SC green lights electronic filing for civil cases in trial courts

MANILA — The Philippine Judiciary is going digital, as first and second level courts nationwide begin their transition to electronic filing for civil cases.

"Starting Sep. 1, 2024, trial courts shall only act upon pleadings and other court submissions in civil cases if the filing is accompanied by an electronic transmittal of the same document in PDF format through email. Electronic submissions must be completed within 24 hours of the primary manner of service, which includes personal filing, registered mail, or accredited courier," Supreme Court (SC) Spokesperson Camille Ting said in a press conference.

"A court may waive the electronic transmittal requirements if the annexes, exhibits, and other accompanying documents cannot readily be converted to PDF or if these consist of sealed and confidential documents," she added.

The SC targets using electronic filing as the primary and only mode of filing by December 1.

"By Dec. 1, 2024, the primary and mandatory manner of service of outbound court documents within a certified judicial region shall be through email, except for summons which shall continue to be through personal or substituted service under Rule 14 of the Rules of Court," Ting explained.

"By Dec. 1, 2024, within certified judicial regions of filing of service and pleadings, and other court submissions should be done through email, except for initiatory pleadings. For initiatory pleadings, they shall continue to be done in personal service, registered mail, or accredited courier, but must be accompanied by an electronic transmital or PDF copy until such time that Rule 13 of the Rules of Court is amended," she added.

Ting reminded lawyers to use solely their professional email addresses.

"The email addresses required for the e-filing are the professional emails of the lawyers. So anything that is not professional or iyong personal email nila is prohibited. So they can't use it (personal email). If they do use it, it will not be considered filed," she said.

"Making use of any free email service, for now [is acceptable]. But it should be their professional [email], so it can't be their nicknames, it can't be anything that will not indicate their names as a lawyer," she added.

The official also called on lawyers and parties involved to monitor their email inboxes.

"Counsels and parties have the obligation to monitor their email inboxes. A lawyer who neglects to do so to the detriment of their client shall be subject to disciplinary action. No court shall accept as an excuse the non-checking of their email inbox," Ting said.

'ALL SYSTEMS IN PLACE'

The SC assured that all of its security systems "are in place".

This is in response to concerns on hacking incidents, which has happened to some government websites in the past.

"The Supreme Court has a very robust - I would say - anti-hacking application. So our security is very - I'd say - strong kasi until now, I'd like to say I'm very proud that the Supreme Court has not yet been hacked," Ting said.

The guidelines for the electronic filing, along with the email format and court directories, may be accessed in the Supreme Court website at sc.judiciary.gov.ph.

Real-time technical assistance and support will be provided by the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) and the Management and Information Systems Office (MISO) through tech.support.spji@judiciary.gov.ph.