By 30 October, the Supreme Court (SC) will fully shift to digital filing for cases, ending the “hybrid period” of accepting both digital and paper submissions.

Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen said, “I’d like to say that in the Supreme Court, the filing now, the original filing, is now fully digital by 30 October. No longer will we receive paper copies. It is now all digital, and the hybrid period, meaning to say digital and paper, will now end in October.”

The electronic filing mandate is also extending to the country’s appellate and special courts through the Philippine Judiciary Platform:

• The anti-graft court Sandiganbayan will launch its connected e-court by 30 October.
• The Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) back office will be compliant with the platform by November.
• The Court of Appeals (CA) will launch its e-court page connected to the system by December.

The high court is also working toward rolling out e-court management applications to all trial courts nationwide by June or July next year.

This system will allow lawyers and law firms to manage their cases and receive court documents instantaneously.

With this initiative, the SC is positioning itself as a leader in regulating emerging technology, in line with its accessibility and digital filing efforts.

Leonen added that the SC is “far ahead” in drafting a governance framework for the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) in the judiciary.