Practice question
Congress assigns initial handling of a class of cases to a lower court and prescribes a lawful review route. A party argues that the very existence of Supreme Court constitutional review over the final judgment forbids all lower-court proceedings and requires the Supreme Court to conduct the entire trial first. Which response is strongest?
- Every appellate category is necessarily exclusive original jurisdiction.
- The Supreme Court’s possible later review automatically voids the trial court’s role.
- Constitutional review of final lower-court judgments presupposes a distinct review function and does not by itself make the Supreme Court the first trial forum.
- A lower court can never determine any question of law.
- All constitutional jurisdiction is optional for private litigants to rewrite.
Legal references
- 1987 Constitution, Article VIII, Sections 2 and 5(1)-(2): https://lawphil.net/consti/cons1987.html
- Gios-Samar, Inc. v. DOTC, G.R. No. 217158, March 12, 2019, main decision: https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocs/1/64970
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