Justice Nimfa C Vilches Biography

Justice NIMFA C.
VLCHES
Biography
Justice Nimfa Cuesta Vilches is Deputy Court Administrator (DCA) at the

Office of the Court Administrator (OCA), Supreme Court of the Philippines
http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/ . She was a family court judge in Manila appointed
to her current post by the Supreme Court in August 2008. Vilches is a
renowned family law expert in the Philippines and in the international legal
community. A multifaceted and highly-rated lecturer, she writes books and
articles that show keen grasp of the impact of law on everyday life.
Born to lawyer-father, Benito R. Cuesta I and an educator mother, Corazon

Go, in Leyte, Philippines on October 6, 1956, Vilches graduated class
valedictorian in elementary school and a Gerry Roxas Leadership and
Scholarship Awardee in secondary school. She obtained her undergraduate
degree of Bachelor of Arts in political science at the Jesuit-directed Ateneo de
Manila University in 1978 and Bachelor of Laws at the Ateneo Law School in
1982. She joined the Supreme Court after admission to the practice of law as
Court Attorney to prominent Senior Justices Hermogenes Concepcion, Jr.; Jose
Y. Feria; and Teodoro Padilla.
Vilches is the second of four daughters whose parents made efforts to

provide them good quality education and be well-prepared for the rigors of
life but with the artistic sidebar that the children also went to see the finest
museums in the world. She is married to Salvador C. Vilches, Mediation
Supervisor of the Philippine Mediation Center, Supreme Court, with whom
she has two children- Beni Steve, IT manager of a university and Gian
Frances Nicole, executive assistant at the Office of the Court Administrator.
In 1989, at the age of 32, Vilches was appointed Presiding Judge of the
Municipal Trial Court of Barugo, Leyte, and later designated Acting Judge in
the Metropolitan Trial Courts of Manila, Makati and Caloocan until her
appointment as Presiding Judge, Regional Trial Court of Manila, Branch 48, in
1999. On September 26, 2006, she was awarded Outstanding Judge by the
Society for Judicial Excellence, Supreme Court, after rendering consummate
service as a magistrate for 17 years and for advancing the rights of women
and children. She was promoted Assistant Court Administrator the following
day September 27, 2006.
As Vice-Chairperson of the Committee on the Justice on Wheels program

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfd8WK51KRM of the Supreme Court and
its chief implementer, the undertaking made astounding turnout in the
conduct of court hearings inside mobile court buses in faraway courts with
no judges or with high criminal dockets that lead to the release of 1,393
detained prisoners and 4,504 cases (96% success rate) successfully settled
through the mobile court-annexed mediation (MCAM) in May 2009, less than
a year in operation.
Vilches, in 2005, ruled on the trailblazing case (Herrera vs. Alba and Hon.
Nimfa Cuesta Vilches, G.R. No. 148220, June 15, 2005) about the
admissibility of DNA evidence in Philippine courts. The decision was affirmed
in its entirety on appeal and was much quoted by the Supreme Court. That
piece of verdict became one of the starting points of the 2007 Supreme
Court Rule on DNA Evidence.
In 1999, Vilches founded the CASA-GAL Program in the Philippines composed

of community volunteers for children in court that was chosen by UNICEF in
2005 as one of the innovative initiatives for children in Asia and the Pacific.
Notable Positions and Achievements

Supreme Court of the Philippines
Chairperson, Bids and Awards Committee for Goods and Services, Supreme
Court Chairperson, Ad-hoc Committee for Legal Fees, Supreme Court
Chairperson, Grievance Committee, OCA, Supreme Court Chairperson,
Personnel Evaluation and Review Committee, OCA, Supreme Court
Chairperson, Subcommittee on Justice for Children, Office of the President,
Manila Vice-Chairperson, Justice on Wheels Committee, Supreme Court Vice-
Chairperson, Legal Research and Method, Philippine Judicial Academy
(PhilJA), Supreme Court Member, Sub-Committee for Family Courts,
Committee on Revision of Rules, Supreme Court Member, Committee on the
Revision of the Benchbook, PhilJA, Supreme Court Member, Selection and
Promotion Board, OCA, Supreme Court
Academe
Professor II, Philippine Judicial Academy, Supreme Court Professor, Ateneo
Law School and holder of the Chief Justice Ramon Avancena Professorial
Chair in Civil Law since 2003 Lecturer for the Mandatory Continuing Legal
Education (MCLE) for the University of the Philippines Institute of Judicial
Administration; Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP); Philippine Bar
Association (PBA); Department of Justice (DOJ); and the Public Attorneys
Office (PAO)
International Lectures
Lecturer and Session Chair, 4th International Conference on Family Law and
Children’s Rights, Cape Town, South Africa, 2003 Lecturer, Asian Conference
of Social Work Professionals, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2003 Lecturer,
International Conference on Children’s Rights, University of Ottawa, Canada,
2007 Lecturer, Phenomena in Juvenile Delinquency, International Juvenile
Justice Observatory (OIJJ), Seville, Spain, 2007 Lecturer, 1st Asian Mediation
Association, Singapore, 2009 Delegate, Philippine Delegation to the UN
General Assembly Special Session on children, New York, USA, 2003
Works Published
B.P. 22: FAQs, Rex Bookstore, 2005 Are You Ready To Be A CASA/GAL
Volunteer? 2001 DNA and the Courts, 2002 Trafficking In Women and
Children, 2003 Making Juvenile Justice Work, 2004 Mediation: Reaching its
Potential in Family Law Cases, 2006 No Nonsense Court Management, 2007
RA 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act: Bane or Boon, 2008
ADR: The Solutionist Approach to Unclog Court Dockets, 2009
Scholarships and Trainings

