Judiciary must embrace reform for its survival – CJ Gesmundo

By James Hernandez

Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo has vowed to push for reforms in the judiciary during his tenure.

“The Philippine Judiciary is a bulwark of tradition. It honors age-old doctrines and precepts; it is founded on universal principles that have existed since the dawn of civilization. But its relevance to society lies in its ability to re-cast itself, to re-shape its traditions, to keep in step with the changing times. Reform is thus a necessity that the Judiciary must embrace for its survival,” he said during the launch of the second phase of the Governance in Justice (GOJUST II) on Thursday (Nov. 25).

“We inherited a more than a century-old Judiciary that is beset by many problems, institutional, cultural, and societal. The need to re-invent our structures, systems and processes to remain relevant to the courts’ mandated role in national evolution is a matter to be treated with urgency,” he added.

Gesmundo, who will compulsorily retire in 2026, said he is set to propose before the Supreme Court (SC) en banc his Strategic Plan for 2021-2026.

He noted the strategic plan is founded on four guiding principles: the Filipino people deserve a judiciary possessed of competence, integrity, probity, and independence; the judiciary must provide equal access to justice real time; public confidence in the judiciary is dependent on transparency and accountability; technology must be the platform on which the basic court systems and processes run.

With these in mind, the chief justice said that among the plans he has lined up includes having the SC “conduct a top to bottom organizational review and system-wide process mapping, the results of which will provide the basis for the digital infrastructure to be set up, as well as guide the formulation of performance metrics that are experiencebased and data-driven to make for a genuinely effective evaluation system.”

He added “the Court under my watch will aggressively launch a Campaign for Ethical Responsibility for the Bench and Bar.”

Gesmundo also disclosed plans to create a Judiciary Planning and Development Office.

“The improvement of court services must be a continuing agenda,” he explained.

Gesmundo said the SC will also prioritize the development of the judiciary’s information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure.

“Truly, technology plays a very significant role in the administration of justice. Change and technological evolution shall shape our society, that is why we must be ready to adapt and better ourselves,” he stated.

Judiciary must embrace reform for its survival – CJ Gesmundo
Source: Philippines Clips