Short answer. Only the Supreme Court. A prisoner sentenced to death, reclusion perpetua, or life imprisonment who is confined in a penal institution may not be brought outside it to appear or attend in any court unless the Supreme Court itself specifically authorizes that appearance.
What the law says
No prisoner sentenced to death, reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment and who is confined in any penal institution shall be brought outside the penal institution for appearance or attendance in any court unless authorized by the Supreme Court.
Rule 21, Section 2 — By whom issued. Read the full provision →
Who may issue a subpoena in general
This section begins by first identifying who may generally issue a subpoena — among others, the court before whom the witness is required to attend, the court in the place where a deposition is to be taken, an officer or body authorized by law in connection with that authority's own investigations, or any Justice of the Supreme Court or of the Court of Appeals in a case or investigation currently pending within the Philippines.
Extra scrutiny for prisoners
When the particular application for a subpoena concerns a prisoner specifically, the rule adds a genuinely heightened check on top of the ordinary process: the judge or officer involved shall examine and study carefully such application in order to determine whether it is truly being made for a valid purpose. A prisoner's subpoena is therefore not treated as routine, given the real security and custodial concerns inherently involved in bringing an incarcerated person before a court.
The absolute rule for the most serious sentences
For prisoners at the very most serious end of the spectrum — those specifically sentenced to death, reclusion perpetua, or life imprisonment, and who are confined in a penal institution — the rule goes considerably further than mere careful scrutiny alone. Such a prisoner shall not be brought outside the penal institution for appearance or attendance in any court whatsoever, unless that specific appearance is authorized directly by the Supreme Court itself.
Why this authority is reserved to the Supreme Court
Placing this particular authorization power exclusively with the Supreme Court, rather than leaving it with the trial court actually handling the underlying case or with any subordinate authority, reflects the considerably heightened security risk and overall gravity genuinely involved in moving a prisoner serving such a severe sentence outside institutional confinement, even where the purpose is a legitimate and necessary court appearance. It also creates a single, uniform point of decision, so that no two courts around the country apply a different standard to the same category of high-risk prisoner.
What this does not cover
The absolute Supreme Court authorization requirement is reserved for the narrow band of the most severe sentences — death, reclusion perpetua, or life imprisonment. A prisoner serving a lesser sentence is still subject to the general heightened-scrutiny review that applies to any prisoner's subpoena, but does not need Supreme Court sign-off specifically; the judge or officer handling the application examines it directly instead.
Related provisions
- Rule 21, Section 2 — By whom issued
- Rule 21, Section 1 — Subpoena and subpoena duces tecum
- Rule 21, Section 3 — Form and contents