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.
Despite the dangers posed by the use of artificial intelligence or AI, Supreme Court (SC) senior associate justice Marvic Leonen said the path moving forward is for the Philippine legal system to keep up with emerging technology while working to protect people’s rights.
Supreme Court (SC) chief justice Alexander G. Gesmundo said in an overseas speaking engagement that “there is much more work left to be done” in the country even if cybercrime laws have gone a long way in the Philippines.
The SC’s Management Information Systems Office (MISO) examined a returned laptop and found a backup of iPhone messages, some of which showed that RTC judge Edralin C. Reyes was engaged in corrupt practice.
With its capacity to digitally automate legal documents, the Supreme Court (SC) has tapped Twala, a startup funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), to digitize notarization in the Philippines.
Through Administrative Order No. 150-2023, the SC issued guidelines to be followed on email safety, password security, software and system updates, data backup, safe Internet usage, device security, and suspicious activity reports in order to enhance the courts’ cybersecurity practices, protect sensitive data, and minimize the risk of cyber threats.
Supreme Court (SC) chief justice Alexander Gesmundo, however, also mentioned the issues that Philippine courts are currently facing such as handling of digital evidence and challenges on jurisdiction in the digital realm.
Supreme Court associate justice Rodil V. Zalameda cited a recent case in the United States where a group of lawyers were sanctioned for having submitted a legal brief which included fictitious case citations generated by the artificial intelligence chatbot, ChatGPT.
In penalizing the five lawyers, the Supreme Court said the right to privacy of lawyers is limited, especially when it comes to their social media accounts.
