nonfeasance of such deputies or assistants.

Section 22 Governor of province to be officer of court.

SEC. 22. Governor of province to be officer of court.—The officer of the Supreme Court to serve its process and enforce good order in and about the court room shall be the governor, or his deputy, of the province in which the court is held, when the court is in session at Cebu or Iloilo. At other times its officer shall be the sheriff of the city of Manila, as hereinafter provided.

Section 23 Governor to execute an official bond.

SEC. 23. Governor to execute an official bond.—The governor of the province shall, before being qualified to perform the duties of officer of any court, execute a bond, with sufficient sureties, to the Government of the Philippine Islands, in the penal sum of ten thousand dollars, to be approved by the provincial treasurer, conditioned for the faithful performance of the duties of himself and his deputies as officer of the court, and the payment of all sums of money that shall come into bis or their hands officially, to the persons entitled thereto. The bond shall be recorded in the books of the provincial treasurer and kept on file in his office, and shall be available as security for the benefit of any person in interest. The governor may require each deputy by him appointed to execute to him a sufficient indemnity for his protection against the malfeasance or nonfeasance of such deputy.

Section 24 Provisions for officer when governor fails to five bond.

SEC. 24. Provisions for officer when governor fails to five bond.— In case the governor shall fail to give the bond provided in the preceding section within thirty days after his election, it shall be the duty of the judge of the Court of First Instance of the province to appoint, in writing, a suitable person as the officer of the courts of the province, and the officer so appointed, upon executing the bond provided in the preceding section, shall be the officer of the courts of the province, with the same powers in the execution of process and appointment of deputies as the governor would have had be given the bond required.

The person so appointed shall bold office until the expiration of the term of office, of the governor, and shall he called the sheriff of the province, and may require bonds of his deputies, as provided in the preceding section.

Section 25 Officer of courts in Manila.

SEC. 25. Officer of courts in Manila.—The officer of the Supreme Court to serve its process and enforce good order in and about the court room of the courts in session at Manila shall be the sheriff of the city of Manila, to be appointed by the Commission, to hold office during its pleasure. The sheriff of the city of Manila shall have power to appoint as many deputies as he deems expedient, and may, in person or by his deputies, serve any process, preliminary or final, issued from the Supreme Court, a Court of First Instance, or court of justice of the peace in the city of Manila. Before entering upon the performance of his duties he shall execute a bond, with sufficient surety, to the Government of the Philippine Islands, in the penal sum of twenty-five thousand dollars, to be approved by the Insular Treasurer, conditioned for the faithful performance of the duties of himself and deputies as officers of the court, and the payment of all sums of money that shall come into his or their hands officially, to the persons entitled thereto. The bond shall be recorded in the books of the Insular Treasurer, and kept on file in his office, and shall be available as security for the benefit of any person in interest. The sheriff may require each deputy by him appointed to execute to him a sufficient indemnity for his protection against the malfeasance or nonfeasance of such deputy.

Section 26 Renewing bond of officer.

SEC. 26. Renewing bond of officer.—At any time that it shall be made to appear to the judge of the Court of First Instance in any province, or to the judges of the Supreme Court in the city of Manila, that the bond of the officer of the court, whether governor or sheriff, is insufficient, he or they may require a new and sufficient bond to be given within a period to be fixed in the order. If the new bond so required is not given within the period so fixed, a sheriff shall be appointed, as provided in the preceding sections. The sheriff so appointed shall have all the powers and duties of the regular officer of the court.

Section 27 Fees.

SEC. 27. Fees.—The officer of the court and his deputies shall be paid by fees only, and strictly in accordance with the fee bill provided in the Code of Civil Procedure.

Section 28 Rules.

SEC. 28. Rules.—The judges of the Supreme Court shall make all necessary rules for orderly procedure in the Supreme Court and Courts of First Instance, and courts of justices of the peace, and for the admission of lawyers to the practice of the law before such courts, in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, which rules shall be uniform for all the courts of the same grade, and binding upon the several courts; but the judges of the Supreme Court may at any time alter or amend such rules.

Section 29 Assignment of Supreme Court judges to sit in Courts, of First Instance.

SEC. 29. Assignment of Supreme Court judges to sit in Courts, of First Instance.—The Supreme Court may, at any time, and for any reason satisfactory to its judges, assign any judge of that Court to hear any particular cause pending in any Court of First Instance, or to hold a term of the court in any Court of First Instance. The judge so assigned shall possess all the powers of the regular judge of a Court of First Instance in all actions heard by him under such assignment, but shall not sit in the Supreme Court in review of any decisions made by him in a Court of First Instance.

Section 30 Reporter of decisions.

