KNOWLEDGE SHARING
ON THE MODERNIZATION
OF CRIMINAL LAW

June 6 to 9, 2022
The Judicial Academy Philippines (formerly PHILJA Training Center)
Tagaytay City, Philippines

Speakers


Justice MARIO V. LOPEZ

Justice Mario V. Lopez is the 185th Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. Before his appointment, Justice Lopez was a Division Chairman of the Court of Appeals.

He obtained his Bachelor of Laws Degree from the San Beda College of Law where he graduated with Cum Laude Honors. After passing the bar examinations, Justice Lopez was employed as a technical assistant in the office of then Associate Justice Juvenal Guerrero of the Supreme Court. Later, he served as a Special Prosecution Officer in the Office of the Ombudsman until he was appointed as a Regional Trial Court Judge of Batangas City. He was a recipient of the Chief Justice Ramon Avanceña Award as Outstanding Regional Trial Court Judge of the Philippines.

Justice Lopez is an active participant in the continuing development of the legal education in the Philippines. He is a criminal law professor, notable pre-bar reviewer, and MCLE lecturer in different universities in the country. He is also a Professorial Lecturer at the Philippine Judicial Academy.

Further, Justice Lopez is a State Party Governmental Expert in Criminal Law of the UN Convention Against Corruption, board member of the Society for Judicial Excellence, and a fellow at the Center for American International Law (CAIL), Plano, Texas, USA. He is a member of the ASEAN Law Association, 2014 Philippine Code of Crimes Committee, and the Bar Exams Expert Committee at the University of the Philippines.


Justice MARIA FILOMENA D. SINGH

Justice Maria Filomena D. Singh was recently appointed as the 194th Associate Justice of the Supreme Court

A graduate of the University of the Philippines, cum laude, with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English major in Imaginative Writing, Justice Singh earned her Juris Doctor degree from the Ateneo de Manila University School of Law with Second Honors distinction. She studied at the Washington College of Law of the American University in Washington, D.C., USA for a Master of Laws in International Legal Studies.

She practiced law for 10 years before joining the Judiciary in October 2002 as the Presiding Judge of Branch 31 of the Metropolitan Trial Court (MeTC) of Quezon City. She was appointed Executive Judge of the MeTC-Quezon City thereafter and served for two terms in that capacity. Simultaneously, Justice Singh was selected and sat as the Representative of all First Level Courts in the country on the Board of Trustees (BOT) of the Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA). She served in the PHILJA BOT until her promotion to the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City as Presiding Judge of Branch 85 in June 2007. Justice Singh was bestowed the Don Antonio Madrigal Award as Most Outstanding First Level Court Judge of 2007 by the Society for Judicial Excellence of the Supreme Court.

On March 14, 2014, Justice Singh was appointed as an Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals. Prior to her appointment lo the High Court, she was the Senior Member of the Court of Appeal Second Division.

She also served on several committees of the Supreme Court and is the Chairperson of the Civil Law Department of the PHILJA, as well as its Sub-Committee for Curriculum Review. She is likewise a member of the Faculty of Law of the Ateneo de Manila University and of the University of the Philippines College of Law.

In 2021, she was selected as the 17th Metrobank Professorial Chair Lecturer, a distinguished lecture series for outstanding members of the Judiciary.


Justice ROSMARI DECLARO CARANDANG (ret.)

PHILJA Chancellor

Retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Rosmari Declaro Carandang was appointed as Chancellor of the Philippine Judicial Academy on February 22. She took her oath as the fourth, and second female, PHILJA Chancellor before Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo on February 23 at the Supreme Court En Banc Session Hall.

Justice Carandang, who hails from Ilog, Taal, Batangas, mandatorily retired as SC Associate Justice last January 9, after serving the High Court for more than three years.

Justice Carandang graduated valedictorian of both her elementary and high school classes. She is an alumna of the University of the Philippines where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts major in Political Science degree in 1971 and Bachelor of Laws degree in 1975, graduating cum laude and class salutatorian. She placed ninth in the 1975 Bar Examinations with an average of 84.95 percent.

Justice Carandang worked as a technical assistant in the Commission on Audit in 1976, and then went into private practice and worked with various financial institutions.

In December 1993, she was appointed Presiding Judge of the Regional Trial Court of Manila, Branch 12. In March 2003, she was promoted to the Court of Appeals where she became Chairperson of its Third Division and Rules Committee. Justice Carandang also taught law at the Philippine Christian University and the Manuel L. Quezon University School of Law.

In November 2018, Justice Carandang was appointed as the 181st Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. Justice Carandang penned the High Court’s December 7, 2021 landmark decision on the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.


Justice MARIANO C. DEL CASTILLO (Ret.)

Vice Chancellor

Justice Mariano V. Del Castillo was appointed as the 164th Justice of the Supreme Court where he served for ten years - from his appointment on July 29, 2009 until his retirement on July 29, 2019.

Justice Del Castillo obtained his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1976 from the Ateneo De Manila University School of Law. His career in the judiciary began with his appointment as Municipal Trial Court Judge in 1989, promotion to Regional Trial Court Judge in 1992, Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals in 2001, and finally, as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.

In 2005, he was conferred the Justice George A. Malcolm Award by the Rotary Club of Manila as best performing CA Justice. In 2006, he was recognized by the Presiding Justice of the CA for his outstanding performance in achieving zero backlog status in case disposal. He also served as Editor-in-Chief of the CA Journal from 2006 up to his appointment to the Supreme Court. He taught Practice Court I and II at the Ateneo School of Law and lectured in Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) Seminars.

While in the Supreme Court, Justice Del Castillo also served as the Chairperson of the Committee on Human Rights and International Law, Chairperson of the Enhanced Justice on Wheels Program for ten years, and Chairperson of the IBP Oversight Committee. He likewise became a member of the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal and the Senate Electoral Tribunal, and was the Chairperson of the 2018 Bar Examinations. At one time, he acted as the working Chairperson of the Supreme Court’s First Division. Upon his retirement from the Supreme Court, he had achieved zero backlog status in his Division cases and zero pending status in his En Banc cases.

On November 6, 2020, Justice Del Castillo was appointed by the Supreme Court En Banc as the Vice-Chancellor of the Philippine Judicial Academy, the educational arm of the Supreme Court that instills upon court personnel, lawyers, judges, and justices ethical integrity and legal expertise.


Dean SEDFREY M. CANDELARIA

PHILJA Chief of Office, Research, Publications and Linkages Office

Professor Sedfrey M. Candelaria heads the Research, Publications and Linkages Office of the Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA), chairs its Department of Special Areas of Concern, and belongs to the PHILJA Corps of Professors.

Professor Candelaria was appointed Dean of the Ateneo Law School in February 2012, where he teaches Constitutional Law, Public International Law, Indigenous Peoples and the Law, Children’s Rights, and International Economic Law. He also teaches at the Political Science Department, European Studies Program and University for Peace-Consortium of the Ateneo de Manila University.

He is the current president of the Philippine Association of Law Schools and a member of the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Board of the Philippines. He also sits as a member of the Subcommittee on Admission to the Bar, and the Subcommittee on Maintenance of Membership in the Philippine Bar, both of the Supreme Court’s Committee on Continuing Legal Education and Bar Matters.

A Fellow of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute (CJEI) in Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada, Dean Candelaria has also authored several articles on constitutional law, law and economic development, judicial education, peace process, human rights, and international law. He has edited and conducted researches for UNICEF, ILO, UNHCR, UNDP and APEC Study Center.

He obtained his Master of Laws degree at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, and his Bachelor of Laws degree at the Ateneo Law School. He has also been conferred the Diplomate in Juridical Science by the San Beda Graduate School of Law.

Dean Candelaria was actively involved in some celebrated test case litigation before the Supreme Court notably the Asia-Pacific Conference on East Timor, Davide Impeachment, IPRA and the GRP-MILF MOA-AD.He was also engaged as Peace Panel Member in the past peace negotiations with the CPP/NPA/NDF and MILF under the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process.

