The Supreme Court (SC) is set to assess the gains achieved for the past year in its five-year Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations (SPJI 2022-2027) during a meeting with various stakeholders and development partners starting at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 22, at The Manila Hotel.

The SC, through Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo, will also review the implementation of the SPJI for the past two years since the program’s launch on Oct. 14, 2022.

The Chief Justice is also expected to disclose the SPJI programs for the next two years in his keynote address.

Senior Associate Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen will deliver the welcome address.

The SPJI was launched to address the institutional challenges using four guiding principles: the Judiciary’s delivery of justice will be timely and fair, transparent and accountable, equal and inclusive, and technology adaptive.

During the launch, Chief Justice Gesmundo said the SPJI targets three major outcomes – “efficiency, innovation, and access.”

He pointed out that the SPJI is the product of the collective efforts of all the 15 SC justices who have all equally invested in the SPJI and guaranteed the program's continuity.

During the first year of the SPJI’s implementation, the SC justices travelled around the country to get the feedback from judges and court personnel, lawyers, and local government officials.

The SPJI had also been presented in various international conferences attended by the SC justices. Its efforts on Gender Equality and Inclusivity were presented to more than 1,100 women judges in Morocco.

Among other fora, the SC also presented the SPJI in Australia, to the United Nations Environmental Program in the World Law Congress, during the Open Government Summit in Estonia, in Bangkok, and during the Judicial Integrity Network ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Judges Conference.

The gains achieved during the first two years of SPJI – 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024 -- were presented to stakeholders, also at The Manila Hotel.

Based on the program issued by the SC, highlighted for discussions on the third year of SPJI are the Judiciary Fiscal Autonomy Act, Mental Health in the Judiciary, High Performance Courts, Office of the Judiciary Marshals, modernization of the Office of the Court Administrator and the Office of the Regional Court Manager, the eCourt PH, Filipino Sign language interpreting in the judiciary,

Supreme Court Podcast, United Legal Aid Service, Judicial Integrity Office, Gender Responsiveness in the Judiciary, Family Courts and Juvenile Concerns, Halls of Justice, and Justice Sector Coordinating Council.

There will be an open forum for participants and members of the media.

Some of the accomplishments of the SC during the first two years of SPJI implementation are:

-- Adoption of the Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability (CPRA) which serves as “bible” for all lawyers and “compass” that would direct them “towards moral and just conduct.”

-- Consultations with stakeholders on the revision of the Code of Judicial Conduct and the Code of Conduct for Court Personnel.

--Approval of the Rules on Expedited Procedures in the first level courts (municipal and metropolitan trial courts) that increased the threshold amount to P1 million in small claims cases with service of notices through phone calls, SMS and instant messaging software applications.

-- Enhancement of the use of video conferencing in the trial of cases.

-- Consultations on the amendments to the Rules on Civil Procedure and Rules on Criminal Procedure to expedite resolution of cases.

-- Decentralization of the function of the Office of the Court Administrator by creating the Office of Regional Court Managers (ORCMs) to unburden trial court judges of administrative tasks so they can devote more time to adjudication of cases.

-- Approval of the rule that would simplify, reduce legal and procedural hurdles, and facilitate the naturalization as Filipino citizens of refugees and stateless persons. The rule now allows electronic publication of the petition filed by refugees and stateless persons.

--Adoption of the Rules on the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) of 2020 and Related Laws.

--Adoption of the new Guidelines on Submission of Electronic Copies of Pleadings and Other Court Submissions to facilitate the transition to electronic filing as the primary mode of filing pleadings before the trial courts.

-- Finalization of the rules on the Unified Legal Aid Service (ULAS) that would provide enhanced access to the country’s justice system of the marginalized and the underprivileged.