SEC. 30. Reporter of decisions.—The judges of the Supreme a Court shall appoint a reporter of the decisions of the Court, who shall hold office during their pleasure, and they may at any time remove him and appoint his successor. He shall receive a salary at the rate of one thousand dollars per year, payable quarterly, upon the certificate of a majority of the judges of the court that he has performed the duties of the office for the preceding quarter, and is entitled to the compensation herein provided.

Section 31 Reporter a ministerial officer.

SEC. 31. Reporter a ministerial officer.—The reporter shall be a ministerial officer, subject to the orders of the Supreme Court.

Section 32 What cases reported, and how reported.

SEC. 32. What cases reported, and how reported.—The judges shall prepare and furnish to the reporter reports of the opinions by them severally given, embracing such decisions of the court as may be deemed by the court of sufficient importance to be printed and published, as rapidly as such decisions are promulgated. Dissenting opinions may be published with the majority opinions, if the dissenting judge or judges so direct.

The reporter shall prepare and publish with each case a concise and correct synopsis of the facts necessary to a clear understanding of the decision, and shall state the names of counsel, and concisely the material and controverted points made and the authority therein cited by them and shall prefix to each case a syllabus, which shall be confined, as near as may be, to points of law decided by the court on the facts of the case, without a recital therein of the facts.

Section 33 In what language cases reported.

SEC. 33. In what language cases reported.—Until the first day of January, nineteen hundred and six, each case shall be reported in both the English and Spanish languages, and the decisions in both languages shall be hound together in the same volume. After the first day of January, nineteen hundred and six, the decisions shall be published only in the English language.

Section 34 Volumes, how indexed, bound, and so forth.

SEC. 34. Volumes, how indexed, bound, and so forth.—Each volume shall contain a table of the cases reported and of the cases cited in the opinions and a full and alphabetical index of the subject matters of the volume prepared by the reporter, shall contain not less than seven hundred and fifty pages of printed matter, shall be well printed, upon good paper, and well hound in the best law sheep, substantially in the manner of the reports of the decisions of the Supreme Court of the Tinted States, and shall be styled, "Philippine Reports," and numbered consecutively, in the order of the volumes published.

Section 35 Contract for printing report.

SEC. 35. Contract for printing report.—When the reporter of decisions of the Supreme Court has prepared a volume of the Philippine Reports for publication, he shall contract for printing and binding two thousand copies thereof, but such contract shall not be valid until approved by a majority of the judges of the Supreme Court.

Section 36 Disposition of reports.

SEC. 36. Disposition of reports.—The volumes, when printed, shall be delivered to the librarian of the Philippine Commission, who shall deliver one copy to the Chief Executive of the Archipelago, to each judge of the Supreme Court, and to each judge of a Court of First Instance, to each justice of the peace, to each provincial secretary, to the clerk of the Supreme Court, and to each clerk of a Court of First Instance in the Philippine Islands, to the Treasurer and Auditor of the Archipelago, which volumes shall not be sold or disposed of by the officials to whom they are delivered, but shall be public property appertaining to the several offices named, and remain as a part of the public documents thereof for the use of the successors of the officials named, and of the public. At least ten copies shall be retained at all times in the library of the Philippine Commission and ten copies shall be sent to the Library of Congress at Washington. Volumes above the number provided by law for the Philippine Commission, and for distribution as above provided, shall be kept for exchange and for sale by the librarian, for the benefit of the library of the Commission. The price of the volumes shall be fixed by the reporter, the Treasurer and the Auditor of the Archipelago.

Section 37 Custody of original opinions.

SEC. 37. Custody of original opinions.—Immediately upon promulgation thereof, the opinions of the Supreme Court shall be regularly recorded by the clerk, in an "Opinion Rook," and, when recorded, the original shall be delivered by the clerk to the reporter for the purpose of preparing the publications herein required, and shall be by him retained as a part of the reporter's office.

Section 38

SEC. 38. Disposition of causes, actions, proceedings, appeals, records, papers, and so forth, pending in the existing Supreme Court and in the, "Contencioso Administrativo."—All records, books, papers, causes, actions, proceedings, and appeals lodged, deposited, or pending in the existing Audiencia or Supreme Court, or pending by appeal before the Spanish tribunal called "Contencioso Administrativo," are transferred to the Supreme Court above provided for, which has the same power and jurisdiction over them as if they had been in the first instance lodged, filed, or pending therein, or, in case of appeal, appealed thereto.

Section 39 Abolition of existing Supreme Court.

SEC. 39. Abolition of existing Supreme Court.—The existing Audiencia or Supreme Court is hereby abolished, and the Supreme Court provided by this Act is substituted in place thereof.