During the 2010 Bar Examinations, Dean Candelaria was an examiner in Political and Public International Law.


Judge MONA LISA V. TIONGSON-TABORA (ret.)

Judge Mona Lisa V. Tiongson-Tabora was appointed to the bench in 2002 as Presiding Judge of the Municipal Circuit Trial Court in San Juan-San Gabriel in La Union. After three years, she was promoted to the Regional Trial Court, Branch 26 in San Fernando City, La Union. In 2008, she was transferred to the RTC, Branch 7 in Baguio City where she served until her retirement in July 2019 after 27 years in government service.

During her incumbency as Judge in Baguio City, she was designated as Assisting Judge in the Family Court of Mandaluyong City. She also served as Acting Presiding Judge of RTC, Branch 5 (Family Court) and Branch 21 (Tax Court) in Manila City as well as in the RTC of Makati City, Branch 149 (Commercial Court).

After her retirement from the bench, she served for two years as Chief of Office of the Philippine Mediation Center. She is now a Professorial Lecturer 1 of the Philippine Judicial Academy teaching topics related to Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms particularly Court-Annexed Mediation and Judicial Dispute Resolution.


Justice APOLINARIO D. BRUSELAS, JR.

Associate Justice, Court of Appeals

Having been honed by more than 30 years of law practice, Justice Apolinario D. Bruselas Jr. was a recipient of the prestigious Judicial Excellence Award in 2003.

Justice Bruselas is a senior member of the Court of Appeals. He is the chairman of the Computerization Committee that oversees the automation program of the Court and is a member of the Internal Rules Committee.

He is presently the chairman of the Sixth Division of the Court of Appeals.

Justice Bruselas hails from Tabaco, Albay, the seventh of eight children of a dentist farmer and a school teacher. He is married to Marie Angela P.M. Bruselas with whom he has three children. He obtained his economics and law degrees from the University of the Philippines.

He served with distinction for eight years as a trial prosecutor and another eight years of exemplary service as a regional trial court judge of Quezon City. He was a special commercial court judge, professorial lecturer, and the executive vice president of the Philippine Judges Association when he was appointed to the Court of Appeals.

Justice Bruselas worked in the private sector as a management trainee in bonds and insurance, a financial analyst in corporate planning, financial controls, and audits while studying law in the evening. He also worked as a special/technical assistant in the local governance of Metropolitan Manila, serving concurrently at one time as acting district manager.

He started private law practice upon admission into the Bar and was commissioned into the Armed Forces of the Philippines pursuant to a scholarship contract. He saw active duty as a regular officer in the Judge Advocate General Service (AFP-JAGS) with various postings until his transfer to the civil prosecution service.

He served as a trial prosecutor in the Makati special courts, a reviewing prosecutor, and a member of several special task forces and committees of the Department of Justice.

While a trial court judge, he taught at UP Law School and did occasional public lectures. He served as a member of the technical working group of the judiciary's Action Program for Judicial Reform. He has represented the country in several international conferences during his stint as a trial judge and public prosecutor.


Judge MA. CORAZON B. GAITE-LLANDERAL

Ms. Gaite-Llanderal is the current Presiding Judge of the Regional Trial Court, Branch 40, for Misamis Oriental and Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines. She joined the Judiciary in 2010, as judge of RTC Branch 40, a Special Drugs Court. She also presided over a Family Court (RTC Branch 37, Cagayan de Oro City) from 2020 to 2022, as Acting Presiding Judge. Before joining the Judiciary, she worked as prosecutor (State and City prosecutor) for eight years under the Department of Justice. As a prosecutor, she had substantial trial court experience as the assigned prosecutor in a Family Court (RTC Branch 19 of Cagayan de Oro City). Her professional background before she joined the prosecution service is a varied mix of public interest lawyering, in which she did litigation, policy research, advocacy, and training, with and among traditionally marginalized sectors, such as, refugees and asylum-seekers (Jesuit Refugee Services for Asia and the Pacific and Refugee Services Philippines, Inc.), peasants/farmers (Kaisahan, Inc.), barangay-based paralegals and Barangay Development Councils (Balay Mindanaw Foundation, Inc.), and migrant workers (Kanlungan Center for Migrant Workers). She has done teaching (Xavier University College of Law and Ateneo de Naga College) and University research (Institute of Human Rights and Institute of International Legal Studies, both of the University of the Philippines College of Law). She has done secretariat work in the peace process between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Communist Party of the Philippines/National Democratic Front/New People’s Army (under the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process). She credits her multifarious work experience to the formative years she has spent as a college student at the Ateneo de Manila University (A.B. Communication Arts), her membership with the Jesuit Volunteers Philippines, Inc. and her extra-curricular involvement with the UP Paralegal Volunteer Organization, as a student of the College of Law, University of the Philippines.


Atty MEDARDO G. de LEMOS

Mr. MEDARDO G. de LEMOS was born and raised in Iligan City where he finished his primary and secondary education. Now 63 years old and a lawyer, he carved a career with the NATIONAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (NBI) for the last 37 years.

He obtained his Bachelor of Arts major in Philosophy (1979) and Bachelor of Laws (1983) from the University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City.

He completed a training course jointly conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (192nd Session) and the University of Virginia (1998); and the Officers Senior Executive Course (1994) conducted by the Philippine Public Safety College.

Mr. de Lemos has been with the law enforcement for more than half of his mature life and saw for himself the attendant risks of the profession. He has become a serious student of the use and abuse of deadly force by enforcement officers.

He is responsible for crafting the Bureau’s Rules of Engagement defining the NBI’s policy on the use of deadly force in its enforcement operations.

In October 2009, he directed and supervised the enforcement operation against the notorious Alvin Flores Armed Robbery Group in Campostela, Cebu. Four members of the Gang, including Alvin Flores perished in the operation. Alvin Flores Robbery Group was responsible for the Glorietta Rolex heist in Makati, among other violent crimes.

He is currently the Deputy Director of the National Bureau of Investigation.


Judge FLORDELIZ CABANLIT FARGAS

Judge Flordeliz Cabanlit Fargas started her legal career in the Supreme Court as Legal Researcher of then Supreme Court Associate Justice Isagani A. Cruz. Thereafter, she served as Court Attorney of Supreme Court Associate Justice Santiago M. Kapunan; Court of Appeals Justice Buenaventura J. Guerrero; and Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide Jr. She was then the JBC Chief of the Office of Policy and Development Research of the Judicial and Bar Council before she got appointed as the Presiding Judge of the Regional Trial Court, Branch 5 of Trece Martires City. In 2019, she was designated as the Executive Judge of the Regional Trial Courts of Trece Martires City and the Municipal Trial Courts of Trece Martires City, General Trias City and the Municipality of Tanza.

She has been a consistent scholar and honor student and graduated Magna Cum laude in 1988 at Silliman University with the Degree of Bachelor of Arts major in Political Science. She pursued legal studies and was conferred the Degree of Bachelor of Laws by San Beda College in 1992. She took and passed the bar examinations conducted that year and became a member of the Philippine Bar in 1993.

Judge Fargas is an active member of the Academe. She taught Political Law and Labor Law at the Philippine Cambridge School of Law from 2008 to 2010. Currently, she is a Law Professor teaching/has taught “Rules on Civil Procedure”, “Problem Areas in Legal Ethics“, Legal and Judicial Ethics”, “Women, Children and the Law”, and “Communication Skills for Lawyers” at the Lyceum of the Philippines University. She is a Facilitator and Resource Speaker for the Kids and Teens Court Awareness Program (KTCAP) of the Justice Cecilia Munoz Palma Foundation Inc.

