The Supreme Court (SC), during its session on Aug. 20, approved the Guidelines on Submission of Electronic Copies of Pleadings and Other Court Submissions Being Filed Before the Lower Courts Pursuant to the Efficient Use of Paper Rule (Guidelines for eFiling).
One of the key outcomes under the SC’s Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022-2027 is innovation. A key activity under innovation is the development of an eCourt System Version 2.0 (eCourt PH 2.0) for the digitalization of adjudication.
eCourt PH 2.0 will be implemented in six components:
- The digital filing and service of all pleadings, motions, and other court documents and court orders in civil cases;
- The installation of digital case dashboards in all trial courts;
- The digitalization of existing case records and rollos in all pending cases;
- The digital filing and service before the Supreme Court and appellate courts;
- Digital appeals process; and
- Digital criminal and special proceedings.
The implementation of the first component of electronic filing will begin on September 1, 2024, with full implementation completed by December 1, 2024.
Starting Sept. 1, 2024, trial courts will only act upon pleadings and other court submissions in civil cases if the filing is accompanied by an electronic transmittal of the same document in PDF format through email.
Electronic submissions must be completed within 24 hours from the primary manner of service, which includes personal filing, registered mail, or accredited courier.
A court may waive the electronic transmittal requirement if the annexes, exhibits, and other accompanying documents cannot readily be converted to PDF or if these consist of sealed and confidential documents.
Starting September 1, 2024, all orders and documents issued by the trial courts in civil cases shall also be accompanied by an electronic transmittal of PDF copies through email to the parties and their counsel.
By December 1, 2024, the primary and mandatory manner of service of outbound court documents within a certified judicial region shall be through email, except for summons, which shall continue to be through personal or substituted service under Rule 14 of the Rules of Court.
By December 1, 2024, within certified judicial regions, all filing and service of pleadings and other court submissions shall be done through email, except for initiatory pleadings.
For initiatory pleadings, these shall continue to be done through personal service, registered mail, or accredited courier, but must be accompanied by an electronic transmittal of a PDF copy, until such time that Rule 13 of the Rules of Court is amended.
Certified Judicial Regions
Judicial regions shall be certified by the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) only when the Regional Court Manager (RCM) or, in areas without RCMs, all executive judges of the region report that:
- All courts are equipped to receive electronic transmittals of pleadings;
- Each court has sufficient trained personnel for the reception, processing, and storage of electronic transmittals;
- All judges have the capacity and capability to issue decisions, resolutions, and orders using the case record or rollo in electronic format; and
- A website has been made ready and available for the storage of and public access to all pleadings and other court submissions filed, as well as court-issued documents, subject, of course, to privacy and confidentiality rules. This shall be done by the OCA, the Supreme Court Communications Office, the Office of the Supreme Court Spokesperson, and the Management Information Systems Office (MISO).
Email Address of Record
A notice of appearance shall be filed in all civil cases pending before the trial courts, containing the valid and professional addresses of all counsels, their law firms, if any, and parties.
The submission of counsels’ email addresses is mandatory, while that of the parties is optional. These email addresses shall serve as the email addresses of record. The use by lawyers of personal and non-professional email accounts is prohibited.
If the electronic transmittal is made with an email address not of record, the entire transmittal shall be deemed as not received.
Counsel and parties have the obligation to monitor their email inboxes. A lawyer who neglects to do so, to the detriment of their client, shall be subject to disciplinary action. No court shall accept as an excuse the non-checking of their email inbox.
Electronic transmittals shall be sent to the official email address of the court. A directory is available at the SC website under the Court Locator section.
The guidelines, which may be accessed on the SC website, contain the format for the email and its attachments.
