Judge Belen G. Salespara-Carasig
Regional Trial Court Branch 296
Paranaque City
The COVID pandemic has become the ultimate leveller. The disturbance and destruction of lives and economies in a global scale spared no one. COVID does not discriminate nor respect any race, color, or stature. It has brought to its knees those who have proclaimed themselves as world super powers.
Needless to state, the judicial systems around the globe were also threatened. It tested the resilience of the Courts and the stakeholders as well. The issues that confronted each and every nation were identical. However, it also brought the best in each of Us. AS we were relentlessly bombarded with identical problems – Ideal solutions were likewise shared.
The Philippine Judiciary despite the many roadblocks had fortunately foreseen the need to explore virtual court proceedings. It has, in many years past, already instituted programs to digitize courts. Pilot courts have been designated to test the viability of conducting court proceedings via video conference; submission of notices via email and other social media platforms. During the implementation of the Enhanced Community Quarantine, The Supreme Court rolled out the Microsoft 365 app as a platform to enable the courts to continuously function. The efforts of the Supreme Court in empowering the Courts to be able to cope with the demands of virtual court proceedings should be lauded. The Judges and Court personnel on the other hand reciprocated these efforts by accepting the challenge. Learning the technology and adapting into foreign environment now dubbed the virtual courts.
Amidst these developments, I got interested as to how other judicial systems around the globe cope with the challenges brought about by this pandemic. The National Association of American Women Judges (NAWJ) hosted a webinar last May 13, 2020 230PM EDT directly addressing the issue: Courts on the Frontline: Providing Access to Justice While Protecting Public Health During a Pandemic. The panelists were: the Chief Judge District of Columbia Court of Appeals Hon. Judge Anna Blackburne-Rigsby; California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye; Chief Justice Susan Christensen, Iowa Supreme Court; and Chief Justice Bridget Mary Mccormack of Michigan.
I do not regret waking up in the wee hours of the morning and attending the webinar.
During the discussion, the panelists acknowledged the similar issues that we, the Philippine Judiciary face in these difficult times - delay in the disposition of cases; preservation of the right of the people to due process of law; access to courts and the potential health hazards that confront the judicial frontliners.
Despite the hardships, these courts were somehow able to overcome by employing the following strategies which we have likewise adopted: Leadership with Empathy. Transparency and Communication. Collaboration. Innovation. Embracing Technology in the Cyber Age with all its complexities.
The webinar which was truly insightful likewise reinforced the steps undertaken by our Supreme Court. As we continuously march on towards the new normal, the following submissions are recommended:
- Formulation and Institutionalization of a Judicial Continuity Plan to be adopted and implemented in times of calamities or man made disasters the occurrence of which would either render it impossible for the Court staff to report for work due to danger to their lives, or the physical records themselves are destroyed and/or irretrievable.
- This Judicial Continuity Plan involves the setting up of policies and mechanisms designed in ensuring that Courts and other attached agencies can still function despite the occurrence of these calamities or disasters.
- In order that Courts can still function despite these calamities, most important would be the Digitization of court records and storage thru cloud based software, where the Court and its staff can readily access important data and /or records in case they cannot physically go to the office to access the physical records itself.
- Also included would be the training of court personnel for offsite hearings or Work from Home scenarios, where they can conduct hearings via telecommuting, and access the copies of the records thru the cloud database.
- The authenticity of documents being submitted can be authenticated via the methods employed in the e commerce act, the data privacy act and other related laws.
- Strengthening of continuous collaboration with the other stakeholders – the National Prosecutorial Service, the Public Attorneys Office; the Integrated Bar of the Philippines; the BJMP; and the DICT to ensure that the stakeholders are logistically equipped;
- Creation of a Technical Working Group for the creation of Guidelines vis a vis Hybrid Court Procedure – virtual court proceedings and physical court hearings; and
- Institutionalization of the necessary technological trainings for Judges and court personnel.
The battle against COVID 19 is a long haul. For now, we the judicial frontliners should also be able to come up with our own innovations in order to ensure the delivery of accessible and efficient judicial service to our people. We have time and again proven our resilience as an Institution. Together, we shall overcome and rise above the challenge.