The use of video conferencing in court hearings and other proceedings, which will be further enhanced in the Supreme Court’s (SC) five-year Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations (SPJI), has resulted in the release of 132,916 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) with 2,120 of them children in conflict with the law.

In a presentation in Davao City on Monday, Oct. 24, SC Associate Justice Midas P. Marquez said as of Oct. 13, 2022 there had been 1,139,720 video conferencing hearings conducted by the courts nationwide with a success rate of 89.27 per cent.

Video conferencing hearings were pilot tested by the SC in 2019 and utilized during the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020 so as not to disrupt court operations nationwide.

The use of high technology in court proceedings is one of the major components of the SPJI which was formally launched by the SC last Oct. 14.

Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo said the SPJI is anchored on four guiding principles -- timely and fair justice, transparent and accountable justice, equal and inclusive justice, and technologically adaptive management – to achieve three outcomes namely: efficiency innovation, and access.

Gesmundo and the other SC justices and officials are in Davao City on the second leg of the Ethics Caravan, an information and consultation drive for the proposed Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability (CPRA).

The CPRA is the proposed set of rules on the ethical conduct and accountability of lawyers in the practice of law. It would amend the Code of Professional Responsibility (CPR) that was adopted in 1988.

Before the caravan, Gesmundo was joined by Secretary Benjamin “Benhur” C. Abalos Jr. of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and Department of Justice (DOJ) Undersecretary Raul T. Vasquez in a dialogue with stakeholders in the country’s justice system.

The dialogue was zeroed in on the participation of the country’s nine justice zones (JZs) in the implementation of the SPJI.

Gesmundo said the SPJI for 2022 to 2027 will be aligned and will complement the development plans under the JZ projects of the Justice Sector Coordinating Council (JSCC).

The JZ project adheres to its objective of a swift and fair administration of the criminal justice system. It is established to strengthen the coordination and communication among the principal agencies of the JSCC – SC, DOJ and DILG -- by serving as a venue and a mechanism for communication, principled cooperation, and studied coordination with great deference to institutional independence.

Aside from Davao City, there are eight other Justice Zones nationwide. They are in Quezon City, Cebu City, Angeles City, Bacolod City, Naga City, Calamba City, Balanga City, and Baguio City. The JZs in Balanga City and Baguio City were inaugurated during the term of Chief Justice Gesmundo.

“Today, we are provided with the opportunity to align and to complement the range of various plans such as the Judiciary’s SPJI, the respective development plans of the DOJ and DILG, and the new Philippine Development Plan for 2023-2028,” Gesmundo said.

“Here in Davao City, the imperative and challenge for the Justice Zone is to find its niche in the local development plan of the city, as it has in its hands the dispensation of justice services in this locality,” he said.

He pointed out that the Davao City dialogue “comes at a very favorable time—when the continuing process to further develop and finetune the coordinative and administrative structures of our justice zones, as well as our communication protocols and reporting mechanisms in relation to the JSCC, the policy-making and senior management body for justice sector coordination.”

He reported that “all of the nine justice zones have just completed the latest round of capacity building interventions to improve the planning and development of justice zone-specific projects and initiatives.”

Both DILG Secretary Abalos Jr. and DOJ Undersecretary Vasquez expressed their support to the SC’s undertaking as they agreed to the use of technology in enhancing the services of the JSCC.

Also present during the dialogue were SC Justices Jhosep Y. Lopez, Japar B. Dimaampao, and Maria Filomena D. Singh.

Also in attendance were Court of Appeals Justices Michael P. Ong and Rex Bernardo L. Pascual, Sandiganbayan Justice Maria Theresa V. Mendoza-Arcega, Court Administrator Raul B. Villanueva, Assistant Court Administrator and Public Information Office Chief Brian Keith F. Hosaka, and Deputy Clerk of Court and Judicial Reform Program Administrator Laura C. H. del Rosario.

Davao City trial court judges and prosecutors and European Union Governance in Justice Programme (GOJUST Programme) Access to Justice Senior Adviser Atty. Hector D. Soliman also attended the dialogue.

The first leg of the JZ dialogue was held in Cebu City last September. It coincided with the first Ethics Caravan held on CPRA.

TAGS: #SC #CPRA #Justice Zone #CJ Gesmundo