Oxford University, England, Children’s Rights: Moving Forward, sponsored by
the British Council, 2001 Hertfordshire, England, Violence against Women:
Tackling Trafficking, sponsored by the British Council, 2004 National Council
of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, Nevada, Role of the Judge in a Family
Court, sponsored by UNICEF Manila, 1999 National Council of Juvenile and
Family Court Judges, Nevada, Evidence in Family Court, sponsored by the
Supreme Court of the Philippines and City of Manila, 2000 Legal and Social
Systems of Sweden, sponsored by Swedish International Development Aid,
2005 National Judicial Institute of Canada, Vancouver and Kelowna, British
Columbia, Evidence, sponsored by the Canadian International Development
Aid, 2006 National Center for State Courts, Orlando Florida, USA, Court
Management, sponsored by the USAID and The Asia Foundation, 2007
External links
http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/publications/benchmark/2008/08/080820.php
www.mediate.com/people/personprofile
www.law.yale.edu/RCW/rcw/jurisdictions/asse/phillippines/phillipines_law_forum.pdf
www.philippineembassy-usa.org/downloads/EmbassyUpdate23.pdf
www.asiafoundation.com/project/projectsearch.php?program=law-programs - 49k
globalnation.inquirer.net/cebudailynews/opinion/view_article.php?article_id=171579
- 88k –
www.fo6.dswd.gov.ph/searchdetails.php?id=230 - 11k
www.unicef.org/protection/files/Justice_for_Children_Detention.pdf
www.judgesandmagistrates.org/comm1.htm - 175k
www.up.edu.ph/upnewsletter.php?i=306&archive=yes&yr=2007&mn=1 - 29k
www.britishcouncil.org/network_news_26.pdf
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ateneo Law School
www.gmanews.tv/story/134980/Justice-on-Wheels-goes-to-Aurora-on-Saturday - 33k
www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleid=419888 - 103k
www.malaya.com.ph/aug19/news7.htm - 30k
www.oijj.org/plantilla.php?pag=100705&idioma=en - 98k –
www.ateneolawjournal.com/aboutus_admin.php - 18k
www.ateneolaw.ateneo.edu/www/SiteFiles/March%20MCLE%202009%20invites%20_
.pdf?P
www.nast.dost.gov.ph/slf%20on%20dna.htm - 56k
www.oijj.org/doc/contactos/cv_2624.pdf
asialaw.tripod.com/articles/dnavilches.html - 20k
www.thailawforum.com/articles/filipinotraffic.html
www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=14184&flag=legal - 19k
www.pia.gov.ph/?m=12&fi=p060919.htm&no=49 - 23k
www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/215733.pdf?tr=y&auid=4129408
www.sunstar.com.ph/static/dav/2006/11/11/news/.counsels.of.no.choice..html –
philja.judiciary.gov.ph/academic_council_prof.htm - 113k
www.judgesandmagistrates.org/l0403.htm - 538k
www.cdi.anu.edu.au/CDIwebsite_1998-
2004/asia_pacific/asia_downloads/AJEFProgram.pdf
www.singaporelawwatch.sg/remweb/legal/ln2/rss/legaledu/60173.pdf?utm_source=
web%20subscription&utm...web
www.hawaii.edu/global/projects_activities/Trafficking/resources.htm - 27k
www.childprotection.org.ph/monthlyfeatures/archives/index.html
apjr.judiciary.gov.ph/news_2007/news_july2007_04.html - 8k –
pao-test.tripod.com/ - 50k
www.manilacityph.com/court.html
www.mb.com.ph/issues/2006/09/21/OPED2006092175047.html

Justice Nimfa C Vilches Biography

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Justice NIMFA C.

Justice Nimfa Cuesta Vilches is Deputy Court Administrator (DCA) at the

Born to lawyer-father, Benito R. Cuesta I and an educator mother, Corazon

Vilches is the second of four daughters whose parents made efforts to

As Vice-Chairperson of the Committee on the Justice on Wheels program

In 1999, Vilches founded the CASA-GAL Program in the Philippines composed

Notable Positions and Achievements

Scholarships and Trainings

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