WHEREAS, the Constitution vests in the Supreme Court administrative supervision of all courts and the personnel thereof;

WHEREAS, the Supreme Court, being an appellate and collegiate body, can best exercise its powers of administrative supervision through an office specifically created for the purpose, and has accordingly proposed and recommended the creation of the Office of the Court Administrator;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby decree and order the following:

SECTION 1. Creation of the Office of the Court Administrator. There is hereby created in the Supreme Court of the Philippines an Office of the Court Administrator to assist the said Court in the exercise of its power of administrative supervision over all courts as provided in Section 6, Article X, of the Constitution.

SEC. 2. Officials of the Office of the Court Administrator. The Chief of the Office of the Court Administrator shall be known as Court Administrator, who shall have the same rank, privileges, and compensation as those of the Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeals. The Court Administrator shall be assisted by three (3) Deputy Court Administrators, who shall have the same rank, privileges and compensation as those of Associate Justices of the Court of Appeals.

SEC. 3. Qualifications, appointment and tenure.—The Court Administrator and the Deputy Court Administrators shall have the same qualifications as Justices of the Court of Appeals. They shall be appointed by the Chief Justice and shall serve until they reach the age of sixty-five (65) years or become incapacitated to discharge the duties of their office, but may be removed or relieved for just cause by a vote of not less than eight (8) Justices of the Supreme Court. The Chief Justice may appoint or detail any member of the Judiciary with the proper qualifications to the positions of Court Administrator or Deputy Court Administrator; Provided, that the member of the Judiciary so appointed, designated or detailed shall not be deemed thereby to have relinquished his judicial position, nor lose the seniority, precedence, benefits and other privileges appertaining thereto; and his service in the Judiciary, to all intents and purposes, shall be considered as continuous and uninterrupted.

SEC. 4. Oath of Office. The Oath of office of the Court Administrator and Deputy Court Administrators shall be filed with the Office of the Clerk of Court of the Supreme Court and shall be entered upon its records.

SEC. 5. Salaries. The salaries of the Court Administrator and Deputy Court Administrators shall not be decreased during their continuance in office. Until otherwise provided by law, the salary of the Court Administrator shall be P56,400.00 and that of each Deputy Court Administrator, P52,400.00.

SEC. 6. Powers, Functions and Responsibilities. The Supreme Court shall determine and define the powers, functions and responsibilities of the Court Administrator and Deputy Court Administrators.

SEC. 7. The Chief Justice shall create such offices, services, divisions and other units in the offices of the Court Administrator, as he may deem necessary, and for this purpose, the Chief Justice is authorized to adopt and implement the corresponding staffing patterns; Provided, however, that the position titles and salaries of personnel shall be in accordance with the Judiciary Position Classification and Pay Plans.

SEC. 8. Status of Subordinate Personnel. All subordinate officials and employees to be appointed under this Decree shall belong to the classified service and shall be governed by the Civil Service Law, except those whose positions are highly technical or primarily confidential.

SEC. 9. The sum of P2,000,000.00 or so much thereof as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Decree is hereby appropriated for expenditure. The appropriations for the succeeding fiscal years shall be included in the Annual General Appropriations Decree.

SEC. 10. All laws, decrees and orders inconsistent with the provisions of this Decree are hereby repealed and or modified accordingly.

SEC. 11. This Decree shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 18th day of November, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-five.