Philippines Case Decongestion

and Delay Reduction Project

Professor Rosemary Hunter
Griffith University
Case Types: Supreme Court
74% civil
From Court of Appeals
Individual/corporation vs individual/court
26% criminal
From RTCs
Individual vs People of the Philippines


Court of Appeals
From RTCs, NLRC, other quasi-judicial
agencies
46% question of fact only
68% civil
Real property, collect sum of money,
damages, certiorari
Individual vs individual
32% criminal
Homicide, estafa
Individual vs People of the Philippines
Court of Tax Appeals
From BIR
Corporations vs government
Sandiganbayan
Public prosecutors
Individual defendants
86% on bail
RTCs
59% civil
Marriage and marital relations, adoption (Family
Courts), collect sum of money
Individuals vs individuals
41% criminal
Heinous Crimes: homicide, rape
Dangerous Drugs: drugs
Family Courts: theft
Ordinary RTCs: various
Prosecution by public prosecutor


MeTCs
8% civil
Collect sum of money, damages, forcible entry
and unlawful detainer
62% plaintiffs = corporations
92% respondents = individuals
89% criminal
Bouncing checks (BP22), breach city ordinance,
theft, variety of other criminal matters
Prosecution by public prosecutor
MTCCs
10% civil
Collect sum of money, forcible entry
63% Ps and 98% Rs = individuals
86% criminal
Gambling, theft, firearms/weapons +
variety of other criminal matters
Few bouncing checks
Prosecution by public prosecutor
MTCs
11% civil
Collect sum of money
Ps = individual/corporations
Rs = individuals
86% criminal
Bouncing checks, physical injuries, theft + variety
of other criminal matters
Prosecution mostly by public prosecutor, 22% by
police/peace officer
MCTCs
14% civil
Collect sum of money
Ps = individuals/corporations
Rs = individuals
77% criminal
Physical injuries, gambling, theft + variety of other
criminal matters
Not bouncing checks
53% of prosecutions by police/peace officer
(shorter duration)
Case Durations
Sandiganbayan had longest cases
Superior court cases also lengthy
Then some first level courts
Most medians and all 90
th
percentiles
far exceed international benchmarks
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Median Duration (years) 90th Percentile (years)
Court Median Duration (years) 90th Percentile (years)
Supreme - decided 3.2 7.7
Supreme - resolved 0.5 1.4
CA 2.6 7.4
CTA 2.6 4.5
Sandiganbayan 6.6 9.2
RTC civil 1.1 3.6
RTC criminal 0.75 3.3
MetC civil 0.66 2.6
MetC criminal 1 5.5
MTCC civil 1.3 4.6
MTCC criminal 0.4 2.3
MTC civil 0.67 2.6
MTC criminal 1.1 3.5
MCTC civil 0.95 6.5
MCTC criminal 0.5 4
Longest Phase of Case
Criminal cases trials
Civil cases filing to pre-trial
Longest phase in criminal cases longer
than longest phase in civil cases
Court Longest Phase Median Duration
CTA Hearing 1.4 years
Sandiganbayan Trial 2.4 years
RTC civil Filing to Pre-trial 3.5 months
RTC criminal Trial 8.5 months
MeTC civil Up to trial 3.5 months
(no data on trial times)
MeTC criminal Filing to Arraignment 3 months
(no data on trial times)
MTCC civil Up to trial 4.5 months
(no data on trial times, but only 11 trials)
MTCC criminal Trial 1 year
MTC civil Filing to Pre-trial 7 months
MTC criminal Trial 4 months
MCTC civil Filing to Pre-trial 3.7 months
MCTC criminal Trial 13.6 months
Court Median Decision Time Constitutional limit Over Limit
Supreme Court 4.5 months 24 months 12%
Court of Appeal 22.8 months 24 months 47%
CTA 6 months
Sandiganbayan 8 months
RTC civil 2 months 3 months 28%
RTC criminal 42 days 3 months 24%
MeTC civil 40 days 3 months 25%
MeTC criminal 78 days (n=15) 3 months 33% n=5
MTCC civil 15 days 3 months 8%
MTCC criminal 31 days (n=10) 3 months 10% n=1
MTC civil 54 days (n=17) 3 months 29% n=5
MTC criminal 28 days (n=13) 3 months 38% n=5
MCTC civil 25 days 3 months 20%
MCTC criminal 58 days (n=16) 3 months 25% n=4
Hearing Dates and
Postponements
Average no. of hearing dates < 5 in
most courts
23%-51% of scheduled hearing dates
postponed
Low trial rates in first level courts
outside NCR
Relationship between trial rate, no.
hearing dates and case duration?
Court Trial rate Mean no. Mean no. Proportion Median
hearing dates postponements postponed duration
CTA 100% 12.37 3.65 29% 2.6 years
Sandiganbayan 100% 21 5 24% 6.6 years
RTC civil 67% 6.29 2.13 34% 13 months
RTC criminal 42% 10.16 4.48 44% 9 months
MeTC civil 51% 2.98 0.68 23% 8 months
MeTC criminal 61% 6.34 2.26 36% 12 months
MTCC civil 10% 4.37 2.01 46% 15.3 months
MTCC criminal 11% 3.44 1.21 35% 4.5 months
MTC civil 12% 2.19 1.01 46% 8 months
MTC criminal 10% 4.44 2.25 51% 13 months
MCTC civil 35% 4.72 1.78 38% 11.5 months
MCTC criminal 14% 4.97 2.34 47% 6 months
Postponements
Shortage of prosecutors
non-appearance of prosecution major
reason for postponements in
RTC
All first level courts (in MTC and MCTC
includes police/peace officers)
Shortage of public attorneys
non-appearance of public attorney a
major reason for postponements only in
CTA
MCTC criminal cases
Shortage of lawyers
non-appearance of counsel a major
reason for postponements in
CTA
Sandiganbayan, RTC, MCTC criminal
cases (includes counsel de oficio)
MeTC, MTCC, MTC, MCTC civil cases
Lawyers appearing unprepared
Counsel unable to proceed a major
reason for postponements only in
CTA
Sandiganbayan
Witnesses dont appear
Non-appearance of witnesses a major
cause of postponements in
CTA
Sandiganbayan
RTC criminal cases
Private complainants unwilling to
proceed
non-appearance of private complainant
a major reason for postponements only
in
MeTC criminal cases
+ Almost never a reason for archiving
Suggested reasons for delay that did not
cause many postponements
Non-service of warrants
Notice to appear not received in time
Unavailability of police witnesses
Shortage of forensic/medical experts

