Holder, Chief Justice Artemio V. Panganiban Professorial Chair on Liberty and Prosperity

Chancellor, Philippine Judicial Academy

Associate Justice (Ret.), Supreme Court of the Philippines

Justice Adolfo S. Azcuna was born in Katipunan, Zamboanga Del Norte, on February 16, 1939, the son of Felipe B. Azcuna and Carmen S. Sevilla. He received the degree of Bachelor of Arts, with academic honors, at the Ateneo de Manila in 1959 and the degree of Bachelor of Laws, cum laude, at the same institution in 1962. He was admitted to the Philippine Bar in 1963, placing 4^th in the 1962 bar examinations. He forthwith embarked on a government career as Assistant Private Secretary of then Presiding Justice Jose P. Bengzon of the Court of Appeals in 1963 and, thereafter, upon the appointment of the latter to the Supreme Court in 1964, as his Private Secretary.

Justice Azcuna taught International Law at his alma mater, Ateneo de Manila, from 1967 to 1986. In 1982, he completed post-graduate studies in International Law and Jurisprudence at the McGeorge School of Law in Salzburg, Austria. Representing Zamboanga Del Norte, he was elected as member of the 1971 Constitutional Convention. Subsequently, he was appointed as a member of the 1986 Constitutional Commission. He held several government posts during the term of President Corazon C. Aquino, first as Presidential Legal Counsel, then as Press Secretary and subsequently as Presidential Spokesperson. In 1991, he was appointed Chairperson of the Philippine National Bank. On October 17, 2002, he was appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

 In his Opening Remarks delivered at the Lecture Forum on the Writ of Amparo before the RTC judges of the NCJR on October 15, 2007, then Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno said, “In 1987, Justice Adolf Azcuna, then one of the commissioners tasked by President Corazon Aquino to draft the 1987 Constitution, embedded in its backbone a provision giving the Supreme Court the extra power to promulgate rules which would give life to the writ of amparo to protect the constitutional rights of our people. Through his initiative, the rule-making power of the Supreme Court was expanded to complement the awesome power of Congress to make laws. Historically, it is the parliament that protects the rights of people through its lawmaking power. Justice Azcuna allowed the Supreme Court to have a share in the exercise of this power by expanding its rule-making power.”

He retired from the Supreme Court on February 16, 2009 and was appointed, on June 1, 2009, as Chancellor of the Philippine Judicial Academy, a post which he holds at the moment. 

Justice Azcuna's major publications include "International Sales of Goods," "Transnational Law Practice," "International Law Teaching in the Philippines," "Doing Business in the Philippines," "Foreign Judgment [Monetary] Enforcements in the Philippines," "Piercing the Veil of Corporate Entity: From Willets to Santos," "ASEAN Conflict of Law," "The Supreme Court and Public International Law," "International Humanitarian Law: A Field Guide to the Basics,” and his two Supreme Court books: “Seeing Reality in Today’s World” and “Seeking Justice in Today’s World.”

Justice Azcuna recently delivered a presentation entitled, “The Writ of Amparo: The Philippine Experience So Far,” as the first recipient of the Founding Chancellor Emeritus Justice Ameurfina A. Melencio-Herrera Award for the Most Outstanding Professorial Lecturer.

He represented the Philippines at the International Red Cross Asian Experts Conference in Bangkok and served as resource speaker in NAY Pyi Daw on The Prerogative Writs under the 2008 Myanmar Constitution.

On January 8, 2013, the Junior Chamber International (JCI) Senate Philippines and the Insular Life Assurance Co., Limited, conferred to Justice Azcuna the 2012 The Outstanding Filipino (TOFIL) Award in the field of Justice/Law.  He joined a roster of 115 other Filipinos who have been previously recognized as Outstanding Filipinos. 

Justice Azcuna is married to Maria Asuncion Aunario, Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences at St. Scholastica's College. They are blessed with four children and four grandchildren.