Judiciary complex in Cebu eyed

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno was in Cebu City on August 24 to grace an event at the University of San Carlos. CDN PHOTO/MOREXETTE ERRAM

CEBU CITY – The Supreme Court plans to put up a “judiciary complex” at the South Road Properties worth P1 billion as part of the programs to decongest cases in Cebu, said Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

In a speech during the Judicial Reform Roadshow on Friday afternoon, Sereno said the complex would not just house the 22 Regional Trial Courts.

This would also be the new home of the Court of Appeals, a prosecutor’s office either the provincial or city or both) and a Cebu branch of Sandiganbayan which would be the anti-graft court’s first branch outside Metro Manila.

The Chief Justice said there was no specific timeline on the implementation of the plan.

“We already have the architectural design and it is something that will reflect the identity of Cebu. As of now we still need the appropriate place, and we’re eyeing somewhere in the south reclamation area (South Road Properties),” said Sereno.

At present, the Supreme Court is renting the Qimonda Building along the North Reclamation Area to house the trial courts in Cebu City after the Palace of Justice was destroyed by the 7.2-magnitude earthquake in 2013.

Aside from the judiciary complex, Sereno said at least P350 million had been set aside to set up 12 trial courts for the cities of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu City.

The SC also planned to establish a Municipal Circuit Trial Court that would handle cases in Compostela and Cordova towns which at present were being handled by Lapu-Lapu courts.

With new trial courts come appointments of more judges, said Sereno.

She said they deployed 81 judges in Cebu. The lack of trial courts was cited by the SC as one of the most pressing issues that attributed to the worsening congestion of cases in Cebu.

Sereno revealed her “infrastructural judiciary reform programs” during the Judicial Reform Roadshow held at the Ayala Center Cebu past 2 p.m. on Friday.

It was attended by members of different business organizations such as the American Chamber of Commerce and Canadian Chamber of Commerce. This was the second time that the Supreme Court held the roadshow inside the mall.

“I chose to present in front of mall goers to show them there is greater access to justice. I want people to judge (us) directly,” she said.

“We keep talking in Manila now it’s time for the SC to listen to Visayas and Mindanao,” she added.

Also present in the event are Court of Appeals justices and Executive Judge Gilbert Moises of the Regional Trial Court in Cebu City.

In her speech, Sereno revealed their plans to go digital through their project – eCourts.

“You can check the status of your cases with a single click on the website, and you can check the schedule of your trials via email. eCourts will also able judges to receive details of their caseloads via email,” Sereno said.

She said there are 298 courts which will benefit on eCourt, including Cebu.

Sereno said the SC targets to establish eCourts in all courts by 2020.

“We’re laying out the plans and hopefully by 2020, they will be implemented,” she added.

“Halls of Justice will no longer be littered with paper because everything will be digitalized,” said Sereno.