"Paperless" courts get mixed reactions

CEBU, Philippines - The proposal of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno to digitalize the system for all the documents of the judiciary received different opinions.

Judge Douglas Marigomen of Regional Trial Court Branch 5 disagrees with the “paperless court” citing its difficulties.

“Paperless…it cannot be especially for the detained accused. The court will have to send notices to them and in terms of judgment the court will give the accused a copy of the decision (hard copy) so that they will not be dependent on their lawyer,” he said in Cebuano.

Marigomen likewise, said that they have problems with technology as they have no Internet connection and lack computers.

He said they had a server before but the problem is they cannot connect with the Internet.

The statement of Marigomen was corroborated by his clerk of court Manuel Nollora.

Nollora said the use of hard copies is necessary in court.

“How can we perform our job if there will be no papers?” he said.

But the president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Cebu City Chapter Earl Bonachita told The FREEMAN the plan of Sereno was laudable.

“This is seen as an effort of the judiciary to help save the environment. Most likely lawyers are receptive of the idea especially in this era of advanced technology. We are looking forward to the time when courts would already allow the filing of documents through e-mail or other digital format,” he said.

Sereno, in her statement a few weeks after President Benigno Aquino III appointed her as new chief justice, said she wanted a paperless court expressing her concerns for the environment.

She encouraged the people to do their share in “minimizing the amount of trees cut down due to more paper demand”.

Going paperless, she said, means that there will be more trees to prevent flooding.

Such plans have reportedly been mentioned before during the time of former chief justice Hilario Davide.

The courts of some developed countries are already going paperless. — (FREEMAN)