STATUS OF COURT CASES AND PENDING PROCEEDINGS DURING GCQ

STATUS OF COURT CASES AND PENDING PROCEEDINGS DURING GCQ

To allow for the continuous administration of justice during the pandemic, the Supreme Court has issued several guidelines relative to procedure and practice. Here are the latest guidelines issued by the court during the General Community Quarantine (GCQ).

  • All Courts and offices of the courts nationwide beginning 01 June 2020 shall be in full operation from 8:00am to 4:30pm in the National Capital Judicial Region, and from 8:00am to 5:00pm in Regions 1-12, Monday to Friday. Night and Saturday Courts shall, however, remain suspended;
  • All inquiries and transactions relative to cases pending before the courts shall only be coursed through the hotline numbers, email addresses, and/or Facebook accounts, as posted on the Supreme Court Website;
  • There shall no longer be extensions in the filing of petitions, appeals, complaints, motions, pleadings, and other court submissions that will fall due beginning 01 June 2020. In the same manner, the periods for court actions with prescribed periods beginning 01 June 2020 shall no longer be extended;
  • Initiatory pleadings for civil and criminal cases, as well as the application for bail, may be filed manually or electronically and shall be received by the courts through their respective email addresses, as posted by the Supreme Court;
  • The use of videoconferencing as an alternative to personal appearance for hearings to be conducted for Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDL) without having to risk their health and safety due to undue exposure to COVID-19; and
  • Upon full operation of the courts on 01 June 2020, the following should be noted by the parties:

1) File pleadings and other case submissions that were due during the ECQ and MECQ on or before 30 June 2020; and

2) Determine the new schedule of hearings for those canceled during the ECQ and MECQ by directly contacting the court, or by waiting for the issuance of court notices by mail or by phone.

For reference and more information, please refer to Supreme Court Administrative Circular No. 41-2020 dated 15 May 2020 at this link.

For inquiries regarding scheduling and other pending incidents, you may contact the relevant court directly here

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