The Supreme Court has stepped up its determined efforts to institute enduring reforms that will enhance the judiciary’s capacity to deliver real-time justice to the citizenry. Starting next week, its Office of the Court Administrator is holding webinars for judges and court personnel on the electronic submission of pleadings. This implements further the high court’s blueprint for judicial transformation anchored upon technology to improve the efficiency of the courts and access to justice. 

As explained by Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, the “three pillars for a successful digital transformation: 60 percent people, 20 percent process, and 20 percent technology.” Since the human factor is the predominant factor, it is essential that the judiciary attains alignment among all members of its organization in embracing the culture of digital innovation that starts from their day-to-day work process and extends to their interface with the general public. 

Court employees constitute the backbone of the judicial system. Hence, the Supreme Court has prioritized securing their buy-in and enhancing their skill-sets and capabilities. According to the Chief Justice, “By involving them at the outset, we empower our employees to be change drivers as we tap into their expertise, creating a collaborative environment where ideas are co-created.” 

During the past two years of the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations (SPJI), a five-year roadmap adopted in 2022 by the Supreme Court en banc, the following specific programs have been adopted: the Judiciary e-Payment Solution or JePS; a Digitalized Benchbook; the Philippine Judiciary 365; the Philippine Judicial Academy Learning Management System; the Human Resource Management System; the Financial Management Information System; Bar Applicant Registration Information System and Tech Assistance or BARISTA; e-filing under the eCourt System version 2.0; and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Court Operations.

The efficacy of digital processes was amply demonstrated during the prolonged periods of quarantine and lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Videoconferencing of hearings of criminal cases was pilot-tested in several courts. Within a nine-month period from May 2020 to January 2021, some 27,000 courts throughout the country conducted an estimated 170,000 hearings via teleconferencing. The Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) reports that congestion of local jails was eased significantly — while complying with the norm of physical distancing — as these virtual hearings facilitated the release of around 81,000 persons deprived of liberty. Corollary improvement measures such as e-filing of complaints and petitions for bail and e-payment of fees facilitated the resolution of pending cases.

The experiences of South Korea and Malaysia are instructive. South Korea launched a digital case management system in A master plan was then developed for creating e-courts that helped level the playing field between small and large law firms, Public information is also enhanced with the publication of cases in the e-court system. Malaysia, a country whose gross national product and income per capita is half that of South Korea, also embarked on an ambitious court computerization program in 2008. 

In perspective, Chief Justice Gesmundo has consistently emphasized that Justice delayed is justice denied. Hence, the strategic objective of providing equal access to justice in real time is imperative in ensuring the attainment of the Supreme Court’s goal to “remold and transform the courts into consistently efficient and accountable havens for the disadvantaged, the wronged, and the injured.”