Section 40 Attorney-General.

SEC. 40. Attorney-General.—There shall be an Attorney-General for the Philippine islands, to be appointed by the Philippine Commission, to serve during its pleasure, with a salary at the rate of five thousand five hundred dollars per annum, payable monthly.

Section 41 Solicitor-General.

SEC. 41. Solicitor-General.—There shall be an officer learned in the law to assist the Attorney-General in the performance of all his duties, called the Solicitor-General, who shall be appointed by the Commission and shall be entitled to a salary of four thousand five hundred dollars a year, payable monthly. In case of a vacancy in the office of Attorney-General, or of his absence or disability, the Solicitor-General shall have power to exercise the duties of that office. Under the supervision of the Attorney-General, it shall be the especial duty of the Solicitor-General to conduct and argue suits and appeals in the Supreme Court, in which the Philippine Government is interested, and the Attorney-General may, whenever he deems it for the interest of the Philippine Government, either in person conduct and argue any ease in any court of the Philippine Islands in which the Philippine Government is interested or may direct the Solicitor-General to do so.

Section 42 Assistant Attorney-General.

SEC. 42. Assistant Attorney-General.—There shall be an Assistant Attorney-General, to be appointed by the Commission, to serve during its pleasure, with a salary at the rate of three thousand dollars per annum, payable monthly, who shall perform the duties of the Attorney-General, in his absence, and the absence of the Solicitor-General, and shall render such other services in the performance of the duties of the Attorney-General as may be assigned to him.

Section 43 Oath of Attorney-General, Solicitor-General, and Assistant Attorney-General.

SEC. 43. Oath of Attorney-General, Solicitor-General, and Assistant Attorney-General.—Before entering upon the performance of their duties, the Attorney-General, Solicitor-General, and Assistant Attorney-General shall take and subscribe to the following oath or affirmation, to wit:

"I, ____________________________, solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me as Attorney-General (or Solicitor-General or Assistant Attorney-General), according to the best of my ability and understanding, agreeably to the laws of the Philippine Islands; that I will prosecute no man for envy, hatred, or malice, neither will I leave unprosecuted for love, fear, favor, affection, or hope of reward; and that I recognize and accept the supreme authority of the United States of America in these Islands, and will maintain true faith and allegiance thereto; that I impose upon myself this obligation voluntarily, without mental reservation, or purpose of evasion; so help me God. (The last four words to be stricken out in case of affirmation.)

"(Signature)___________________________

"Subscribed and sworn to (or affirmed) before me this _________________________ day of _________________________19______"

The oath may be administered by any judge of the Supreme -Court and shall be filed with the clerk of that court.

Section 44 Bond of Attorney-General.

SEC. 44. Bond of Attorney-General.—Before entering upon the performance of the duties of his office, the Attorney-General shall execute a bond to the Insular Government, in the penal sum of five thousand dollars, with sufficient surety or sureties, to be approved by the Insular Treasurer, conditioned for the faithful performance of the official duties of himself and his assistants and the payment of all sums of money that shall come into his or their hands officially, to the person entitled thereto. The bond shall be recorded in the books of the Insular Treasurer and kept on file in his office, and shall be available as security for the benefit of any person, corporation, or municipality in interest. In case the Attorney-General fails to give the bond herein prescribed, within thirty days after his appointment, the office shall be vacant, and another person shall be appointed in his stead as Attorney-General. The Attorney-General may require of the Solicitor-General and Assistant Attorney-General, each, a bond to him in the penal sum of five thousand dollars, with sufficient surety or sureties, to be by him approved, conditioned for the faithful performance of their official duties, respectively, and the payment of all sums of money that shall come into their or either of their hands officially, to the person lawfully entitled thereto. In case either the Solicitor-General or the Assistant Attorney-General fails to give the bond here prescribed, within thirty days after his appointment, his office shall be vacant, and another person shall be appointed in his stead.

Section 45 Duties of the Attorney-General.

SEC. 45. Duties of the Attorney-General.—The Attorney-General shall perform the following duties:

(a) He shall attend the Supreme Court and prosecute or defend therein all causes, civil and criminal, to which the United States, or any officer thereof, in his official capacity, is a party;

(b) He shall prosecute or defend therein all causes, civil and criminal, to which the Government of the Philippine Islands, or any officer thereof, in his official capacity, is a party; and all causes to which any province may be a party, unless the interest of the province be adverse to that of the Government of the Islands, or that of the United States, or some officer thereof acting in his official capacity, or of some other province;

(c) After judgment in favor of the interest represented by him, in any of the cases mentioned in the last section, he shall direct the issuing of such process as may be necessary to carry the same into execution, and shall account for and pay over to the proper officer all money that may come info his possession belonging to the United States Government, the Government of the Philippine Islands, or any province;

