Supreme Court reforms to continue — Gesmundo
The JRI also held focus group discussions which centered on ‘Integrity and Decorum,’ as well as ‘Competencies, Court Processes, Technology, and Reforms Awareness.’
Supreme Court Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo continued to push the five-year Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations which is a tool for continued reform of the justice system in the country.
Gesmundo expressed hope that the Court’s efforts under the SPJI will reassure the business sector that the Judiciary is not only mindful of its areas for improvement, but that the Court is doing something about it.
“We are serious in our commitment to the reform and betterment of our institution and the people who comprise it. And we are grateful to the Justice Reform Initiative for having been our partner since 2015 in these common aspirations,” said Gesmundo.
He expressed satisfaction with the result of the survey conducted by the JRI on the public’s perception of the integrity of the Judiciary, which was presented during the Justice Summit.
The survey, which was approved by the Supreme Court’s education and training arm, the Philippine Judicial
Academy, was conducted by JRI in 2023 among the key stakeholders with focus on the business sector.
The JRI also held focus group discussions which centered on “Integrity and Decorum,” as well as “Competencies, Court Processes, Technology, and Reforms Awareness.”
The JRI is a private sector umbrella organization composed of leading business organizations, judicial advocacy groups, and foreign chambers of commerce in the Philippines.
On the survey results for Integrity, 75 percent of the respondents said that the Supreme Court “independently acts and decides cases based on the facts and the law, and is not influenced by any other factor outside the merits of the case.”
The Court of Tax Appeals got 73 percent, the Court of Appeals 70 percent, and the trial courts 62 percent. The survey also showed that a high 82 percent of respondents said that when the Supreme Court issues decisions, “the parties can easily understand the legal bases and rationale.”