Tuesday, July 01, 2008 SC holds forum on judicial access for poor
POVERTY, the exorbitant legal fees, and the use of Tagalog in court proceedings are among the issues raised Monday by various sectors affecting judicial access during the two-day Supreme Court (SC)-sponsored forum.
During the forum dubbed "Increasing Access to Justice" held at the Court of Appeals, Chief Justice Reynato Puno acknowledged that poverty is one of the biggest factors that hampered the people's access to justice.
"Poverty is not only a persistent problem in our country but one that is threatening to be overwhelming. For sadly, in the world of the poor, Filipinos appear to be over represented. Perhaps, this is the reason why efforts to protect the rights of the many who are poor against the arrogance of the strong who are few are oftentimes met with a brick wall of skepticism," he said in his speech.
Puno said the high court will form different groups and committees to immediately look into the different suggestions of stakeholders in the justice system.
"Those suggestions that need action by the legislature or the President (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo), we will be forwarding this matter to the appropriate body," he said.
Aside from poverty, Puno said the court is looking at ways to lower the exorbitant legal fees being filed by litigants, anti-poor laws and judges who decide cases without considering their social context.
In order to level the playing field of justice in favor of the poor, in the access to justice, the SC, with the help of the social welfare, local government and justice departments and the Alternative Law Groups, Inc. (ALG), has started implementing the "Access to Justice for the Poor Project" in 36 municipalities of among the 15 poorest provinces of the country.
The project, which is being assisted by the European Union, aims to strengthen the capabilities of the poor, especially the women and children, to pursue justice through increased knowledge about their legal rights and the judicial system.
Under the program, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is training selected women in project areas in gender awareness and their rights under the "Katarungang Pambarangay" justice system and barangay officials in the selected municipalities as legal information officer of their respective communities.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), on the other hand, is in charge of training police officers in the 36 municipalities on human rights, criminal justice system and gender and child sensitivity, while the Department of Justice (DOJ) got into the act by training its prosecutors on the conditions of the poor and vulnerable groups residing in their municipalities.
The ALG will assess existing laws on human rights, including those of women and children, and consider amendments, suggestions or enactment of new laws that will insure the country's compliance with international legal conventions.
The Philippine Judicial Academy, for its part, has also produced materials written in Filipino showing the stages of both civil and criminal actions.
As part of the project, the high court has trained first level clerks of court of selected municipalities in poverty and gender sensitization.
Puno said he favors the use of the Tagalog dialect in Tagalog-speaking provinces for the use of courts and in the conduct of hearings.
"You know we are trying to pilot the use for instance of the Tagalog language in Bulacan, and the result is very positive. And some sectors are trying to push this idea not only in Bulacan but in Tagalog-speaking provinces like Cavite, Batangas, Nueva Ecija and the others. But we are still refining this thrust. We are calling on other experts to see how viable this would be," he said.
So far, Puno said the use of Tagalog in the courts is proving to be in favor of litigants, especially poor litigants who are not proficient in the English language or who have little or no education.
"In the sense that the litigants understood better what was happening in the courtroom, they understood better what rights are being litigated by the lawyers and are being resolved by the judges. The communication was much more effective," he added.
Puno said at the moment, the court is tweaking out minor problems in the project, such as training stenographers in taking down court statements said in Tagalog. (ECV/Sunnex)
