Posted by ISD-RPLO on November 26, 2020

Conducted via blended learning, featuring a combination of face-to-face or in-person lecture and distance learning through an online platform, this activity was participated by 112 newly appointed judges from the National Capital Judicial Region (NCJR) and Regions IX to XII.

Justice Azcuna highlighted in his opening remarks that the Academy’s first online seminar was fittingly designed and offered to the newly appointed judges.

Topics discussed during the 10-day orientation seminar were: Mentoring on Court Management including Records Management and Supervision over Court Staff by Deputy Court Administrator Raul B. Villanueva; Mentoring on Case Management by Court of Appeals (CA) Associate Justice Maria Filomena D. Singh; Videoconferencing by Atty. Jed Sherwin G. Uy from the Office of the Chief Justice; Trial Management by CA Associate Justice Apolinario D. Bruselas, Jr.; 2019 Amendments on the Rules on Evidence with Emphasis on their Application by CA Associate Justice Eduardo B. Peralta, Jr.; Automated Hearing by CA Associate Justice Angelene Mary Quimpo-Sale; Decision Writing by CA Associate Justice Geraldine Fiel-Macaraig; Code of Judicial Conduct and Ethics by Retired Court Administrator Zenaida N. Elepaño; Revised Rule on Summary Procedure with Emphasis on Forcible Entry and Unlawful Detainer by Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 4 Presiding Judge Jose Lorenzo R. dela Rosa; Relevant Updates in Criminal Law and Jurisprudence by CA Associate Justice Manuel M. Barrios; Discussion on the Relevant Issuance and Circulars of the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) by Court Administrator Jose Midas P. Marquez; Recent Jurisprudence in Civil Procedure including Provisional Remedies by Retired CA Associate Justice Magdangal M. de Leon; and Rules of Procedure on Small-Claims Cases (for first level trial judges only) by CA Associate Justice Fernanda Lampas-Peralta.

The lectures delivered on July 2 and 3, however, were delivered face-to-face for the 59 NCJR judges at the Supreme Court’s En Banc Session Hall and via video conferencing for the rest of the participant-judges from Regions IX to XII. The topics discussed during these in-person lectures were: Computation of Penalties and the Indeterminate Sentence Law (July 2) by Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Mario V. Lopez; Revised Guideline on Continuous Trial of Criminal Cases, including Updates in Criminal Procedure by Chief Justice Diosdado M. Peralta; Amendments to the Civil Procedure (Part 1) by SC Associate Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo; and Hague Apostille and Service Conventions.

The seminar was capped by the Closing Remarks of Chief Justice Peralta.

The Orientation Seminar-Workshop for Newly Appointed Judges is one of PHILJA’s programs pursuant to the Court’s Resolution in A.M. No. 99-7-07-SC, dated July 20, 1999, which states that: “Every person appointed as judge shall, before entering upon the performance of his judicial functions and the discharge of his duties and responsibilities, take and subscribe an oath of office and shall, whenever applicable, undertake an orientation seminar-workshop and undergo an immersion program. The orientation program aims to distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable behavior and conduct of judges in and out of court; apply the skills of research, reasoning, and decision-writing to the discharge of their duties; and resolve issues of substantive and procedural law as they may come before them in the first two or three years of their tenure on the Bench.