Tulfo pushes for digitized courts, more online hearings
FILE PHOTO: REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/Illustration/File Photo
MANILA, Philippines — Increasing the efficiency of work in courts through modernization, digitization, and the computerization is “necessary and urgent” to speed up the judicial processes, Senator-elect Raffy Tulfo said Wednesday.
Tulfo said he is open to working with the judicial branch for more physical facilities nationwide at the courts and detention facilities.
“I am open to working with the Supreme Court and the Court Administrator on how to increase the efficiency of its work processes through digitization, computerization, and faster communication, while still maintaining proper administration of justice,” Tulfo said in a statement.
“This is necessary and urgent so that the innocent and the reformable detainees can be released sooner rather than later by the tens of thousands,” he added.
Tulfo also stressed the need for implementing more online or video conferencing for hearings not just in courthouses but in detention facilities as well.
“More online or video conferencing is needed not just at the courthouses or halls of justice, but also at the jails at the municipal, city, and provincial levels,” Tulfo said.
“Especially at the jails where there is high congestion, there should be a room or hall where several court hearings can be simultaneously conducted. Every detention facility should have a venue for online court hearings,” he added.
Tulfo added that additional “courts on wheels,” a project that utilizes buses to conduct remote hearings, should be accessible to remote places where physical facilities are not available.
“These courts on wheels would be for the remote places where physical facilities are not available because the courts on wheels would be the better, cost-efficient option,” Tulfo said.
“There is also the matter of switching faster from a paper-based process to a fully digitized system. Old court documents should be digitized and stored in a secure digital database while the paper documents can be stored in regional warehouses,” he added. — Xander Dave Ceballos, trainee
