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Also, the matters contained in the following were written in accordance with the law, rules, and jurisprudence prevailing at the time of writing and posting, and do not include any future developments on the subject matter under discussion.
AT A GLANCE:
The Supreme Court En Banc, in A.M. No. 22-04-26-SC, crafted the Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations for 2022-2027, which lays down the reform initiatives necessary toward achieving a technology-driven Judiciary. A key activity in the Innovation outcome in the Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations for 2022-2027 is the development of an eCourt System Version 2.0 (eCourt PH 2.0) for the digitalization of adjudication.
Mandatory submission of electronic copies of filings in civil cases
Starting September 1, 2024, no first- or second-level court shall act upon any pleading, motion, or other court document (pleading or other court submission) filed, served, or offered in evidence in any civil case governed by the rules of civil procedure, unless the filing, service and offer in evidence is accompanied by an electronic transmittal through e-mail of the same pleading or court submission. The additional accompanying documents of the pleading or other court submission, such as annexes, appendices, or exhibits, shall also be electronically submitted.
However, upon motion for the filing party or counsel, a court may waive the requirement of electronic transmittal of the following submissions: (i) annexes, appendices, exhibits, or other accompanying documents to pleadings or other court submissions not readily amenable to digitization to portable document format (PDF); and (ii) sealed and confidential documents or records. The court shall ensure that all orders waiving the electronic transmittal requirement for particular filings are included in the electronic case record or rollo.
Electronic submission through e-mail must be completed within 24 hours from the completion of the primary manner of the document’s filing, service, or offer, in accordance with Rule 13 of the 2019 Amendments to the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure.
Electronic Copies of outbound court documents
Starting September 1, 2024, all orders and other documents issued by any trial court, served upon the parties in accordance with the modes provided in Rule 13 of the 2019 Amendments to the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure, shall likewise be transmitted to the parties and their respective counsel in PDF copies through e-mail using the court’s official e-mail address. The transmittal e-mail to the parties and their counsel shall indicate the primary manner of service of the order or other court documents – such as in open court or by registered mail – by the court to parties. Failure to file a notice of appearance before the service of a court-issued order or other document shall be deemed a waiver of receipt of the electronic copy.
Mandatory electronic filing and service
By December 1, 2024, the primary and mandatory manner of service of outbound court documents within a certified judicial region shall be through electronic transmittal, except for summons, which shall continue to be governed by Rule 14 of the 2019 Amendments to the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure.
By December 1, 2024, all filing and service of pleadings, motions, and other documents to the parties and their counsels in cases within certified judicial regions shall be done through e-mail of PDF copies. The filing and service through e-mail court submissions not readily amenable to digitization in PDF and sealed and confidential court records may continue to be waived upon motion of filing party or counsel.
Mandatory submission of counsels’ e-mail address
The submission of e-mail addresses of the counsels, and their law firms if any, shall be mandatory. The counsels of record are required to use their professional e-mail accounts as their e-mail addresses of record. To preserve the confidentiality, privacy, and security of communications, the use by lawyers of personal, nonprofessional e-mail accounts as their e-mail addresses of record is prohibited.
Electronic Carbon Copies
Transmittal of all submissions, filing or service by e-mail shall include, through electronic carbon copy (CC:), all the e-mail addresses of record of all counsels and their law firms, if any, and optionally, all parties.
Electronic File Format
- The PDF copy of the primary pleading or court submission must be separated from the electronic copies in PDF of any accompanying additional documents, each of which must be contained in their own PDF files.
- The PDF copy may be electronically generated from a word-processing or PDF creation program or be scanned images of the original document in paper compiled in a PDF file, or a combination of both methods. However, in all cases, the contents must be completely legible. If the PDF copy is wholly or partially generated from scanned images of the original document in paper, the filing party or counsel shall ensure tha the PDF copy is an exact and complete copy of the original document in paper. In case of discrepancies between the images of scanned text and any machine-readable text generated by optional character recognition, the former shall be controlling. The filing party or counsel shall retain the original document for inspection by the court or other parties when necessary.
- The size of each PDF file must be reasonable. The one filing is also responsible for ensuring that the receiving court’s official e-mail address service will not reject or block a transmittal e-mail due to the file size of an attachment. Other parties or counsel, as recipients, are responsible for ensuring that they will be able to receive a transmittal e-mail.
- If the primary manner of filing is through electronic transmission, the form and substance of the contents of the PDF copy, as first filed, shall be controlling. If the pleading, court submission, or any accompanying document has already been filed personally, by registered mail, or by accredited courier, the PDF copy to be transmitted should be the exact copy of the filed paper copy. If the court determines, on motion or motu proprio and after notice and hearing, that there are material discrepancies between the paper copy and the electronic copy, it may impose an appropriate sanction or refer such finding to the proper office for disciplinary action on the lawyer, law firm, or party responsible for the filing.
