SC chief urges court officials, employees to adopt reforms

Supreme Court Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo yesterday rallied court officials and personnel to “transform beyond traditions and evolve alongside the changing times” so the judiciary will be  more responsive.

This was the message of Gesmundo during the 123rd anniversary of the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday, 11 June, saying: “We need a new and forward-thinking mindset to be able to imagine what we can do and how we can solve the issues surrounding us.”

Since the SC has been in existence for more than a century, “it has been filled with traditions and age-old doctrines," said Gesmundo. 

He said that while some of the traditions and doctrines might have taken through the test of time, many of them are no longer attuned with the current societal needs.

With this, in 2022 the SC launched its five-year Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022-2027 (SPJI) as a “manifestation of the judiciary’s aspirations and dreams and frustrations and disappointments.”

The high bench is now on its second year of implementing SPJI that aims to dispense justice “efficiently, effectively, and timely.”

During its launch in October 2022, the SPJI is anchored on four core principles—timely and fair justice, transparent and accountable justice, equal and inclusive justice, and technologically adaptive management.

In the second year of SPJI, Gesmundo said the judiciary has gained “tremendous success bringing closer to the goal of delivering responsive and real-time justice.”

He declared that, once and for all, the Judiciary must deliver its services, both adjudicative and administrative in real time.