She is a member of the Pool of Lecturers of the Supreme Court and the Philippine Judicial Academy. She is a facilitator and resource speaker on the Code of Conduct for Court Personnel; Gender Sensitivity in the Judiciary; Republic Act 7877 on Sexual Harassment and the Administrative Procedure on Filing of Sexual Harassment Cases in the Judiciary; Republic Act 9710 on the Magna Carta for Women; and Republic Act 9262, on Anti-violence against Women and Children. She is also a lecturer of the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education conducted by the Lyceum of the Philippines University on “Legal Writing and Oral Advocacy”.

She hails from Dipolog City. She is the eldest of the four (4) children of Guado Cabanlit and Marina Plogimon Edrial. She is married to Dominic A. Fargas with whom she has two (2) children, Victoria and Dominic Jr.


Judge JAIME B. SANTIAGO

JUDGE JAIME B. SANTIAGO was born on January 9, 1958. He is a BS Criminology graduate and a licensed Criminologist.

Before entering the law profession, he was already an accomplished and decorated Police Officer of the Philippine National Police (PNP). He was part and eventually, named the Deputy Chief of the elite Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team of the Manila Police Department (MPD). Due to his accomplishments, his autobiography was made into a movie entitled “SPO4 Santiago Sharpshooter”, portrayed by then Governor, Sen. Bong Revilla.

He received several recognitions as a police officer including Senior Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year of the WPD, one of the Ten Outstanding Policemen of the Philippines (TOPP) by the Jaycees, and an Act of Heroism Award bestowed by the NCRPO, among others.

While serving as a police officer, he earned his Bachelor of Laws degree from Manuel L. Quezon University (MLQU) in 1993 and in 1994, he passed the bar exam with an average grade of 81.65%.

While serving as a police officer, he earned his Bachelor of Laws degree from Manuel L. Quezon University (MLQU) in 1993 and in 1994, he passed the bar exam with an average grade of 81.65%.

In 2005, he was appointed the Presiding Judge of Metropolitan Trial Court (MeTC) Branch 12, Manila. As such, he was adjudged as one of the Outstanding Judges of the City of Manila during the 436th Founding Anniversary of the City of Manila in June 2009. In the succeeding years, he was appointed Acting Presiding Judge of MeTC Manila Branches 11, 21 and 22.

He served as the President of the Metropolitan and City Judges Association of the Philippines (MeTCJAP) and a member of Supreme Court’s Committee on Security. He started his regular lecture on the Philippine Judicial Academy’s Personal Security Training for Judges.

In 2011, he was promoted as the Presiding Judge of Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 3, Manila and was assigned additional courts as Acting Presiding Judge of RTC Branch 18, Tagaytay City and RTC Branch 271, Taguig City, successively.

Currently, he is the Presidential Adviser of the Philippine Judges Association


Justice GEORGINA D. HIDALGO

JUSTICE GEORGINA D. HIDALGO is with the government service for the past thirty one (31) years, most of these years were spent in the Judiciary.

She obtained her Bachelor of Laws Degree from the University of Santo Tomas, Faculty of Civil Law in 1989 and passed the Bar Examinations given in the same year, making her a lawyer at the age of 25. After passing the bar examinations, she immediately joined the Judiciary as Branch Clerk of Court until her appointment as Clerk of Court of the Regional Trial Court of Agoo, La Union.

She was appointed as Assistant Provincial Prosecutor for the Province of La Union in 1997, making her the youngest Prosecutor in the Province. In 2005, she was appointed as Presiding Judge of RTC Branch 68 and Executive Judge of the Regional Trial Court of Lingayen, Pangasinan, making her the youngest RTC Judge for the whole Region I. In 2011, she transferred to the National Capital Region as the Presiding Judge of the Regional Trial Court Branch 122, Caloocan City and concurrently, Acting Presiding Judge of RTC 144, Makati City.

Justice Hidalgo is a Law Professor and a Bar Reviewer at the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Civil Law, Powerhouse Review Center and Villasis Review Center respectively. She is also a member of the Corps of Professors of the Philippine Judicial Academy and the Vice Chairperson of its Criminal Law Department. She is a lecturer/resource speaker for various law subjects both here and abroad. She too is an alumna of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute in Bangkok, Thailand and a member of the Study Team sent by the Philippine Supreme Court and the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the US Embassy which toured the US Rocket Docket Courts in Washington DC, USA to observe the implementation of speedy and continuous trial techniques.

To date, she holds the distinction “the only woman elected President” of the PHILIPPINE JUDGES ASSOCIATION, an Association of RTC Judges all over the country. While such, she occupied the following positions: Member, Board of Trustee, Philippine Judicial Academy; Member, Committee on Gender Responsiveness in the Judiciary; Member, Committee on Judicial Integrity; and the Chairperson of the Technical Working Group of the Judiciary-Wide Committee on Health Care Benefits of Justices, Judges and Certain High Level Officials of the Judiciary, of the Supreme Court of the Philippines.

As a lawyer, a Judge and a Justice, she is a recipient of numerous awards of recognition given by various organizations and associations. Among them are, the UST-Law Alumni Foundation Inc., Philippine Judges Association, Philippine Women Judges Association, Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Rotary Club District 3790 and was named as the Most Outstanding RTC Judge of Caloocan City.

In June 2018, she was appointed Associate Justice of the Sandiganbayan-the country’s Special Graft Court.

Ladies and Gentlemen, let us welcome our lecturer, Justice Georgina D. Hidalgo.


Justice MARIA THERESA V. MENDOZA-ARCEGA
Associate Justice, SANDIGANBAYAN

Justice Maria Theresa V. Mendoza-Arcega is a CPA-lawyer.

She started her career at the Supreme Court in 1990 as a Court Researcher. After a year, she transferred to the Regional Trial Court of Bulacan as a Branch Clerk of Court. After six years, she became the Municipal Trial Court Judge of Bustos, Bulacan.

Justice Arcega was the Executive Judge of the Regional Trial Court of Malolos, Bulacan and the Presiding Judge of Branch 17, a designated Family Court, when she became a member of the Supreme Court’s Committee on Family Courts and Juvenile Concerns.

At the Sandiganbayan, Justice Arcega heads the Committee on Gender Responsiveness. She is also a member of the Supreme Court’s Committee on Gender Responsiveness in the Judiciary.

She is a recipient of several awards and recognition, foremost of which are the Award for Judicial Excellence in 2002, IBP-Bulacan’s Gawad Bunying Abogadong Bulakenyo, the Ulirang Ina Award in 2015 and the San Beda College’s Distinguished Woman of Service award. She is an active officer of the Philippine Women Judges Association and the International Association of Women Judges.

During the 2015 and 2019 Bar Examinations, Justice Arcega served as the Bar Examiner in Legal Ethics and Practical Exercises. She is a Professor of Laws at her alma mater, San Beda University, Manila, among other schools.


ASG MARISSA B. DELA CRUZ-GALANDINES
Assistant Solicitor General

ASG Galandines obtained the degree of Bachelor Science in Agricultural Economics major in Marketing and Prices from the University of the Philippines at Los Baños in 1986. Thereafter, she pursued law and obtained her Bachelor of Laws degree from San Beda College of Law in 1990.

While waiting for the results of the 1990 Bar Examinations, she joined the Civil Service Commission where she acquired expertise in dealing with administrative cases.

In January 1992, ASG Galandines joined the ranks of the Office of the Solicitor General as an Associate Solicitor. Through the years, she has exhibited a natural ability to grasp complex legal issues and present the same in a coherent and convincing manner. Handling her cases with exemplary grace and competence, she was conferred the "Most Industrious Lawyer Award" in OSG's 99' Anniversary in June 2000. In March of 2004, she was appointed Assistant Solicitor General and immediately assumed leadership of OSG's Alexander A. Reyes Division.

Under the leader of ASG Galandines, the Alexander Reyes Division assisted Solicitors General in defending the Republic in several cases before the Supreme Court.

