However, Sereno also emphasized that the judiciary must maintain its independence, so the offer of partnership with the private sector to push reforms in the judiciary is welcome but must be well crafted lest it be interpreted as a conflict of interest.

“What I ask from you now is support for a need to build our own modern soft and hard infrastructure for justice. I ask you to join our call for a modern judiciary, a modern justice system. It must be a system that is intelligent, dignified, serious and efficient,” Sereno said.

Instead of private sector assistance, the Chief Justice called for an increase in its annual budget allocation from the government. The judiciary had managed to get only 0.778 percent share of the 2015 national budget of P2.6 trillion, much less than the 1.25 percent share they had sought.

The Judicial Reform Initiative, the private sector umbrella group tasked to coordinate, monitor and push for judicial reforms, was launched at the Integrity Summit in 2012 where Sereno was guest speaker.

The group actively pushed for the operationalization of the four-pillar reforms the Chief Justice committed to undertake: institutionalized integrity and increased public credibility; rationality, predictability, speed and responsiveness of judicial actions; improved systems, procedures and infrastructures; and effective and efficient human resources.

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The group also noted significant achievements in reform, citing the pilot project in Quezon City courts called Justice Zone which was launched last year to showcase the reforms currently being undertaken.

To date, the Hustisyeah Program has reduced the dockets of burdened courts – those with caseloads of 500 or more – in selected court stations by 30 percent.

The Judicial Affidavit Rule has reduced trial time by at least a third of what it normally takes by mandating written direct testimony submitted in advance.

The eCourts Program, which is the automation of trial courts, is now in three stations, namely Quezon City, Angeles City and Lapu-Lapu City and will include Tacloban City, Davao City, Cebu City, Makati City, Pasig City and Mandaluyong City by the end of 2015. It allows every judge to electronically monitor the progress of all his cases with built-in alarm systems for deadlines.

The Continuous Trial System now being piloted in the Quezon City Justice Zone is set to be piloted in 50 other volunteer trial courts in the National Capital Region in the second half of this year.

Two other projects to fast track cases are the Enhanced Justice on Wheels (EJOW) Program, featuring mobile courts and mediation centers in the form of traveling buses. This has resulted in the dismissal of 3,885 cases and the release of 8,355 prisoners.

The Assisting Judges Project designates judges from Manila, where the caseloads are low, to assist in the trial of cases assigned to judges in Quezon City, where the caseloads are highest in the NCR. Civil cases, including contract enforcement cases, are covered by this project.
The steering council of the Judicial Reform Initiative is made up of the Makati Business Club, Management Association of the Philippines, Financial Executives of the Philippines, European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Institute of Corporate Directors, the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, the Movement for Restoration of Peace and Order and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines. 

Source: The Philippine Star