De-clogging of court dockets, from the Supreme Court down to the lowest court, is one of the priority programs of new Chief Justice Diosdado M. Peralta in his more than three years of stay as head of the Judiciary.
The de-clogging of court dockets is No. 1 in Peralta’s 10-point program he announced during his first flag-raising ceremony at the SC in Ermita, Manila yesterday morning.
A check with the Office of the Court Administrator showed that as of December 2018, there were 8,852 pending cases with the SC; 19,732 with the Court of Appeals; 5,237 with the Sandiganbayan; 1,353 with the Court of Tax Appeal; 546,182 with the regional trial courts, and 160,153 with the first level courts like municipal courts and metropolitan trial courts.
To achieve the de-clogging of court dockets, Peralta said clerks of court in the SC “will be required to conduct periodic inventory of all the cases pending in their divisions and consult with the court en banc (full court) as to how to solve the issue of backlog and other concerns.”
As far as the other courts are concerned, the Chief Justice said “all other courts must continue to comply with existing rules and guidelines pertaining to prescribe periods for trial dates, including promulgation of decisions and other rules geared towards the realization of speedy disposition of cases.”
Second in his agenda is the implementation of the duly-revised rules of court “and the continuous revision of the rules of court and other rules of procedure so as to be more responsive to the needs of court users.”
He asked the Philippine Judicial Academy “to focus on skills-based training for judges and court personnel.”
“Skills-based training programs have been one of the most effective manners of addressing the problem of court delay and PhilJA has been in this direction for the last several years. I do believe however, that there are other skills-based programs that may be implemented by PhilJA,” he said.
By the end of this year, the SC will enforce the rules on search and inspection under the Philippine Competitive Commission Law, by early next year, the special rules on admiralty cases, and by the middle of next year, the amendments on the rules of procedure and rules of evidence, he said.
“In due time, I will constitute a committee to study the possibility of amending our present rules of criminal procedures,” he said.
Third in his agenda is the “automation of court processes and incorporation of court technology in hearing and trial.”
Peralta said “this will apply to both the adjudicative and administrative processes of the court and on the use of court technology during trial especially for electronic evidence and testimonies thru video conferencing.”
Fourth in the agenda is the “continuation of the weeding out of misfits from the judiciary and adoption of a system where court may initiate on its own the investigation of cases being handled by members of the judiciary even in the absence of complaints.”
Peralta said he plans “to impose timelines in resolving administrative complaints, including complaint initiated by the court and timelines for the court to resolve these complaints.”
Strengthening of OCA and the implementation of the judicial integrity board ranked No. 5 in Peralta’s agenda.
He said the strengthening of OCA means the automation of its processes “to monitor and effectively address the concern of the lower courts as regards infrastructure, communication, equipment, and supplies issues.”
With a strengthened OCA, the office could effectively “address the lack of court personnel and inequitable distribution of cases in the lower courts,” he said. (Rey Panaligan)
