Toribiong signed the measure a day before he left for Commonwealth of the Nothern Mariana Islands (CNMI) to attend CNMI Governor Benigno Fitial’s inaugural ceremony.
The president expressed minor concerns on the bill but because the new constitutional provision has become effective January 1, 2010, there was a need to sign it immediately.
The measure implements the constitutional amendment approved from the Nov. 2008 elections that gives defendants in criminal cases the right to jury trials if the offenses are punishable by a sentence of 12 years or more.
The bill when signed into law however does not guarantee jury trials beginning on January 1, 2010.
The judiciary needs time to prepare to preside over jury trials.
