Supreme Court chief justice Alexander G. Gesmundo and associate justices Rodil V. Zalameda, Samuel H. Gaerlan, and Jose Midas P. Marquez were welcomed last March 7 by Japanese Supreme Court chief justice Saburo Tokura.
During the visit, director Katsuya Kusano and lawyer Mao Kanda of the Japanese SC’s Digital Promotion Section presented the Philippine delegation with an overview of the progress in the digitalization of their court proceedings.
Thereafter, Gesmundo and Tokura exchanged insights on the adoption of technology in court proceedings in their respective jurisdictions.
Gesmundo shared the Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovation 2022-2027, or the SPJI, which contains the innovation roadmap of the Philippine Judiciary.
During the exchange, the two chief justices agreed that the digitalization of court proceedings, particularly the implementation of videoconferencing hearings, is extremely beneficial for archipelagic countries like Japan and the Philippines.
In Japan, Web conferencing was introduced for civil suits in February 2020. While in the Philippines, the guidelines for the conduct of videoconferencing hearings have likewise been in place since December 2020.
The Philippine delegation was accompanied by Philippine ambassador to Japan Mylene J. Garcia-Albano and consul general Charmaine A. Serna-Chua.