Recently, in the Anti-Terrorism Act case, ASG Galandines appeared before the Supreme Court En Banc and successfully answered interpellation questions by the Justices during Oral Arguments. Voting 12-3, the Supreme Court ruled that the Anti-Terrorism Act is constitutional.

She became the Vice President of the OSG Ladies' Circle in the year 1994-1995. She also became the Legal Representative of the following: OSG Selection and Promotion Board (1992-1995), and the OSG Docket Division Monitoring Committee (2002-2004). She also served as a technical assistant to the Solicitor General from 2003-2004. She became the Vice-Chairman of the Personnel and Promotion Board for Administrative Staff from 2009-2010. She is a member of the Personnel and Promotion Board for Legal Staff since July 2020 and she currently heads the COVID-19 Response Committee. She was once a lecturer of the National Conciliation and Mediation Board. She also gave lectures on Drafting Decisions in Labor Arbitration Cases and Legal Writing. She was a law professor at the San Beda College of Arts and Sciences (1995-1997), Lyceum of the Philippines, Intramuros, Manila (1997-2001) and at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (2004-2006).

She joined the San Beda College of Law Faculty in 2005. Since then, she has taught numerous subjects including Civil Law (Persons and Family Relations and Credit Transactions), Natural Resources with Land Titles and Deeds, Legal Ethics and Legal Writing. She is currently teaching Legal Ethics and Credit Transactions.

She recently co-authored "Laws and Jurisprudence on Land Registration, Environment and Natural Resources" published in 2019. It has since assisted law students and legal professionals alike in navigating the diverse issues in land registration law.

ASG Galandines is married to Atty. Roehl Galandines and mother to Lorenzo, Justine and Franchesca.

Always a teacher as well as a mother, her love for her peers is rivaled only by the respect they have for her. Her advocacy is to be an instrument of social justice through government service.


Judge LORNA FRANCISCA CATRIS-CHUA CHENG

LORNA FRANCISCA CATRIS-CHUA CHENG is presently the Presiding Judge of Branch 168, Regional Trial Court (RTC), Marikina City, which has been designated as a Family Court. She was appointed as Executive Judge from August 1, 2011 to March 23, 1014.

She graduated Magna Cum Laude at the Faculty of Civil Law of the University of Santo Tomas in 1986 and passed the BAR in 1987.

She first joined the government service as the confidential attorney of the late Justice Cecilio Pe of the Court of Appeals in July 1987 and has been in the government service for more than thirty-five (35) years, seventeen (17) years of which is with the Judiciary. She had been a Public Attorney of the Public Attorneys’ Office then the CLAO for almost five (5) years and a prosecutor for more than eleven (11) years before she became a Regional Trial Court Judge. She has handled different kinds of cases – from heinous offenses to cases involving children in conflict with the law, domestic violence to civil cases of support, nullity of marriage, adoption, habeas corpus, among others.

As a public prosecutor, she was a recipient of the Senator Lorenzo Tanada Award for Judicial Excellence as Outstanding Prosecutor in 2003.

She is able to perform her duties with the support of her husband, Deputy City Prosecutor Perfecto Lawrence D. Chua Cheng V (retired) of the Office of the City Prosecutor of Quezon City and two children: Atty. Francis Lawrence who is presently with the Public Attorney’s Office and Atty. Ma. Lawreine Francesca.


Justice AMPARO M. CABOTAJE-TANG

Sandiganbayan PRESIDING JUSTICE (PJ) AMPARO M. CABOTAJE-TANG is currently the Chairperson of the Third Division of the Sandiganbayan. She was appointed as Associate Justice on June 11, 2012, and as Presiding Justice on October 1, 2013. She was an Assistant Solicitor General in the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) from June 20, 1994 to July 17, 2012 before she joined the judiciary.

PJ TANG studied law at the San Beda College of Law where she graduated in 1979 and passed the bar examinations in the same year.

PJ TANG started her legal career as Judicial Assistant from May 20, 1980 to January 7, 1982 at the Supreme Court of the Philippines. On January 9, 1982, she moved to the OSG as a Trial Attorney. On October 16, 1984, she was promoted as Solicitor – a position she held until her appointment as an Assistant Solicitor General on June 20, 1994.

PJ TANG is a professor of Law in San Beda University, College of Law and University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Civil Law where she teaches Criminal Law 1 and 2. She likewise teaches Criminal Law Review in the San Beda College of Law.

As a result of PJ TANG’s tireless efforts in maintaining the Benedictine tradition of excellence and her achievements in the public sector, the San Beda College of Law bestowed on her the Outstanding Alumna Award in 2014 and Outstanding Woman in Service Award in 2015. She was named one of the Natatanging Cagayano on June 27, 2017. On May 13, 2018, she was also an Ulirang Ina Awardee 2018 for Law and Judiciary.

PJ TANG was a member of the Special Remedies During Trial Topical Working Group – Re: Proposed Revision of the Rules of Civil Procedure. She previously chaired the Supreme Court Technical Working Group on Human Rights and was also the Vice-Chairperson of the Technical Working Group on Judicial Integrity under the Committee on Continuing Legal Education and Bar Matters.

PJ TANG was a bar examiner in Political Law in the 2015 Bar Examinations.

She was a member of the Philippine delegation, representing the Judiciary, to the Revalida on the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) which was held in the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland from April 27 to 28, 2016. She also represented the Philippine Judiciary to the Regional Preparatory meeting for the Launch of a Global Judicial Integrity Network, which was conducted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) held in Bangkok, Thailand from November 14 to 17, 2016. She was one of the representatives of the Philippine Judiciary to the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP’s) Inception Meeting of its Project on Judicial Integrity Champions in APEC held in Bangkok, Thailand on March 6 to 11, 2018. PJ Tang was a panelist in the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre Panel Session at the launch of the Global Judicial Integrity Network conducted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Vienna, Austria from April 9 to 10, 2018. PJ Tang was one of the representatives in the Philippines-Australia Information Exchange under the Public Accountability through Court Transformation Project Funded by the Australian Government from August 17 to August 25, 2019 in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia.


Justice EMILY L. SAN GASPAR-GITO

HON. EMILY L. SAN GASPAR-GITO is presently an Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals of the Philippines. She has been working in the Judiciary for twenty-four (24) years, starting the year 1997.

In 2008, after almost ten (10) years as Court Attorney in the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court, she was appointed as Presiding Judge of the Metropolitan Trial Court, Branch 20, Manila. In 2013 or after five (5), years, she was again promoted to the Regional Trial Court, Branch 5, Manila. She has been a Judge for thirteen (13) years until her recent appointment as Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals.

Justice Gito is a multi-awarded Judge. Twice, she has been awarded by the Society for Judicial Excellence and the Supreme Court as Most Outstanding First Level (MeTC) and Second Level Court (RTC) Judge of the Philippines in 2012 and 2016, respectively. She also received recognition from the Supreme Court as Model Employee in Supervisory Level in the year 2007. Twice, the City of Manila also awarded her as Most Outstanding Judge of Manila, first as a Metropolitan Trial Court judge in 2010 and second, as a Regional Trial Court Judge in 2017. In 2019, she was awarded as one of the Distinguished Alumni of the College of Law of San Beda University.

Due to her impressive credentials, Justice Gito was invited by the U.S. State Department to participate in its International Visitor Leadership Program in 2015 with a theme “Women as Community Leaders.” She was also invited by Japan International Cooperation Agency to participate in the Knowledge Co-Creation Program in Counterpart Training for Sector Regulations on the subject Competition Law and Policy in 2016. In May 2016, she was granted scholarship by the U.S. National Association of Women Judges (NAWJ) to participate in the 13th Biennial Convention of the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ) in Washington, D.C. She was also invited by the University of Hongkong to participate in the Judicial Roundtable Discussion to tackle various issues on foreign judgment, environmental, money-laundering and climate change. She also served as the Judiciary’s Representative in the “ASEAN Workshop on Criminal Justice Responses to Trafficking in Persons” held in Bangkok, Thailand. Last May 8, 2021, Judge Gito acted as panelist in the Biennial Conference of the International Association of Women Judges in New Zealand (online), which was attended by hundreds of women judges all over the world.

