An Act Prescribing the Duties and Qualifications, and Fixing the Number and Salaries, of the Members of the Legal Staff in the Office of the Secretary of Justice

REPUBLIC ACT No. 2705

An Act Prescribing the Duties and Qualifications, and Fixing the Number and Salaries, of the Members of the Legal Staff in the Office of the Secretary of Justice

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippine Congress Assembled:

Section 1. In the performance of his duties as Attorney General of the Philippines and as ex officio legal adviser of government-owned and controlled corporations or enterprises, the Secretary of Justice shall be assisted by a legal staff which shall have one chief to be known as Department Legal Counsel whose salary shall be eight thousand four hundred pesos per annum, and two assistant chiefs each of whom shall receive a salary of seven thousand eight hundred pesos per annum, four senior special attorneys, each of whom shall receive a salary of seven thousand two hundred pesos per annum, and sixteen special attorneys whose salaries shall be as follows:

The qualifications for appointment to the position of chief of the legal staff and those of assistant chiefs shall be the same as those prescribed for assistant solicitors general, and those of senior special attorneys and special attorneys shall be the same as those prescribed for solicitors in the Office of the Solicitor General.

Section 2. In addition to his regular duties, any member of the legal staff, except those mentioned in paragraphs (c) and (d) of Section one, may, with the prior approval of the Secretary of Justice, be called upon to perform the functions devolving upon a solicitor whenever the Solicitor General shall so request, and may also be designated by the Secretary of Justice as acting judge or any municipal court in case of absence, sickness, or incapacity of the judge thereof, or in case of any vacancy in the office of municipal judge, but he shall not receive any additional compensation during the time he is acting as solicitor or municipal judge.

Section 3. Provisions of any law to the contrary notwithstanding, the members of the legal staff shall receive the salary rates provided for in this Act: Provided, That no attorney already holding office as such in the Law Division of the Department of Justice on the passage of this Act shall, by reason thereof, be removed from office or be demoted to a lower category or scale of salary except for cause and upon compliance with the due process provided for by law.

Section 4. In addition to such sums as may have been provided in the current Appropriation Act, there is hereby appropriated out of any funds in the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such sums as are necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act. Henceforth, appropriations to cover salaries of the legal staff as herein provided shall be carried in the annual General Appropriations Act.

Section 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved: June 18, 1960.