- The PDF file of the primary pleading or court submission shall have the same filename as its designation. At the option of the one filing, the designation of the pleading or court submission may be shortened for the filename, but must still contain sufficient information to ascertain the nature of the relief sought.
- The PDF of each accompanying additional document, if any, shall have the same filename as the document’s title, and must further be appended with the designation of the primary pleading or court submission to which they are attached or annexed. Finally, all filenames must be appended with the docket number/s of the case/s for which they are being filed. All information shall be separated with a hyphen (-). Any special characters that cannot be used in a filename by reason of technical limitations may be omitted entirely, or substituted with an underscore ( _ ), at the option of the one filing.
- Example:
- The PDF file for the Complaint for Unlawful Detainer for Civil Case No. 123456 should have the filename “Complaint for Unlawful Detainer-Civil Case No. 123456.pdf”
- The PDF file of Annex A of the Complaint for Unlawful Detainer for Civil Case No. 123456 should have a filename “Annex A- Complaint for Unlawful Detainer- Civil Case No. 123456.pdf”
- Electronic copies of pleadings and other court submissions transmitted to the court not in PDF; or as PDF files with password protection or other encryption, or with embedded executable code or scripts; or in archive files; or as corrupted files, shall be deemed as not filed. Electronic copies of additional accompanying documents transmitted to the court not in PDF; or as PDF files with password protection or other encryption, or with embedded executable code or scripts; or in archive files; or as corrupted files, shall be excluded from the records or rollo of the cases/s for which they have been submitted, even if the electronic copy in PDF of the primary pleading or court submission has been correctly filed. The filing of the PDF copies not in accordance with the format and manner stated in this Resolution shall subject the filing lawyer, law firm, or party disciplinary action or any appropriate sanction to be imposed by the court.
Transmittal e-mail format
a) The subject of the transmittal e-mail shall contain the docket number/s, case title/s and the designation of the primary pleading or court submission being transmitted, which shall indicate its nature.
Example:
Subject: Civil Case No. 123456, Maria dela Cruz v. Juan dela Cruz- Complaint for Unlawful Detainer
b) The body of the e-mail shall follow the prescribed format and must contain sufficient information to enable the court to ascertain the following: (1) the party or parties filing the pleading or other court submission; (2) the nature of the pleading or court submission; (3) the party or parties against whom relief, if any, is sought; and (4) the nature of the relief sought:
(i) Primary manner of filing (i.e., personal filing, registered mail, accredited courier, or electronic transmittal)
(ii) Filing date (based on the primary manner of filing)
(iii) Case data, namely: (1) docket number/s; (2) case title/s; (3) name of the filing party; (4) contact number/s of the filer; (5) other e-mail address of the filer, if any; and (6) a list of the document titles of the attachments to the transmittal e-mail.
c) Attachments.
(i) A transmittal e-mail shall contain only PDF copies pertaining to one case. For the purpose of electronic submission, consolidated cases with more than one docket number shall be considered as one case. All files must be enclosed as individual attachments to the transmittal e-mail.
(ii) All PDF copies must be transmitted as direct attachments to the transmittal e-mail, and not as external links to cloud storage, file-sharing sites, or similar. PDF copies must not be contained in archive files, such as ZIP (.zip) or RAR (.rar), and must not require additional extraction or conversion into PDF. The failure to file any document not as a direct attachment shall result in the document being deemed not filed.
(iii) In case the total file size of the documents exceeds the maximum size allowed for attachments by the e-mail service provider being used by the one filing, the filer shall transmit the electronic documents in several batches, but each e-mail must be clearly marked by indicating in the subject the batch number of the e-mail and the total batches of e-mails sent, following the prescribed format in this Resolution. It is the responsibility of the filer to ensure that the receiving court’s official e-mail address service will not reject or block a transmittal e-mail due to its size. The time and date of the final transmittal e-mail, as indicated in the sequence, shall be considered as the time and date of filing of the pleading or other court submission.
Example:
Subject: Civil Case No.123456, Maria dela Cruz v. Juan dela Cruz – Complaint for Unlawful Detainer (batch 1 of 3)
Subject: Civil Case No. 123456, Maria dela Cruz v. Juan dela Cruz – Complaint for Unlawful Detainer (batch 2 of 3)
Subject: Civil Case No. 123456, Maria dela Cruz v. Juan dela Cruz- Complaint for Unlawful Detainer (batch 3 of 3)
d) In all instances, the filing party or counsel must retain a copy of each transmittal e-mail, in any form prescribed by pertinent rules on evidence, while the case is pending for the inspection of the court or other parties when necessary.
Related Articles:
- WHAT IS THE LEGAL RECOGNITION OF ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS?
- WHAT IS THE PRESUMPTION RELATING TO ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES?
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Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices specializes in business law and labor law consulting. For inquiries regarding legal services, you may reach us at info@alburolaw.com, or dial us at (02)7745-4391/ 0917-5772207/ 09778050020.
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