Starting today, Sept. 1, until Sept. 15, the Supreme Court (SC) and all trial courts in the country are back to 100 per cent on-site work for all officials and personnel.

It is expected that all appellate courts – Court of Appeals (CA), Sandiganbayan and Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) – will also be on 100 per cent on-site work capacity.

The back-to-normal work operation in the SC was ordered by Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo in a circular issued last Aug. 31.

With the Gesmundo’s clearance, Court Administrator Raul B. Villanueva also issued a circular to all trial courts on the full capacity operations.

Circulars from the CA, CTA and Sandiganbayan on full court operations were not immediately available as of posting.

In the trial courts, full capacity operations mean flag-raising/lowering ceremonies are allowed, Saturday duty will continue, night courts are allowed to operate, jail visitations are permitted, and personal filing of pleadings and required documents can be done subject to strict adherence to Covid-19 protocols.

In his circular, Villanueva said that priority should be given to face-to-face hearings of cases in the trial courts. Video conferencing hearings may also be allowed subject to approval by Villanueva’s office, Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) which supervises for the SC all lower courts in the country.

In the National Capital Region (NCR), regular office hours are from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays to Fridays. Work hours in courts outside NCR are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.