Additional causes of postponements
Unavailability of judge
RTC, MCTC, MeTC criminal cases
Non-appearance of party
Sandiganbayan, MeTC, MCTC, RTC civil
cases

Other causes of delay
BP22 cases
30% of MeTC criminal cases, 14% of MTC
criminal cases, otherwise not prominent
Where testable, BP22 cases involved more
cases per file, larger amounts in issue, more
arrest warrants, more hearing dates, more
postponements, and more motions than other
criminal cases, and were more likely to
involve a pre-trial hearing, a trial, and to be
withdrawn

Jurisdictional distribution in RTCs
Cases in Heinous Crime Courts took
longest to finalise
Civil cases in ordinary RTCs and
Dangerous Drug courts also lengthy
33% defendants in Family Court
criminal cases were juveniles
Outcomes Civil Cases
No settlement in highest courts
Settlement rate highest (32-40%) in first
level courts outside NCR
Plaintiffs successful in approx 75% of
decided cases in almost all courts
Court Settled Decided For P/Appellant For R/Appellee Dismissed
Supreme Court 0% 100% 11% 89% 0%
Court of Appeals 0% 99% 78% 16% 0%
CTA 0% 100% 73% 16% 0%
RTC 12% 82% 73% 12% 11%
MeTC 21% 71% 72% 19% 9%
MTCC 36% 57% 77% 16% 7%
MTC 40% 55% 87% 4% 9%
MCTC 32% 65% 74% 24% 0%
Outcomes Criminal Cases
Highest rate of guilty pleas = 40% in RTCs
and MTCCs; only 1% guilty pleas in
Sandiganbayan
Very few conviction decisions in first level
courts: 3-16%
Highest overall conviction rate (including
guilty pleas) = 56% in RTCs; lowest = 9% in
MTCs; Sandiganbayan = 22%


Court Guilty Plea Withdrawn Decided Convicted/ Acquitted/ Dismissed Overall Overall
Appeal Appeal Conviction Fruitless
Dismissed Upheld Rate Prosecutions
Supreme Court 100% 50% 50%
Court of Appeals 100% 14% 86%
Sandiganbayan 1% 99% 21% 77% 1% 22%
RTC 39% 14% 46% 37% 31% 32% 56% 29%
MeTC 13% 33% 54% 4% 12% 84% 15% 78%
MTCC 40% 36% 24% 16% 10% 74% 44% 54%
MTC 8% 46% 36% 3% 22% 75% 9% 73%
MCTC 31% 40% 29% 16% 18% 64% 36% 59%
1/3 or more cases in first level courts
withdrawn
64-84% of decided cases in first level
courts dismissed
Total rate of fruitless prosecutions in
first level courts = 54-78%
Not accounted for by preliminary
investigations