Justice Gito is very active in the various judges’ associations. She is now the Assistant Secretary of the Philippine Women Judges Association. She also served as Vice-President of the Regional Trial Court Judges Association of Manila (RTCJAM).

In addition to being a Judge, Justice Gito is a professor of law, Bar Reviewer, Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Lecturer and Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA) Lecturer, teaching subjects in law such as Persons and Family Relations, Constitutional Law, Remedial Law, Civil Law, and Criminal Law. She is a member of the Civil Law Department of the PHILJA.

Significantly, she is also member of the Technical Working Group (TWG) that drafted the Revised Guidelines for Continuous Trial of Criminal Cases, the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Family Courts Act of 1997 and the Family Court Annexed Mediation. She is also the Chairperson of Task Force Katarungan of RTC, Manila.

She is married to another Judge, Hon. Gener M. Gito, the Presiding Judge of the Regional Trial Court, Branch 206, Muntinlupa City.


Justice KARL BELANDRES MIRANDA

Justice Karl received his B.S. Business Management Degree from the Ateneo de Manila University, his Bachelor of Laws Degree from the University of the Philippines College of Law, and his Masteral Degree in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University.

Justice Karl began working for the Office of the Solicitor General in 1986. He rose from the ranks and was appointed Assistant Solicitor General in 1999 to head the Sedfrey A. Ordoñez Division. During his stint in the OSG, Justice Karl helped handle many significant cases for the Government. Some of these are the Sarah Balabagan’s appeal to the United Arab Emirates appellate court; the Flor Contemplacion case where he helped in desperate efforts to stay Flor’s execution in Singapore as well as the subsequent investigation conducted by the Government into the matter which resulted in the passage of the landmark Migrant Worker’s Act; and the Gulf War Claims of the Republic of the Philippines against Iraq before the United Nations Compensation Commission in Geneva, Switzerland.

He was appointed Associate Justice of the Sandiganbayan, the country’s special anti-graft court, on January 20, 2016. At the Sandiganbayan, he is the senior member of the 6th Division and Chairman of the Sandiganbayan’s Budget and Finance Committee.

Justice Karl chairs the Judiciary-Wide Committee on Data Reconciliation. He is the Judiciary’s representative to the Justice Sector Coordinating Council’s (composed of the Supreme Court, Department of Justice and the Department of Interior and Local Government) TWG on Sector-Wide Data Reconciliation. He is also a member of the Judiciary’s TWG on Sectoral Planning and Budgeting. He is a member of the Supreme Court Subcommittee on the revision of the Rules on Civil Procedure. At the Philippine Judicial Academy, he is a member of the Criminal Law Department.

Justice Karl’s personal advocacy is to use law reform to attract the best to work for government and serve the People. He believes that providing civil servants with compensation and benefits packages at par with the private sector is one of the best tools to eliminate corruption in the public sector. In particular, his efforts have helped contribute to the passage of R.A. No. 9417, the OSG Reform Law, and similar laws for other agencies within the Department of Justice that have raised employees’ salary grades and provided them many benefits.

In his spare time, Justice Karl has been teaching in the college inside the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City where prisoners are studying to earn a degree while serving their sentences. Together with other OSG lawyers, Justice Karl pioneered in setting up “E-DALAW” (electronic dalaw) computerized prison visitation facilities in various jails and prisons around the country in 2011. He and his son Lorenzo helped put up the “Bilibid Puzakals,” the Bureau of Corrections’ first soccer team composed of prisoners.


Justice MANUEL M. BARRIOS

Obtained the law degree from the Ateneo de Manila University with the distinction of Second Honors. Practiced law for ten years before joining the government as Assistant City Fiscal, and later, City Trial Court Judge of Roxas City. Promoted as Judge of the Regional Trial Court of Capiz, and thereafter, of the Regional Trial Court of Manila where he was named Outstanding RTC Judge of Manila during the City's 438th Founding Anniversary. Accorded the Chief Justice Cayetano Arellano Award of the Society for Judicial Excellence in 2007. Appointed as Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals in 2009 and is currently the Chairperson of its Eighth (8th) Division. Served in several committees/sub-committees under the auspices of the Supreme Court and is also the Chairperson of the Criminal Law Department of the Philippine Judicial Academy. In the Court of Appeals, he heads the Committee on Records Management and Information System, the Committee on Journal, and the Committee on Gender Development – Focal Point. He is a law professor and a Bar Examiner in 2012. Justice Barrios is the third child of Judge Isidro O. Barrios (+) and Salvacion F. Mejorada (+). Married to Maria Elena B. Venzuela, and they have three (3) children, namely: Dr. Ma. Theresa V. Barrios, married to Dr. Ronald B. Pidlaoan, Judge Ma. Lourdes V. Barrios, married to Atty. Ignacio A. Sapalo, Jr., and Judge Manuel I.R.A. V. Barrios, married to Rachel Ann Ramos. Grandsons are: Luis Ignacio, Manuel Inrique, Manuel Iñigo Rafael Antonio, and Matthew Ronald, all of whom have signified their interest to become lawyers.


Atty. RICARDO R. BLANCAFLOR

A practicing lawyer since passing the 1981 bar, he first joined the Romulo Mabanta Buenaventura Sayoc & delos Angeles law firm; specialized in corporate, labor, taxation, maritime, tariff, real estate, political and election cases, and laws with as much expertise in litigation before judicial and quasi-judicial bodies.

Atty. Blancaflor was the former Chief of Staff of Assemblyman Luis Yulo from 1982 to 1986 and Chief of Staff of Sen. Gregorio B. Honasan from 1995 to 1998 where excellent professional and personal relationship with the members of the House of Representatives and the Senate has been established. In 2006, he served as Undersecretary for Legal Affairs and Special Concerns and as concurrent Spokesperson and Assistant Chief Executive Officer, Anti- Terrorism Council; and one of the prime movers behind the enactment of RA 9372 or the Human Security Act of 2007. As Spokesperson of the Anti-Terrorism Council, Office of the President, he was the moving spirit behind the passage of the Anti-Terror Law. He also served as an Undersecretary at the Department of Justice, where he was also the Acting Chairman of the Inter Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT).

Among Atty. Blancaflor’s career highlights in the academe include serving as the Bar Examiner in Commercial Law for the Year 2013; Bar Exam Lecturer/Reviewer in the Philippine Christian University; Lecturer in the Philippine Judicial Academy on Corporate Rehabilitation, Human rights and extra-judicial killings; Member of the Supreme Court Rules Committee on Cybercrimes and on Corporate Rehabilitation; Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) Lecturer at the UP Law Center; Lectured at the UN Office for Crime & Drugs in Vienna, Austria; Lectured at MI-6; Lectured at FBI Field Offices; and Lecturer at General Staff College. He is likewise a Co-Author of the book “International Intellectual Property and the ASEAN Way - Pathways to Interoperability” published by Cambridge University in October 2017.

Atty. Blancaflor served as the Director General of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines and is the driving force behind the many stellar achievements of the Office, most notable of which are: Ranked 3 out of 19 countries in the Asia and Oceana Region in Patent Protection; All time high of P8.385 billion worth of seized counterfeit and pirated goods; Introduced amendments to the Intellectual Property Code and Special Rules of Procedure for IPR cases; Accession to the Madrid Protocol; Signed a Cooperation Agreement with the WIPO for the implementation of Intellectual Property Automation System (IPAS) and Innovation and Technology Support Offices (ITSOs); Launched IP Satellite Offices (IPSOs); Executed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Philippine Dispute Resolution Center Inc. (PDRCI) to launch the IPOPHL Arbitration Office.

