Republic of the Philippines
Supreme Court
Manila
A.M. No. 07-3-09-SC
RE: PROPOSED GUIDELINES IN THE DISPOSITION AND/OR
DESTRUCTION OF COURT RECORDS, PAPERS, AND
EXHIBITS
RE: SIMPLIFIED GUIDELINES FOR DISPOSING OF RECORDS
OF LONG-DECIDED CASES AND UNNEEDED DOCUMENTS
AND PAPERS
WHEREAS, the first and second level courts have over the years
accumulated voluminous records of long-decided cases and
unneeded documents and files;
WHEREAS, parties and lawyers involved in cases that were
already decided or completely terminated have the primary
responsibility of keeping and preserving copies of court documents
and records affecting their rights and obligations;
WHEREAS, even though the duty of the courts is to keep and
maintain only records of active and properly archived cases, the
courts continue to hold records of cases that were decided or
completely terminated, but only for a reasonable length of time to
enable interested parties to secure copies before these records are
disposed of with the exception of the decisions and proofs of their
finality;
WHEREAS, the Office of the Clerk of Court at each station also
accumulated documents and records that have long ceased to be of
practical use and whose copies are presumably kept by the parties
and by their notaries, or are stored in dedicated government
repositories;AM. No. 07-3-09-8C
Resolution
WHEREAS, overstaying records and files 1) expose court
personnel and persons attending to their cases to dust and allergens
that imperil their health; 2) place the judges, court personnel, the
general public and the entire Hall of Justice under the risk of fires; 3)
impede passage along, the corridors, stairways, and fire exits where
some of these records are stored; and 4) are an eyesore in the Halls of
Justice;
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the above and
pursuant to its powers under Section 6, Article VIII, 1987
Constitution, the Supreme Court hereby issues the following
guidelines for full observance and compliance:
1. Timelines and Procedure for Records Disposal. All first
and second level courts, except newly-organized courts
which do not have terminated cases yet, or those courts
whose records have been completely lost due to
calamities, fire, etc., shall observe the following timelines
in connection with the implementation of these
guidelines:
a. Submission and Inventory of Terminated Cases. The first and
second level courts shall conduct an inventory of their
terminated cases based on their updated docket books
and submit the same to the Supreme Court, through the
Office of the Court Administrator, on or before 30 April
2016
b. Physical Segregation and Extraction of Records. The first and
second level courts shall observe the whole month of July
2016 as the official records disposal period during which
the segregation of disposable or residual records and
their physical extraction by the judges and court
personnel shall take place. During this period:
‘ Hearings in all first and second level courts shall be
held during this period as far as practicable, more
so for urgent matters and incidents including, but
not limited to, applications for writs of habeas corpus,
amparo or habeas data, temporary restraining orders,
permanent protection orders, bails, and lifting ofResolution
iii.
iii,
AM. No. 07-3-09-8C
warrants of arrest, as well as the need to arraign the
detained accused;
The Executive Judges shall continue to raffle cases
to the different branches;
No application for leave by judges and all court
personnel shall be approved, except for the most
compelling reasons, to be determined by the Court
Administrator; and
To focus on records disposal, the regular conduct of
inventory of pending cases in July 2016 shall be
dispensed with.
Retrieval of Residual Records. The first and second level
courts shall resume their regular business on 1 August
2016. They shall, however, observe the whole month of
August 2016 as the period for retrieval of residual records
by interested parties, as follows:
Within the month of August 2016, any interested
party may file an application to take possession of
any residual record, file, or document subject of
disposal under the Guidelines, on a “first-come,
first-served” basis. This application shall be filed
before the branch concerned, or if not known,
before the Office of the Clerk of Court of the station.
The attached application form shall be used for this
purpose. No application shall be entertained after
this period.
The court shall approve the application once the
documents are found, except when a compelling
reason exists not to approve the same.
An application fee of Five Hundred Pesos (P500.00)
shall be collected and deposited in the JDF account
before the residual records requested are released to
the requesting party. This fee shall be waived for
pauper litigants, as indicated in their respective
pleadings, and for any interested party who
qualifies as a pauper litigant, provided the same is