Judicial Restraint Limits on Contempt Power and Due Process Rights
The Supreme Court fines a judge P40,000 for citing a driver in contempt over a parking space, stressing restraint and due process in contempt cases.
A parking slot in a government building basement became the center of a Supreme Court ruling on how far a judge may go in using the power of contempt. In Inonog v. Judge Francisco B. Ibay (A.M. No. RTJ-09-2175, July 28, 2009, 611 Phil. 558), the Court held that a judge committed grave abuse of authority when he cited a city driver in contempt over an occupied parking space — and reminded the bench that contempt exists to protect the courts, not the comfort of the person sitting in them.
A parking slot and a contempt conviction
Venancio Inonog was
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