Chief Justice Gesmundo Gives a Glimpse of Future Innovations for the Judiciary
October 17, 2023
The Supreme Court En Banc, led by Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo, commemorates the first anniversary of the Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022-2027 (SPJI) with a meeting with the Court’s development partners and stakeholders held at the Manila Hotel on October 16, 2023.
“The first year of our judicial reform program had just been concluded and we are marking it today with great pride, having successfully completed several activities and key projects.”
Thus said Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo during the Meeting with Development Partners and Stakeholders to commemorate the first anniversary of the Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022-2027 (SPJI), the Supreme Court’s blueprint for action on judicial reforms, held at the Rigodon Hall, Manila Hotel on October 16, 2023.
In his keynote address, Chief Justice Gesmundo gave a glimpse of forthcoming activities and innovations under the SPJI, namely: Network Infrastructure for the Judiciary; Judiciary-wide Organizational Review and Restructuring; and Launch of Social Media Info Sites, among others.
“The network infrastructure we will develop for the Judiciary will ensure network inter-operability aimed at providing robust, clean, and timely sharing of data across the entire organization. By achieving network inter-operability, sharing of data will be more secure and efficient as it will limit the need for manual processing of information. Court officials and employees could work more productively, with databases, and other applications connecting and sharing information, fostering better communication which is critical to organizational excellence,” said Chief Justice Gesmundo.
The Chief Justice further highlighted that streamlining of both the administrative and adjudicative functions of the Court is imperative in the years to come. “A top-to-bottom organizational review must be conducted. For maximum efficiency, it is important for the Court to trim the fat within its ranks and purge non-efficient processes,” he emphasized.
He likewise said that the Court will develop and deploy an intelligent platform for self-help services, public assistance, and public access to court-related information. “Access to Justice Info Sites on social media will employ user-friendly language, easy to understand information on court services, and ways to access them….The languages to be employed in these sites will be English and Filipino, as well as most commonly used dialects,” he stressed.
The Chief Justice also took the opportunity to express the Court’s gratitude to its development partners and reaffirmed the Court’s unwavering commitment to strengthening the rule of law and fostering economic development through an effective justice system.
Formally launched in a special En Banc session on October 14, 2022, the SPJI and its achievements under its first year were made possible because of the efforts and determination of the entire judiciary alongside the support of the development partners.
Among such completed projects are the Philippine Judiciary Online Learning Platform; Judiciary Enterprise ICT Governance Framework; Strengthened Legal Aid Initiatives; Adoption of Guidelines for the Use of Gender-Fair Language in the Judiciary and Gender-Fair Courtroom Etiquette; and the Study on Gender Representation and Mobility in the Philippine Judiciary.
Various projects under the SPJI’s targeted outcomes of Efficiency, Innovation, and Access are also underway.
The Meeting commenced with the Welcome Remarks by Associate Justice Maria Filomena D. Singh, followed by an update on the various projects of the SPJI as reported by Senior Associate Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen. An Open Forum was also held which gave the development partners and stakeholders the opportunity to ask questions and updates on the SPJI and voice their messages of encouragement to the Court for its judicial reform activities under the SPJI.
Joining the Chief Justice, Senior Associate Justice, and Associate Justice Singh were Associate Justices Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa, Ramon Paul L. Hernando, Henri Jean Paul B. Inting, Rodil V. Zalameda, Mario V. Lopez, Samuel H. Gaerlan, Ricardo R. Rosario, Jhosep Y. Lopez, Japar B. Dimaampao, Jose Midas P. Marquez, and Antonio T. Kho, Jr.
Various development partners from foreign missions, international organizations, and development agencies were also present to celebrate the SPJI’s first anniversary.
For more information on the SPJI, you may visit the SPJI page at the Supreme Court website: https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/spji/. (Courtesy of the Supreme Court Public Information Office)
Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo takes the opportunity to thank the development partners and the stakeholders for their invaluable support and assistance to the Court’s programs under the Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022-2027 (SPJI) during the Meeting with Development Partners and Stakeholders to commemorate the first year anniversary of the SPJI held at the Rigodon Hall, Manila Hotel, on October 16, 2023. (Courtesy of the SC Public Information Office)
Australian Ambassador to the Philippines, Her Excellency Hae Kyong Yu commends the report on the Supreme Court’s successes under the Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022-2027 (SPJI) as an “amazing achievement” during the Meeting with Development Partners and Stakeholders held at the Rigodon Hall, Manila Hotel, on October 16, 2023. (Courtesy of the SC Public Information Office)
