Whereas Clauses. WHEREAS, at the Round Table Meeting of Chief Justices held at the Peace Palace. The Hague, on 25–26 November 2002, at which the Philippine Supreme Court was represented by the Chief Justice and Associate Justice Reynato S. Puno, the Bangalore Draft of the Code of Judicial Conduct adopted by the Judicial Group on Strengthening Judicial Integrity was deliberated upon and approved after incorporating therein several amendments;

WHEREAS, the Bangalore Draft, as amended, is intended to be the Universal Declaration of Judicial Standards applicable in all judiciaries;

WHEREAS, the Bangalore Draft is founded upon a universal recognition that a competent, independent and impartial judiciary is essential if the courts are to fulfill their role in upholding constitutionalism and the rule of law; that public confidence in the judicial system and in the moral authority and integrity of the judiciary is of utmost importance in a modem democratic society; and, that it is essential that judges, individually and collectively, respect and honor judicial office as a public trust and strive to enhance and maintain confidence in the judicial system;

WHEREAS, the adoption of the universal declaration of standards for ethical conduct of judges embodied in the Bangalore Draft as revised at the Round Table Conference of Chief Justices at The Hague is imperative not only to update and correlate the Code of Judicial Conduct and the Canons of Judicial Ethics adopted for the Philippines, but also to stress the Philippines' solidarity with the universal clamor for a universal code of judicial ethics.

NOW, THEREFORE, the Court hereby adopts this New Code of Judicial Conduct for the Philippine Judiciary.