He was then appointed back to the DND in December 2006 as Undersecretary for Legal Affairs and Special Concerns and as concurrent Spokesperson and Assistant Chief Executive Officer, Anti-Terrorism Council. He was one of the prime movers behind the enactment of Republic Act 9372 or the Human Security Act of 2007.

As Spokesperson of the Anti-Terrorism Council, Office of the President, he was the moving spirit behind the passage of the Anti-Terror Law. He decisively institutionalized intelligence, operations, prosecution and public affairs fusion which contributed to the neutralization and conviction of terrorist elements.


Judge WILHELMINA J. WAGAN

She obtained her Bachelor of Laws from San Beda University, Manila in 1993 after she completed her Bachelor of Arts, Divine Word University, Tacloban City, where she graduated magna cum laude.

She assumed as Regional Trial Court Judge in January 2006 after her five-year stint as Municipal Trial Court Judge of MTCC Calamba City. She joined the Judiciary in 1994 as Court Attorney V in the Office of the then Court of Appeals Associate Justice Romeo J. Callejo, Sr. She was into litigation after taking the Bar Exams in 1993.

Currently the 1st Vice-Executive Judge, RTC Pasay City, and presides over the Special Commercial and Cybercrime Court. She Chairs the Task Force: Katarungan at Kalayaan, Pasay City, of the Supreme Court Committee on Jail Decongestion.

She was a member of the Technical Working Group Supreme Court Sub-Committee on the Proposed Rule on Cybercrime Warrants, and a member of the Technical Working Group on the Benchbook for Commercial Court Judges and on the Amendments to the Guidelines on Judicial Dispute Resolution and Court-Annexed Mediation. A delegate to the Council of Europe OCTUPOS Conference on Cooperation Against Cybercrime Strasbourg, France, in November 2019, and the Seminar for Judges on International Criminal Court The Hague, The Netherlands, March 2019. Also a delegate to the Regional Computer Forensic Workshop for Judges and Prosecutors in Langkawi, Malaysia in March 2018 and to the 1st East Malaysia Regional Cybercrime Workshop in Kota Kianabalo, Malaysia in 2017. She also participated in the Training on Fundamentals of Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights, Singapore Judicial College in Singapore in 2018.

A Professorial Lecturer I and a member of the Criminal Law Department, Philippine Judicial Acadamy (PHILJA). She served as Criminal Law Examiner during the 2020-2021 Bar Examinations. An MCLE Lecturer of San Beda University, College of Law and Alumni Association. A professor and a Pre-bar Lecturer at San Beda University, College of Law, Manila and San Beda School of Law, Alabang on Remedial Law and Criminal Law. A recipient of St. Benedict Service Award. A member of the World Jurist Association (WJA) and attended conferences in Sydney Australia, Beijing China, Lisbon Portugal, Vienna Austria, and Prague Czech Republic.


Judge FRANK E. LOBRIGO (Retired)

As RTC judge, he handled illegal drugs cases. He paved the way for the landmark Supreme Court ruling ruling in Estipona v. Lobrigo, which voided a provision in the Philippine Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Law prohibiting plea bargaining in illegal drugs cases. He was part of a select group of officers of the Philippine Judges Association which drafted the Plea-Bargaining Framework in Drugs Cases that was adopted by the Philippine Supreme Court pursuant to A.M. No. 18-03-16-SC. Before joining the Bench, he practiced law for 20 years. He retired as judge at age 60.


Judge GENER M. GITO

Judge Gener M. Gito finished his Bachelor of Arts Major in Political Science from University of Batangas and his Juris Doctor from San Sebastian College-Recoletos. After engaging into active litigation for ten (10) years, he went back to school. He enrolled and completed his Master of Laws from Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila. His thesis entitled “Chipping Off Executive Privilege: A Legislative Dilemma” was conferred the grade of “Excellent” by the panel of Examiners headed by no less than Justice Vicente V. Mendoza, a renowned constitutionalist of modern times, along with Justices Oswaldo Agcaoili and Edgardo Cruz, as co-evaluators. Immediately after finishing his Master of Laws, Judge Gito pursued a doctorate decree in law at the University of Santo Tomas. In 2016, he finished his Doctor of Civil Law from UST obtaining the highest latin honors of Summa Cum Laude.

Judge Gito was the Presiding Judge of the Regional Trial Court, Branch 92, Balanga City, Bataan and Vice Executive Judge in the said Court. Because he was able to lower down his docket from a thousand of cases to a manageable case load of less than a hundred in the span of three (3) years, he was designated by the Supreme Court to be the Acting Presiding Judge and Pairing Judge of the Regional Trial Court of Malolos, Branches 84 and 83, respectively. When his tour of duty in Malolos City was finished, he was again designated as the Acting Presiding Judge of RTC Muntinlupa City Branch 256. In March, 2020, he was appointed as the Presiding Judge of RTC Muntinlupa, Branch 206

Despite his busy schedule as Magistrate, he still manages to teach in different law schools in the country, handling Constitutional law and Remedial Law in University of Santo Tomas, University of the East, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, San Sebastian College, University of Asia & the Pacific, Bulacan State University, Tarlac State University, Univesity of Perpetual Help and Lyceum of the Philippines University. He is a Bar Reviewer both in Constitutional Law and Remedial Law in almost all review centres in the country, an MCLE Lecturer, a member of the Corps of Professor of and at the same time, a member of the Criminal Law Department of the Philippine Judicial Academy.

In 2019, for his exemplary performance as a magistrate, Judge Gito was conferred the most prestigious award that may be given to a judge. He was awarded by the Society for Judicial Excellence the “Chief Justice Cayetano Arellano Award for Judicial Excellence” as the most outstanding RTC Judge of the Philippines.


Atty. MARIA LUISA ISABEL L. ROSALES

Luisa Rosales is a lawyer of the Legaspi Rosales Law Office, a Lecturer at Ateneo de Manila School of Law (ALS), and a Professorial Lecturer at the Philippine Judicial Academy under the Supreme Court of the Philippines.

Through her work at the firm, she represents a wide array of clients from foreign embassies in the Philippines to real estate corporations on various matters. In the academe, she has taught courses such as Public International Law, Special Issues in International Law, Introduction to Law, and advanced legal research and writing courses at ALS since 2012. She has also handled bar review and pre-week for Public International Law. She routinely serves as an advisor to Juris Doctor theses touching on privacy-, technology-, and cybersphere-related laws focusing on its political, international, administrative aspects. Also, she often sits on the panel for the defense of theses tackling these areas.

Luisa regularly takes part in curriculum design. She worked with Associate Justice Maria Filomena D. Singh and Dean Sedfrey M. Candelaria to transform the mandatory freshman course introducing students to the law into one that is responsive to the needs of students. She ushered the transition of this course online in response to the pandemic. She collaborated with Dean Candelaria and Blessilda Abad-Gamo in the conceptualization and eventual teaching of “The Judicial Mind,” an elective on the judiciary. She previously taught a course on estates at DLSU College of Law.

Her scholarly work mainly focuses on the efficiency and design of international and municipal legal systems. Some of her latest research includes presentations tackling the Public International Law concept of “responsibility” in the face of the pandemic, the concept of “space” in searches and seizures during the cyber age, and the comparison of ASEAN data search and seizure practices. The latter of which were presented at international conferences in Singapore.

She has worked for and with the government since 2002 in various capacities. She is often tapped to design and implement projects with the aim of ensuring the efficient responsiveness of various institutions to their constituencies. She provided technical, analytical, and management support for an international NGO’s operational work, with a particular focus on its Rule of Law program. Her portfolio included projects with the Supreme Court, Philippine Judicial Academy, Sandiganbayan, Department of Justice, Legal Education Board, and Philippine Association of Law Schools.

