MALACAÑANG  Manila

PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 200

AMENDING SECTION 4 OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 3870, ENTITLED “AN ACT DEFINING THE FUNCTIONS OF THE U.P. LAW CENTER, PROVIDING FOR ITS FINANCING AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES”

WHEREAS, in line with Letter of Implementation No. 2, dated September 29, 1972, issued pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 1 dated September 24, 1972, reorganizing the Executive Branch of the National Government, the functions of the Code Commission, together with its subordinate personnel, were transferred to the U.P. Law Center;

WHEREAS, by virtue of the Government Reorganization, the Public Service Commission has been transferred to the Department of Public Works, Transportation and Communications, from the Department of Justice, thereby removing one of the steadiest and more productive source of funding for the U.P.LawCenter;

WHEREAS, prior to the promulgation of Proclamation No. 1081 dated September 21, 1972, there was pending before the Senate of the Philippines on third reading, after having been previously approved by the House of Representatives on third reading, a bill entitled

“An Act Requiring the U.P. Law Center to Furnish the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals and Every Branch of the Court of First Instance and the City and Municipal Courts, the Committee on Judiciary and the Committee on Public Order and Security of the House of Representatives, Including All Administrative or Special Agencies or Courts Subject to the Supervision of the Department of Justice and the Library of Congress a Copy Each of its Survey of the Philippine Law and Jurisprudence and Proceedings of the Judicial Conferences Undertaken by it, Amending for the purpose Section Four of Republic Act Numbered Thirty-Eight Hundred Seventy;”

WHEREAS, the U.P. Law Center will be required to furnish, free of charge, five times a year, at least 4,500 copies of the publications undertaken by it to the government officials and functionaries mentioned herein, which will entail quite a considerable amount of money considering the increased cost of publication and printing; and

WHEREAS, in view of the enlarged functions of the U.P. Law Center, there is a necessity for this institution to be adequately funded in order that it may continue to render vital services to our courts, the members of the bench and bar and various legal institutions in Philippine society and contribute to the enrichment of our jurisprudence;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and pursuant to Proclamation No. 1081 dated September 21, 1972, and General Order No. 1 dated September 22, 1972, do hereby decree and order as part of the law of the land the following amendments to Section 4 of Republic Act No. 3870:

“Sec. 4. In order to provide for the support of the U.P. Law Center, the additional amount of one percent (1%) of the filing fee imposed, but in no case lower than five pesos, in the case of the appellate courts and the additional amount of one percent (1%) of the filing fee imposed, but in no case lower than two pesos, in the case of all other courts, including all administrative or special courts, agencies or tribunals exercising quasi-judicial functions, shall be collected by their clerks of court, or equivalent functionaries, for each action or special proceeding filed therewith and for which the fees prescribed in the Rules of Court or in any statute or regulation are due and payable. For this purpose the term ‘special proceeding’ shall include any petition or application, or paper or document for the dispensation of official action or establishment of a status or right of a party, or a particular fact. Such additional amounts shall be receipted for separated as part of a special fund to be known as the ‘Legal Research Fund’, and shall be turned over by the clerks of court or equivalent functionaries to the Chief Accountant of the Department of Justice, who in turn shall remit the same at the end of each quarter to the University of the Philippines for the exclusive use of the U.P. Law Center in accordance with this Act.”

“The U.P. Law Center shall furnish, free of charge, a copy each of its annual ‘Survey of Philippine Law and Jurisprudence,’ published twice a year, and the ‘Proceedings of the Judicial Seminars and Conferences,’ published thrice a year, to every member of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals, to every branch of the Court of First Instance and the City and Municipal Courts, to every city and provincial fiscal and the Prosecution Division of the Department of Justice, to the appropriate Committees of the Legislature, to the library of the Legal Office of the Office of the President of the Philippine, the main library of the Office of the President of the Philippines, and the Departments of the Executive Branch, to the libraries of the Legislature, the National Library, the University of the Philippines, and the College of Law of the University of the Philippines, and to all administrative or special agencies, courts or tribunals collecting additional filing fees for the U.P. Law Center.”

The Secretary of Justice shall issue such rules and regulations as may be necessary to implement the provisions of this Decree.

This Decree shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 27th day of May, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-three.

(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS
President of the Philippines

By the President:

(Sgd.) RONALDO B. ZAMORA
Assistant Executive Secretary

Source: Malacañang Records Office