History
Organized on February 1, 1936, the Court of Appeals was initially composed of Justice Pedro Concepcion as the first Presiding Judge and 10 Appellate Judges appointed by the President with the consent of the Commission on Appointments of the National Assembly.
It had exclusive appellate jurisdiction of all cases not falling under the original and exclusive appellate jurisdiction of the 7-man Supreme Court. Its decisions in those cases were final, except when the Supreme Court upon petition for certiorari on questions of law required that the case be certified to it for review. It had also original jurisdiction to issue writs of mandamus, prohibition, injunction, certiorari, habeas corpus and all other auxiliary writs in aid of its appellate jurisdiction. The Court then sat either en banc or in two divisions, one of 6 and another of 5 Judges. The appellate Judges had the same qualifications as those provided by the Constitution for Supreme Court Justices.
In March 1938, the appellate Judges were named Justices and their number increased from 11 to 15, with three divisions of 5 under Commonwealth Act No. 259. On December 24, 1941, the membership of the Court was further increased to 19 Justices under Executive Order No. 395.
The Court functioned during the Japanese occupation, 1941-44. But in March 1945, due to abnormal conditions at the time, the Court was abolished by President Sergio Osmeña through Executive Order No. 37. The end of World War II restored the democratic processes in the country. On October 4, 1946, Republic Act No. 52 was passed recreating the Court with a Presiding Justice and fourteen (14) Associate Justices. They composed 5 divisions of 3 Justices each.
On August 23, 1956, the Court membership was expanded to 18 Justices per Republic Act No. 1605. The number was hiked to 24 Justices as decreed by Republic Act No. 5204 approved on June 15, 1968. Ten years later, the unabated swelling of its dockets called for a much bigger Court of 45 Justices under Presidential Decree No. 1482 of June 10, 1978. Then came the Judiciary Reorganization on January 17, 1983 through Executive Order No. 864 of President Marcos. The Court was renamed Intermediate Appellate Court and its membership enlarged to 51 Justices. However, only thirty-seven (37) Justices were appointed.
On July 28, 1986, President Aquino issued Executive Order No.33 restoring the original name of the Court of Appeals with a Presiding Justice and fifty (50) Associate Justices.
On February 23, 1995, R.A. No. 7902 was passed expanding the jurisdiction of the Court effective March 18, 1995. On December 30, 1996, R.A. No. 8246 created six (6) more divisions in the Court, thereby increasing its membership from 51 to 69 Justices. These additional divisions - 3 for Visayas and 3 for Mindanao paved the way for the appellate court's regionalization. The CA in the Visayas sits in Cebu City while Cagayan de Oro City is home to the CA for Mindanao.
On August 18, 2007, Atty. Briccio Joseph Boholst, president of IBP — Cebu City Chapter, opposed the abolition of the CA in Cebu City, for it will cause inconvenience for both litigants and lawyers. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruben Reyes was tasked to investigate and submit recommendation to the High Tribunal because of the alleged massive graft and corruption of justices, especially in the issuance of temporary restraining orders (TRO’s).
On February 1, 2011, the Court celebrated its 75th Anniversary.
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