‘Justice zone’ launched in QC

MANILA, Philippines - Could the “justice zone” be the answer to the wheels of justice’s slow grind in the Philippines?

Quezon City was chosen as the pilot site for the justice zone, a project of the Justice Sector Coordinating Council (JSCC) to speed up the resolution of court cases.

The justice zone entails close coordination among government agencies, Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno said during the project’s launch yesterday.

 “This is beyond 2016,” Sereno said in her speech during the launching of the justice zone in Quezon City. “With the justice zone, we will have continuous trial of 270 cases (the initial set of cases to be prioritized under the program).”

Aside from Sereno, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas, European Union Ambassador Guy Ledoux, Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista and Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III were also present during the justice zone’s launch.

The JSCC – composed of the Supreme Court (SC), Department of Justice and the Department of Interior and Local Government – said Quezon City was selected as the pilot area after the council has determined that most of the components in the strategy map are present in the locality.

A justice zone, officials said, is a locality where most reforms initiated by the SC have been implemented. In this zone, judges, Public Attorney’s Office lawyers and prosecutors can eliminate hearing postponements since they would be able to easily coordinate their schedules.

The justice zone will also incorporate the electronic subpoena and electronic court systems, both pilot tested at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court.

It will also include the continuous trial system, in which 27 volunteer judges in Metro Manila had taken part.

The justice zone will be complemented by the e-warrant of the Philippine National Police.

With the justice zone, there will be easy access to information on lawyers and litigants and they can easily find out the progress of their cases, which will have bar codes.