Govt launches ‘Justice Zone’ to speed up cases

The government on Friday launched its "Justice Zone" Project which aims to further speed up the resolution of cases by allowing courts, the police, and lawyers to coordinate more efficiently.

 

To be pilot tested in Quezon City, the project was created by the Justice Sector Coordinating Council, which is composed of the Supreme Court, Department of Justice and the Department of Interior and Local Government.

A Justice Zone is a locality where most justice reforms initiated by the high court have been implemented. Inside a "Justice Zone," judges, PAO lawyers, and prosecutors in court branches would be able to easily coordinate their schedules, eliminating postponements due to the unavailability of any of them.

 

Other reforms are the electronic subpoena or e-Subpoena system and the e-Court system, which were both pilot tested at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court, as well as the Continuous Trial System participated in by 27 volunteer judges in Metro Manila.

 

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno had earlier revealed plans to set up the first-ever "Justice Zone," in which, according to her, "pillars of the justice system: the judges, the prosecutors and public attorneys, the police and jail officials, coordinate their processes and share information to make the wheels of justice run smoothly."

 

In a speech she delivered on Friday, Sereno assured the public that the Justice Zone program will continue even beyond the end of President Benigno Aquino III's term in 2016. An Aquino appointee, Sereno is set to remain as chief justice for the next 16 years.

 

"Reforms must not be for a particular administration... If this fails, then we can only blame ourselves," she said.

 

Also attending the launch were Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, Sen. Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel, and House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte.

 

During the ceremonial signing on the commitment wall for the Justice Zone project, Sereno wrote: "I commit the judiciary's all to make justice come alive."

 

Roxas wrote: "Justice!!... Hindi just tiis. 'All in' kami lahat sa DILG-PNP-BJMP," while De Lima vowed to commit the "wholehearted support of our justice workers."

 

For his part, Pimentel wrote, "Willing to think outside of the box too." — RSJ, GMA News