SUPREME Court Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno announced on Thursday before a gathering of court stenographers that 20 percent of the total collection of judicial regions in legal fees shall go to the respective judicial region’s budget to upgrade facilities.
At the third Congress of the Court Stenographers Association of the Philippines, held at the Citystate Tower Hotel in Manila, Sereno announced the approval by the Supreme Court to give a portion of collected legal fees directly to the corresponding judicial region that collected it instead of the previous practice of pooling the legal fees and apportioning funds from out of the Judicial Development Fund.
“Since it is the National Capital Judicial Region which collects the biggest amount of legal fees, it is only appropriate that a portion of that collection go directly to that region for upgrading the court facilities,” Sereno said in her speech.
Sereno added that the upgrading of court facilities, such as personal computers and stenotype machines used for recording court proceedings, will allow stenographers to achieve a work-life balance, and will now allow them to comply with the mandated period to produce the transcript of stenographic notes within 20 days from the date of the hearing.
The measure to directly give a portion of the legal fees to the judicial region which collected it is part of the judicial reforms to modernize the Judiciary. Currently, there are pilot courts in Quezon City wherein continuous trials are held to expedite the resolution of cases and prevent long-drawn litigation brought about by various causes like cancellation of hearings due to absences by either the judge, the
lawyers or the parties.
Sereno also appealed to the Judiciary to help in plugging the loopholes in leakages in the collection of legal fees so that these new revenues could be used by the Judiciary to improve the compensation package of employees.
Citystate Tower Hotel President Dominic Edgard A. Cabangon said in his opening speech for the conference, which will run until today (Friday) at the Citystate Tower Hotel, that court stenographers play a vital role in the administration of justice in the country.
“Your patience and competence are required in making sure that Filipinos who come to the courts are treated fairly and judiciously,” Cabangon said.