The Supreme Court (SC) launched on Friday, Oct. 14, its five-year Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations (SPJI) with reforms to dispense justice “efficiently, effectively, and timely."
Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo said the SPJI “is our modern approach as part of agile ways of working to properly manage the transition and quickly adjust and adapt to change.”
In his previous pronouncements, Gesmundo said that “once and for all, the Judiciary must deliver its services, both adjudicative and administrative, real time.”
He had also said that SPJI is founded on four guiding principles, namely:
1. “The Filipino people deserve a judiciary possessed of competence, integrity, probity, and independence.
2. “The Judiciary must provide equal access to justice real time.
3. “Public confidence in the Judiciary is dependent on transparency and accountability.
4. “Technology must be the platform on which the basic court systems and processes run.”
At the official launch of SPJI during the SC’s full court session, Gesmundo said the SC, after more than a century of its establishment, “opens its doors to take its place at the forefront of life as Filipinos know it.”
“Today we remove the shroud that has enveloped our officials and systems in a haze of misperceptions and incomprehension, and present to you in clear and indelible terms what we envision, what we have planned, and what we target to accomplish for our citizenry, and the methodologies we will adopt to achieve our objectives,” he said.
He pointed out that the SPJI is a product of collaboration among the 15 members of the SC.
He said: “This is the first lesson of the SPJI: We must do things together. We must work collectively. For decades already, we have heard of and maybe even participated in reform projects one after the other. How many of these are still around? How many have been sustained over the years?”
“This inability to sustain reform or positive change is rooted in the fact that our initiatives are personality driven. They are scattered and piecemeal, mostly knee-jerk reactions to whatever burning issue the courts are facing at a given time. Reform programs are launched based on the agenda of whoever is the key driver of such change, and, by tradition, it is the Chief Justice as the head of the institution. Plainly, once the Chief Justice’s term comes to an end, his or her reform agenda also grinds to a halt,” he said.
“This occurrence is not unique to the Judiciary. We also see this in the other branches of government. This is why the SPJI is the product of the collective efforts of all your 15 Justices. The ideas and targets, the projects and indicators in the SPJI are the summation of a deliberative and consultative process of the Supreme Court En Banc,” he sad.
“In short, all your 15 Justices are equally invested in the SPJI. This is the surest guarantee of its continuity. Even after I leave in 2026, even when only the four (4) youngest members of the Court remain until 2036, the SPJI will remain relevant,” he also said.
Before the full court session, Senior Justice Marvic M.V. Leonen presented a briefer on the contents of SPJI. Justices Ramon Paul L. Hernando Amy C. Lazaro-Javier, Mario V. Lopez, and Maria Filomena D. Sing explained the activities lined up by the SC in its SPJI.
In his message during the launching, Gesmundo also paid tribute to past chief justices who contributed reforms to improve the judiciary.
He thanked former Chief Justices Hilario Davide Jr. for his Action Program for Judicial Reform 2001-2006; Artemio V. Panganiban for institutionalizing the perspective of law and economics in his Liberty and Prosperity Program; Reynato S. Puno for the Writs of Amparo, Habeas Data, and Kalikasan, and rules of procedure in small claims cases; Renato C. Corona for streamlined procedures in courts; Teresita J. Leonardo de Castro for family courts and ruled in handling of children in conflict with the law; Lucas P. Bersamin (now executive secretary) for Revised Law Student Practice Rule, Mandatory Clinical Legal Education Program, Amendments to the Rules of Civil Procedure and the Rules on Evidence; Diosdado M. Peralta for Rules on Continuous Trial.
“Because of all these innovations, the SPJI stands on solid ground as we build a more efficient, more accessible, and more ethical Judiciary,” Gesmundo said.
He then declared that “SPJI is a clarion call to action.”
He pointed out: “The SPJI is outcomes-based, and its targets are data-derived and data-driven. The results are measurable as they come with specific experience-based indicators. We will deliver minimum viable products in increments that can immediately be actualized, rather than waiting for the completion of the entire projects end-to-end that will likely overwhelm the actors and users, as well as the system.”
Gesmundo said: “The SPJI is the Supreme Court’s blueprint for action. But its success falls on all our shoulders. The Supreme Court will initiate these programs, but the implementation rests in ALL of us. It is surely an inclusive undertaking.”
“This call is not limited to those of us who serve on the bench. This call is also addressed to ALL members of the bar and other agencies of the government, who make up the other half of our Philippine legal system to dispense justice, efficiently, effectively, and timely. We all took an oath to serve God and country to the best of our abilities. Let us all heed this call,” he stressed.
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