(d) When it may be necessary or proper for the enforcement or collection of any judgment or debt in favor of the Insular Government or any officer thereof in his official capacity, or of any province, the Attorney-General shall institute and prosecute in behalf of the creditor an action or actions to set aside any conveyance or other devise fraudulently made by the debtor, or any one for him, to hinder or delay or defraud the creditor;

(e) He shall, when required by the public service, or when directed by the Chief Executive, repair to any province in the Islands and assist the provincial fiscal there in the discharge of his duties, and shall assist the provincial fiscal in any prosecution against an officer of the Government;

(f) He shall, at the request of the Chief Executive, or other proper officer of the Insular Government, institute and prosecute a suit on any official bond or any contract, in which the Government of the Islands is interested, upon a breach thereof, and prosecute or defend for the Insular Government all actions, civil or criminal, relating to any matter connected with either of the offices of the Insular Government; and be may require the service or assistance of any provincial fiscal in and about such matters or suits;

(g) Whenever requested by the Chief Executive, or other officer of the Insular Government, he shall prepare proper drafts for contracts, forms, or other writings which may be wanted for the use of the Government;

(h) He shall pursue the collection of any claim or judgment in favor of the Insular Government, outside of the Islands, or may, with the consent of the Chief Executive, employ counsel to assist in the collection thereof;

(i) He shall give his opinion in writing to the legislative body of the Islands, the Chief Executive, the Auditor of public accounts, the Insular Treasurer, the General Superintendent of Public Instruction, the trustee of any Government institution, and any provincial fiscal, when requested in writing, upon any question of law relating to their respective offices;

(j) He shall keep a docket of all causes in which he is required to appear, which shall show the province and court in which the causes have been instituted and tried, and whether they be civil or criminal; if civil, the nature of the demand, stage of the proceedings, and, when prosecuted to a judgment, a memorandum of the judgment; of any process issued thereon, whether satisfied or not; if not satisfied, the return of the officer; and if criminal, the nature of the crime, the mode of prosecution, and the stage of the proceedings; and, when prosecuted to a sentence, a memorandum of the sentence, and of the execution thereof, if executed, and, if not executed, of the reasons for delay or prevention;

(k) He shall make reports to the Philippine Commission through the Military Governor, on the first day of January and the first day of July of each year, of the condition of the public service as administered in his office and under his supervision; and he shall, as a part of his report, make any recommendation which he may deem proper for the improvement of the service.

Section 46 Office hours.

SEC. 46. Office hours.—The Attorney-General shall keep an office at Manila, and shall except when absent on public business, or by consent of the Chief Executive, keep the same open on each business day from nine until twelve o'clock in the forenoon, and from three until five o'clock in the afternoon, and be there for business.

Section 47 Assistants to the Attorney-General.

SEC. 47. Assistants to the Attorney-General.—The Attorney-General shall be allowed only such clerical assistants as may be absolutely necessary for the due performance of the duties of his office, upon the certificate of the majority of the judges of the Supreme Court that such assistants are necessary. The compensation of such assistants shall be fixed by the judges of the Supreme Court, with the approval of the Chief Executive.

Section 48 One Court of First Instance for each province.

SEC. 48. One Court of First Instance for each province.—There shall be in each province in which civil government has been or shall be organized under the sovereignty of the United States, a Court of First Instance, in each of which a judge shall preside, to be appointed by the Philippine Commission, to hold office during its pleasure. Each judge so appointed shall preside in all Courts of First Instance in his judicial district, which shall consist of such provinces as shall be hereafter by law designated to constitute such judicial district. But this section shall not apply to the Province of Benguet, nor to other provinces in which a special civil government shall be organized for largely uncivilized people, nor to the city of Manila.

Section 49 In Manila.

SEC. 49. In Manila.—There shall be one Court of First Instance for the city of Manila, and two judges shall be appointed by the Commission, to serve during its pleasure, to preside in such court in separate court rooms.

Actions brought in the Court of First Instance for the city of Manila shall be equally apportioned for trial between the two judges, in accordance with a rule to be made by the judges of the Supreme Court. Any action apportioned to one judge may be tried by the other judge, when more convenient to the judges.

Section 50 Salaries of judges of Courts of First Instance.

SEC. 50. Salaries of judges of Courts of First Instance.—Judges of the Courts of First Instance for the city of Manila shall receive a salary at the rate of five thousand five hundred dollars per year.

The salaries of other judges of Courts of First Instance shall be specially prescribed by law, according to the importance and responsibility of the duties to be performed.