Supreme Court opening e-library to the public for free

MANILA, Philippines — After 15 years of existence, the Supreme Court’s (SC) electronic library will finally be opened to the public for free.

The e-library, which will be accessible through the High Court’s website, will be opened on or before June 11.

“The Judiciary is doing its best efforts for the actual opening of the SC e-library to the public which will hopefully coincide with the launch of the Court’s redesigned and improved website on or before the High Court’s 118th anniversary this June 11,” Assistant Court Administrator and SC Public Information Office Chief Atty. Brian Keith F. Hosaka said in a statement on Tuesday.

The e-library will be opened to the public following Hosaka’s recommendation “in order to enhance transparency and provide better access for lawyers, law professors, law students, and legal researchers.”

The e-library, launched in 2004, contains the High Court’s decisions in cases from 1901 to present and laws from previous and current versions of the Constitution.

The public can also access SC issuances such as the Rules of Court and other administrative resolutions.

Aside from court rulings and laws, other references such as bench books, book catalogs of court libraries, and index to Philippine periodicals will also be available in the e-library

“The SC e-library [was a] brainchild of Justice Antonio T. Carpio when he was Chairperson of the SC Committee on Library, Records Managements, Legal Research, and Printing Services (CLRMLRP),” the SC said.

“[The e-library] is a searchable database of jurisprudence including SC decisions and resolutions from 1901 to the present,” the high court added. / gsg