Her initial foray into legal work for the government began with clerkships under Supreme Court Justice Roberto A. Abad and Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Norberto Y. Geraldez. During her years at the SC, she assisted Justice Abad by organizing various activities for the SC’s judicial reforms such as the Judicial Affidavit Rule, Jail Decongestion, Drafting of Court Forms, and the National Conference for the Revision of the Rules of Civil Procedure among others.

She went on to focus on process, procedure, institutional reform, and dispute resolution in Harvard Law School.1 Following an academic fellowship with HLS, she returned to the Philippines with the intention of resuming her service to the country while in private practice.



1 Luisa earned her Master of Laws from Harvard Law School and was the only LLM candidate from the Philippines that year; her Juris Doctor from ALS; and her Bachelor of Arts with honors and as the Departmental Awardee from Ateneo de Manila University (major in Political Science, minor in Literature).


Prof. ATHINA SACHOULIDOU

Athina Sachoulidou is an Assistant Professor in Criminal Law at NOVA School of Law in Lisbon. She graduated from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki with degrees in law (BA 2011) and medical law and bioethics (M.Sc. 2014), and from the Ruperto Carola University of Heidelberg with an advanced degree in German law (LL.M. 2015) and a PhD in Law (PhD 2018) with a focus on criminal law. Prior to joining the NOVA School of Law, Athina Sachoulidou was a Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute (Florence, Italy). Her research focuses primarily on the following topics: corporate liability ex crimine and the study of deviant behaviour in corporate environments; the intersection of new technologies and criminal law; the impact of big-data-driven technologies on criminal procedural rights; the use of artificial intelligence in the area of law enforcement and criminal justice; cross-border access to electronic evidence. During her doctoral studies she was presented with the DAAD award for outstanding performance of international students and doctoral candidates. Her PhD thesis ‘Unternehmensverantwortlichkeit und -sanktionierung. Ein strafrechtlicher und interdisziplinärer Diskurs‘ was published as a monograph by the publishing house Mohr Siebeck in April 2019 and presented with the Ruprecht-Karls award for outstanding scholarly works from all fields in November 2019. Athina Sachoulidou currently represents NOVA School of Law in the international consortium of the EU Horizon 2020 project TRACE (Grant Agreement No101022004), which kicked-off in July 2021.


Prof. JOSÉ BECERRA MUÑOZ

Jose Becerra-Muñoz is Associate Professor in the Criminal Law Department and Researcher in the Institute of Criminology (both in the University of Malaga, Spain). His scientific interests combine the study of Criminal Law-Making, on the one hand, and Crime Analysis from a criminological perspective, on the other.

Both lines of work share a common ground of interest in Criminal Public Policy, its analysis and evaluation.

He has published a variety of articles, book chapters and books in both topics and coordinates three research groups: the Spanish Group on Criminal Law-Making Policy, the European Criminal Law-Making Working Group (at the European Society of Criminology) and the COPO Network (Cooperating for Crime Prevention and Security Optimization).

His aim is to find new ways to contribute from an interdisciplinary approach to the achievement of higher standards in policy making, implementation and evaluation, bringing together a set of disciplines able to help us to better understand the features of such processes and to search for new policy management techniques.


Ms. MARÍA SOLEDAD GIL NOBAJAS

Ms. María Soledad Gil Nobajas received her degree and PhD in Law from the University of Deusto (Spain). She is currently Associate Professor at the same institution, where she teaches undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral subjects. She is also Secretary of Faculty at the Faculty of Law. Her main research lines are corporate crime, corruption, poverty and Criminal Law, on which she has several publications. She has carried out research stays at the Carlos III University of Madrid (Spain), the Centre of Criminal Law of the University of Nanterre-Paris X (France) and the Institute of Criminal Law and Philosophy of Law of the University of Freiburg in Breisgau (Germany). She has given lectures and communications at national and international congresses, seminars and conferences, having organized some of them. She has participated in several research projects, and she is currently principal investigator of the Aristos Campus Mundus project "The penal system and the sustainable development goals of the 2030 Agenda.


Prof. DEMELSA BENITO SÁNCHEZ

Demelsa Benito Sánchez (PhD) works as a senior lecturer of Criminal Law at the University of Deusto since 2013. She holds a Ph.D in Law (University of Salamanca) and an LL.M. in Criminological Intervention. Her main areas of research are (1) the offence of international corruption, (2) the offence of human trafficking, and (3) criminal law and poverty. Recently, the Spanish Government has awarded her with a research project on this last topic. She is the author of three monographies on the following themes: Evidence-based policy, human trafficking and corruption in international business transactions. She has published several papers in peer-reviewed journals and a number of book chapters on various topics related to Criminal Law and Criminology. She has conducted research and has taught in high-qualified education centres like the University of Cologne and Leipzig (Germany), the University of Parma (Italy) the Javeriana University (Colombia). She has taken part in numerous publicly funded research projects in Spain, Colombia and on the European scene. At the University of Deusto, she is one of the lecturers of the Deusto Law School working for the Legal Clinic.


Prof. JOSÉ LUIS DÍEZ RIPOLLÉS

José Luis Díez Ripollés has a Doctoral Degree in Law for the University of Zaragoza (1981) and an Undergraduate Degree in Psychology for the University of Barcelona (1973). Professor of Criminal Law at the University of Málaga since 1986, he has been founder and Director of the Andalusian Interuniversity Institute of Criminology at the University of Málaga from 1990 to 2017. Visiting professor or scholar at universities from Germany, United States, Finland, and Switzerland. Member of different international academic associations. Vice-president of the International Penal and Penitentiary Foundation (IPPF) since 2014. Cofounder of the think tank, Grupo de estudios de política criminal (1989), a society of Spanish criminal law professors, judges, magistrates, and prosecutors, which reflects, and makes pressure on policy makers, on hot criminal policy issues. Doctor honoris causa from various universities, he was also awarded with the Prize Rafael Salillas of the Spanish Society of Criminology for prestigious criminologists, among other accolades.

His publications predominantly focus on issues relating with criminal policy, criminal law, criminal law-making and criminology. He has paid attention to such controversial issues as sexual crimes, abortion, euthanasia, drugs, money laundering, urban planning corruption, new models of criminal justice policy, comparative criminal justice policy, rationality in criminal law-making, video surveillance for preventing crimes, corporate criminal liability, gender violence, among others. He has a reference handbook on Criminal Law. General Part, 5th edition.


Professor ELISA GARCIA-ESPAÑA

Elisa Garcia-España is Professor in Criminal Law and Criminology and Professor-Research in the Institute of Criminology at the University of Malaga , where she is also Assistant Director of Academic Affairs. She has been awarded the "Women without Difference" prize for her research career in 2014. In addition, she has undertaken long-term research stays thanks to competitive grants at international centres such as Max Planck Institut in Freiburg, Germany (1995), School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University, Wales, in the UK (2002), John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, USA (2009-2010) and the Centre for Legal and Social Studies at the University of Coimbra, Portugal (2017). She conducts research into the ways in which the criminal control system responds to immigrants, particularly police stop by racial bias, immigrants in prison and their chances of reinsertion to society, and young immigrants in a situation of criminal risk. She is co-founder of the Spanish Society of Criminology, where she has held the position of secretary of the society (2000-2004) and member of the Board of Directors (2018-2020). She is also a member of the European Society of Criminology. She has been editor-in-chief of the Boletín Criminológico (2000-2004) and of the Revista Española de Investigación Criminológica (2018-2020), and coordinator of the Master in Criminal Law and Criminal Policy at the University of Málaga (2018-2021). She is founder and director of the Observatory of criminal control system toward immigrants (OCSPI) since 2014.


