Charles Laughton in the film, “Witness for the Prosecution.” *Figuratively speaking: as @Katarungan2010 pointed out on Twitter, [T]he burden of proof always rests on the prosec. Otherwise, it violates the Consti. What shifts is burden of evidence. And prima facie evidence isn’t automatic. Prosec must first show that the elements required by the applicable law [...]

…[T]he Constitution is not, and should not be, an idol under strict taboos. It is not, and should not be, a strait-jacket for the growing and developing nation which it was made to serve. The Constitution itself outlines the procedure for its own amendment, and it thus expressly devoted to the principle that it is neither inviolable nor permanent, but a working instrument to secure the general welfare of the people.

“None So Blind As Those Who Won’t See,” editorial cartoon, The Judge, November 19, 1881 Yesterday, the much-awaited first appearance of Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago in the impeachment proceedings finally occurred. First, she weighed in with her thoughts on the nature of impeachment: THE PRESIDING OFFICER. The Lady Senator from Iloilo. SEN. DEFENSOR SANTIAGO. Thank [...]

Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes. Now that evidence on Article II in Chief Justice Corona’s impeachment trial is being presented, the defense wants it dismissed out of hand… This is the Second of the Articles of Impeachment against Chief Justice Renato C. Corona: II. RESPONDENT COMMITTED CULPABLE VIOLATION OF THE CONSTITUTION AND/OR BETRAYED THE PUBLIC [...]

You don’t need Sherlock for this one. sui generisadjectiveunique: the sui generis nature of animals.ORIGIN Latin, literally ‘of its own kind.’ The 1987 Constitution, in Article XI, Accountabilty of Public Officers, includes the following: SECTION 2. The President, the Vice-President, the Members of the Supreme Court, the Members of the Constitutional Commissions, and the Ombudsman [...]

The old Senate session hall, now being restored, as photographed by Roy de Guzman. Among its features is a frieze with sculptures of the great lawmakers and lawgivers of history: North Wall Hammurabi, Moses, Ramesses the Great, Li Si, Augustus Caesar, Sir William Blackstone; South Wall Solon (Athenian Statesman), Averroes, Justinian, Manu, Charlemagne, Hugo Grotius, [...]

“A View of the Tryal of Warren Hastings Esqr. before the court of peers in Westminster Hall on an impeachment delivered at the bar of the House of Lords by the Commons of Great Britain in Parliament Assembled,” February 13,1788 The Corona impeachment trial continues. The quotable quotes of the Senate President continue: today’s was [...]

Cicero denounces Cataline, by Cesare Maccari The Corona impeachment trial continues. If impeachment as a process harks back to the House of Lords, the British Parliament, by way of the Congress of the United States, then yesterday’s opening of the impeachment trial was, itself, suffused with the history, and traditions, of legislatures of the past: [...]

The death of Lord Chatham, by John Singleton Copley So the Corona impeachment trial begins. The ceremonial parliamentary robes of members of the House of Lords –which served, until 2009, when the U.K. finally established a Supreme Court, as a court in certain, very specific, cases– are crimson red. As are the robes of High [...]