Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta has vowed to give priority to addressing the huge backlog of cases pending in various courts in the country, totaling to 741,509 as of December 2018.
Peralta said that the Supreme Court under his leadership will institute various reforms to speed up disposition of cases pending at SC, Court of Appeals, Court of Tax Appeals, Sandiganbayan, Regional Trial Courts and first level courts.
“One of the greatest challenges of the Court is its mammoth docket,” Peralta said, during his first press conference as chief justice on Friday.
As of December 2018, there are 8,852 pending cases with the Supreme Court; 19,732 cases with the Court of Appeals; 5,237 cases with the Sandiganbayan; 1,353 cases with the Court of Tax Appeals; 546,182, that is more than half of a million, with the Regional Trial Courts; and 160,153 cases with the first level courts, the top magistrate disclosed.
“Thus, the elimination of this backlog of cases is my highest priority,” the chief magistrate declared.
Peralta, who described himself not as a workaholic but someone who “loves to work”, is known for his speedy disposition of criminal cases. He vowed to make it his personal agenda to resolve the large volume of backlog of cases.
“Our approach would be to make a periodic inventory of 2 cases and engage the Court En Banc to see what is choking up the system,” he said.
“The other approach is to have a clear monitoring of the courts’ performance, especially in the observance of reglementary or prescribed periods to resolve cases, not only to ensure that our Constitutional obligations and duties are performed, but also as a means to recognize and reward those who elevate the quality of Justice in the country,” he added.
Peralta also pointed out the need for the automation of court processes and the incorporation of court technology in hearings and trials.
“Also relevant to efficiency is the continued push for the automation of court processes and the incorporation of court technology in hearings and trials. We have to harness modern day conveniences to enhance the way we serve our purpose,” he said. “This will also necessitate the strengthening of the management information systems of the courts.”
Peralta also said he would conduct surprise visits at various courts to make sure that the court officials and personnel are rendering efficient service to the people, thus, help in instilling the “culture of efficiency” among court officials and personnel.
Peralta said he would be conducting surprise visits to courtrooms to make sure that court officials and personnel report at work on time and rendering efficient service to the people.
The top magistrate stressed that court personnel should always be on their toes because they would not know when he would make a surprise visits.
“I am sure you have already heard that I do conduct unannounced visits to our courts and offices. This is not meant to micro-manage their affairs, but to remind them of their accountability to the office they serve,” he said.
“It would not make sense to have a huge backlog of cases, complain about the process, yet feel free and remorseless about coming to work at 11:30 am,” added Peralta, who is the 26th chief justice of the Supreme Court.
Aside from instilling efficiency, Peralta also promised to implement measures to weed out misfits in the judiciary to protect the integrity of the institution by undertaking investigations even without formal complaint.
“I would like to continue the weeding out of misfits from the Judiciary and push it even further by adopting a system where the Court itself may initiate the investigation of cases,” he said. “It is high time that we take a serious stance against those who sully the Court’s good name and office.”
“This would also entail strengthening the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) and the implementation of the Judicial Integrity Board (JIB), which the Court En Banc has already approved,” he stressed.
Peralta explained that “the idea is to forge a synergy between the functions of these offices (referring to OCA and JIB) through judicial audits, information gathering, and sharing.