The Department of Justice (DOJ), the Supreme Court (SC), and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) signed on Tuesday a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the establishment of the National Justice Information Systems (NJIS) held in Cagayan de Oro City.
DOJ Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, and Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos signed on behalf of their respective offices.
“We can digitally connect with each other when it comes to information sharing and the information needed from the time that we prosecute people in court to the time that we have to bring them to the correction facilities. That is the only proper way to make sure that we punish people correctly,” said Remulla in his speech.
DOJ Assistant Secretary Arturo Malvar, the first non-lawyer assistant secretary, designed the integrated system for justice information, Remulla said.
“This one is historic for us because it is about time that this data sharing, information sharing, happened for a system of justice that the people of the Philippines deserve,” he stressed.
The NJIS aims to enforce the law and administer justice more efficiently and expediently by establishing inter-agency connectivity among justice-sector agencies.
Through NJIS, justice sector agencies can swiftly coordinate and share data with one another through the NJIS Data Exchange Platform, according to the DOJ.
Meanwhile, Gesmundo underscored record processing will become more efficient with the use of technology.
“We have to constantly look for ways to improve and upgrade how we work… we will be sharing data, public court records, court dockets, and schedules, warrants, subpoenas, and other court orders,” said the Chief Justice.
For his part, Abalos described the information system as “very handy, expedient, fast, and effective for everyone.”
He noted the DILG will be funding the said project.
Abalos further said this partnership will be a “nightmare’” for recidivists.
Under the law, a recidivist “is one who, at the time of his trial for one crime, shall have been previously convicted by final judgment of another crime” in the same Title of the Revised Penal Code (RPC).
Also present in the ceremonies are Dr. Ana-Isabel Sanchez-Ruiz, Deputy Head of the European Union Delegation to the Philippines, SC Associate Justices Jose Midas Marquez and Maria Filomena Singh, as well as representatives from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Bureau of Immigration (BI), Public Attorney’s Office (PAO), Philippine National Police (PNP), and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), among others.
