BRILLANTES, Paolo Carlo B.

LLB0301

PALEN
Atty. Victoria Loanzon

The Demeanor of the Judge in Court

Every judge is required to maintain order and proper decorum in court. They are required to
observe such conduct in order to promote the integrity and dignity of the court. From the point of
view of some students taking up law course who only encounter such statements in reading the
laws, cases or books, there is no better way to know how they materialize than to personally
observe the judge in charge of maintaining order and decorum during court proceedings.
An observation made to a Makati Regional Trial Court Judge resulted to a finding that the
said judge is the foundation of respect towards the court flowing from her competence and
behavior in the court proceedings, the demeanor required of her to promote the dignity of the
court.
The attitude of the judge produces an atmosphere inside the court room of discipline and
complete attention in the court proceedings. This observation was conducted during a
presentation of a witness in a trial for a charge of murder against a police official. Counsels,
clients and observers listens to the on-going proceedings one after the other though they are not
participants of the case currently being tried and the reasons for such attitude is because not only
that they are waiting for the turn of their case to be called but also because the judge has a strict
attitude towards the parties and their counsels in being alert and prepared in the participation in
the proceedings. This kind of attitude of discipline by the judge promotes the integrity of the
court by showing that inside the court, parties and their counsels and observers must not make
unnecessary gestures or noises because court proceedings requires focus to be handled properly
and without unnecessary loss of time.
The judges demeanor is clear and visible. During the examination of the witness, the judge
participated by making clarifications on the testimony of the witness and it shows that
testimonies given by witnesses should not only be relied solely on how they present it but it must
be accurate as to show its relevance to the issue involved in the case. For an observer, the
testimony of the witness after it was scrutinized by the judge showed a more relevant connection
with regard to the subject of the testimony. With the kind of demeanor that the judge showed, the

direction of the proceedings enabled the accuracy of the testimony of the witness to be produced
and it became clearer whether such testimony was relevant to the issue involved. Though it
became clearer what the testimony was establishing, it indicated that such testimony is irrelevant
to the issue involved.
Finally, after the witness have been presented, the judge gave a reminder to the parties and to
the counsels that they are required to be punctual in preparation for examining the witnesses
presented in order that the proceedings may progress with due regard to the time and efforts
exerted by the parties, the witnesses, and the court. This kind of behavior of the judge displayed
the competence of the judge in upholding speedy and fair disposition of cases. By such
demeanor, the court gains respect and trust from the public showing that judges as officer of the
court, making sure that justice be served, means business and that means each case must be
handled competently not only by the judge but the parties and counsels must also be prepared
when they appear before the judge in dealing with their case.