At this point in our history, I lead a strong and united Court that is firmly committed to protect the rule of law, to guarantee the rights of our people, and to honor our obligations to the larger community of nations. The Philippine Supreme Court stands in unity with our ASEAN neighbors in our common quest for the best possible future for our region.
Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo told his counterparts in Southeast Asia that the Philippines has a strong and united court firmly committed to protect the rule of law.
"At this point in our history, I lead a strong and united Court that is firmly committed to protect the rule of law, to guarantee the rights of our people, and to honor our obligations to the larger community of nations. The Philippine Supreme Court stands in unity with our ASEAN neighbors in our common quest for the best possible future for our region," he said.
With these Gesmundo reaffirmed before his ASEAN counterparts the commitment of the Philippine Judiciary to the rule of law in his opening message at the 10th Council of ASEAN Chief Justices Meeting held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last Friday 4 November.
After two years of meeting with the member states virtually, the annual meeting was finally conducted in person this year in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with the Judiciary of Malaysia as host. The program runs for two days.
The chief magistrate of the land also highlighted the procedural rules promulgated and the projects undertaken by the Philippine Supreme Court in 2022, namely: The Amendments to Rule 140 of the Rules of Court, the Rule on Facilitated Naturalization of Refugees and Stateless Persons, the Rule on Expedited Procedures in the First Level Courts, the Benchbook for Family Courts, the Benchbook for Commerical Courts, and the Rule on International Child Abduction Cases.
Gesmundo also discussed the recently launched Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022 to 2027, the Supreme Court's blueprint for action in the next five years. The Chief Justice described the SPJI as "a documentation of the roadmap for both our internal and external stakeholders in groundbreaking reform initiatives targeted to achieve three objectives: Efficiency, Innovation, and Access, to bring about the overall goal of delivering responsive real-time justice."
The Court's efforts to make the lawyers' Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability up to date and relevant through revisions that include adding a chapter on the responsible use of social media, among others was also highlighted by Gesmundo.
He also underscored the Court's shift to technology-based systems and infrastructure, as illustrated by the high success rate of online hearings following the Court's issuance of the Guidelines for the Conduct of Video Conference Hearings.
"Seeing the benefits we have reaped from VCH, we will submit a Concept Note to propose, as a possible area for ASEAN collaboration under the Working Group on Future Work, the adoption of common principles and guidelines for the conduct of video conference hearings involving parties and witnesses outside the territory of a State where the action is pending, but still within the ASEAN," Chief Justice said.
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