Professor MARTA FERNÁNDEZ CABRERA

Marta Fernández Cabrera works as an assistant professor of Criminal Law and Criminology at the University of Malaga since 2017. She has a degree in Law and a qualification of "University Expert” in Criminology. In May of 2017, she received her doctorate with the highest qualification in this University. Her doctorate has been about a crime of corruption barely studied by the Spanish doctrine: Negotiations prohibited to public officials. After her doctoral period, she has published numerous articles in various Spanish scientific journals. She has also attended numerous national and international congresses. She has taken part in numerous publicly funded research projects and has directed a research project on terrorism. Her main research areas are: corruption, terrorism, criminal principles according to the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and juvenile criminal law. In addition, she has made doctoral and postdoctoral teaching and research stays at the University of Buenos Aires, the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law in Freiburg i. Br. and Kadish Center for Morality, Law & Public Affairs of the University of Berkeley (California)


Professor ANA ISABEL CEREZO DOMÍNGUEZ

Anabel Cerezo is Full professor in Criminal Law and currently the Director of Institute of Criminology in University of Malaga. She received her M.S. and Ph.D. in Criminal Law and Criminology in 1992 and 1998, respectively, from the University of Malaga (Spain). Since 1993, she joined the Criminal Law Department at the University of Malaga.

She was Fulbright Visiting Postdoc at the School of Criminal Justice, Rutgers University, Newark (U.S.) and Visiting Researcher at the Institute of Criminology, Cambridge (U.K.), at the Faculty of Law, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane (Australia), at the Institute of information Sciences and Electronics, Tsukuba University (Japan) and at the Leuven Institute of Criminology (Belgium).

Prof. Cerezo has been President of the Spanish Society of Criminology (SEIC) and former member of the European Society of Criminology (ESC) or the International Society of Criminology executive boards. Her areas of research and specialisation span the subjects of victimology, prisons, domestic violence, cybercrime, criminal policy, crime prevention and drugs. She has authored and co-authored several books and journals and published well over fifty papers in conference proceedings.


Professor ELENA AVILÉS HERNÁNDEZ

Elena Avilés Hernández holds a degree in Political Science and Administration from the University of Granada (2008-2013) and a degree in Law from the same university (2008-2014). She also holds a Master's Degree in International Cooperation and Development Policies (2014-2015) from the University of Malaga and a Master's Degree in Criminal Law and Criminal Policy (2018-2019). After being selected to work as an intern at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), she was hired by the Criminal Law Area of the University of Malaga as research staff within the Framework of the National Youth Guarantee System in January 2018. She currently works under the figure of Interim Substitute Professor in the area of Criminal Law in the Department of Public Law, teaching both the degree of Law and Criminology.

As a researcher, in addition to participating in various projects, she is the author of high impact scientific contributions published in English and Spanish, either in journals (Estudios de Deusto, Revista General de Derecho Penal) or in the form of book chapters in prestigious publishing houses (Tirant lo Blanch, Rouletge (Francis & Taylor Group), Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca).

In the teaching field, he has given an international seminar at the University of Incheon, South Korea, to students in the Master's program at that university. He has also participated in several educational innovation projects, as well as in the resulting publications.

Finally, she has received two competitive grants with which she has made doctoral stays at the "Incheon National University", South Korea (September 2019-January 2020), at the "Universitá degli Studi di Cagliari", Italy (July-December 2020) or the "University of California, Berkeley - School of Law", United States.

Her specialty is international criminal law, working on issues of global terrorism, international security, migratory movements, radicalization, security and defense, and protection of human rights in the international arena.


Professor EMILIO J. ARMAZA ARMAZA

Emilio J. Armaza Armaza is Associate Professor of Criminal Law and Biolaw at Deusto University. He holds a Juris Doctor Degree (Catholic University of Santa Maria in Perú, 2005 -Homologated by the Spanish Ministry of Education-) and a PhD in Law (University of the Basque Country, 2011, Outstanding Cum Laude). He has been Visiting Professor at Tulane University (New Orleans, USA, 2019). He is Co-Director of the “Master of Laws LL.M. in International Legal Studies” and Coordinator of International Mobility of the Deusto Law School. Has been a Fellow of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science at the University of the Basque Country and of the Ministry of Health at the University of Deusto. He has carried out research stays in Spain and abroad (Portugal, USA, Ukraine, Perú).


Professor JOSÉ MANUEL DE TORRES PEREA, PhD.

Graduated in 1989 from ICADE, specialty E-1, Madrid, Spain. In 1992/1994, he attended the Doctorate Program at the University of Malaga, where he has been teaching since 1995. He obtained his PhD degree in 1999. Since January 2002 he has been a Full Professor at the University of Malaga. Thanks to the skills acquired during his training period, he has been able to make important contributions in the field of research throughout his career. He has participated in 9 competitive research projects and has to his credit more than 50 scientific publications with three active sexennial research evaluations by ANECA. Another way of disseminating his research activity is the presentation of numerous communications and papers in scientific congresses and conferences, both national and international. He has been visiting professor at Goethe Universität, Frankfort; Regensburg Universität, Regensburg; Northwestern University, Chicago and University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, among others. He is currently the Coordinator of the Erasmus + K2 Capacity Building for Legal and Social Advancement in the Philippines, CALESA. This project is led by the University of Malaga and involves the Universidad Nova de Lisboa, Deusto, University College Dublin, University of the Philippines, University Ateneo de Manila, University San Agustin, Iloilo, Ateneo de Zamboanga University and the Philippine Judicial Academy belonging to the Supreme Court of the Philippines.


Professor DEBORAH GARCÍA MAGNA

Deborah García Magna is Associate Professor in Criminal Law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Málaga, and Academic Deputy Director of the Institute of Criminology of Málaga. Her research interests are focused on Criminal policy, Criminal Law-Making policy, public opinion and punitive attitudes towards delinquency, juvenile delinquency and juvenile criminal system. She is currently editor-in-chief of the scientific journal Boletín Criminológico, and a member of the Academic Organization Committee of the Faculty of Law of the University of Málaga. She has been member of the board of the Spanish Society of Criminology for 2 years. She has been teaching undergraduate and postgraduate subjects related to Criminal Law and Criminology for more than 20 years, and has participated in many conferences, seminars and workshops, both in the field of Criminal Law and Criminology, and in Teaching innovation, as well as organized different scientific and academic events. She has been part of competitive research projects and has visited some foreign research centers, as the Criminal-Law Department of the FUSL (Brussels), or the IDPCC of the University of Lisbon. More information: https://www.uma.es/departamento-de-derecho-publico/info/128660/cv-deborah-garcia-magna-english/


Professor ANA MARÍA PRIETO DEL PINO

Ana María Prieto del Pino is a senior lecturer (permanent position) in Criminal Law at the University of Málaga (Spain). She holds a Ph. D in Criminal Law from the University of Malaga (2002). Her mother language is Spanish and she is a proficient user of English (C2 ) and German (C1), and an independent user of Italian (B2). She has taught and lectured at foreign universities, such as Puebla (Mexico), Lisboa (Portugal), Porto (Portugal), Cardiff (United Kingdom); Modena (Italy), Verona (Italy) and Malmö (Sweden).

She has carried out research stays in Germany (at the Institut für Kriminologie und Wirtschaftsstrafrecht, University of Freiburg i. B.) and Italy (University of Modena). Her main research fields, where she has published books, book-chapters and papers are the following:

  • Economic and Financial Criminal Law: insider trading, corruption, money laundering, smuggling, assets recovery, organised crime, banking crisis and financial criminal policy, among others.
  • Gender violence
  • Criminal law-making policy
  • Legal theory of criminal liability
  • Criminal law and vulnerability: crimes against seniors and minors
  • She has held the following academic management positions at the University of Málaga:
  • Academic Secretary of the Andalusian Interuniversity Institute of Criminology (Málaga Section).
  • Academic Secretary of the Criminal law Department.
  • Vice-Dean for Research, Infrastructures and Economic Affairs.
  • Academic Secretary of the School of Law
  • Director of the Publications and Scientific Exchange Service