WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 3, 2011 — Until recently, it took 3 to 5 years for courts to process minor money claims in the Philippines; today it takes 4 to 6 months, thanks to judicial reform, legal education and technology assistance supported by the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative.  Scott Ciment, country director of ABA ROLI’s Philippines program, oversees these and many other groundbreaking judicial reform and anti-corruption projects.  He will be available for media interviews on Oct. 6, 3-4 p.m., in Washington, D.C.

With the creation of small claims courts in the Philippines, judges and clerks are trained on the rules of procedure, and have learned how to better interact with litigants who are not legally trained.  Microlenders report that they are more likely to grant loans to low-income borrowers, knowing that there is now a reliable judicial system in place that significantly increases the chances that a default will not occur.  ABA ROLI’s small claims program also developed a software system to track cases and to maintain a monthly inventory that is sent automatically to the National Court Administrator’s office.  This has significantly reduced the amount of time needed by court officials and employees to monitor their caseloads, and provides essential data on the status of over 1,137 court dockets.

At the Court of Appeals in the Philippines, ABA ROLI helped develop an integrated case management system—known as CMIS—that allows each station of the court to use a computer network to track every document filed in each case.  The CMIS uses barcode printers and scanners to help court officials monitor their cases, with the database also readily accessible to justices so they can see which cases require immediate attention.  One of the most valuable features of the CMIS program is that the presiding justice and the chief clerk of court can monitor every active case pending in the Court of Appeals, reducing the number of cases that linger beyond the statutory time period and fostering a more transparent judicial system.

Creating a body of jurisprudence has been a challenge in the Philippines.  Supreme Court decisions and circulars meant to guide the decisions and administration of all lower courts is extremely difficult for trial judges to maintain.  To assist the judiciary with its efforts to harmonize and streamline decision-making across the entire Philippine court system, ABA ROLI worked with the Philippine Judicial Academy to produce a new “benchbook” for trial court judges.  The new benchbook was launched in early September, with a series of trainings currently taking place around the country.

Other judicial sector reform programs being implemented in the Philippines by ABA ROLI include:

• Assisting the Department of Justice with ethics training and creating a Board of Competition to combat anti-competitive behavior in key economic sectors;
• Pilot testing new court rules to streamline litigation in the country’s busiest municipal court system; and
• Introducing an automated case calendaring and case management system in certain trial courts to increase judicial efficiency and speed the pace of litigation.

In the Southeast Asia region, ABA ROLI is working on other projects involving the Philippines, including:

• Sponsoring the Third Annual South East Asian Media Legal Defense Network members meeting; and
• Developing and implementing an “Access to Justice Assessment Tool” to help civil society and legal organizations identify challenges indigent persons face within the justice system, and to design a context-appropriate program to address those obstacles

 Scott Ciment has served as Philippines country director for ABA ROLI since July 2007.  Ciment was previously the public defense development advisor for the U.S. Department of State’s Justice Sector Support Program in Afghanistan; and also served as the legislative director for California Attorneys for Criminal Justice during the 2000–2002 legislative session, later serving on its Board of Governors.  Ciment worked as the chief public defender of the Republic of Palau, and as a staff attorney for the Criminal Defense Division of the New York Legal Aid Society.

ABA ROLI’s Philippines program is largely funded by USAID grants to assist in the progress of stable legal systems and encourage economic development.

Who: Scott Ciment, Philippines Country Director, ABA Rule of Law Initiative What: Judicial Reform and Economic Development: Lessons from the Philippines When: Oct. 6th Where: American Bar Association
740 15th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20005
Thurgood Marshall Room (10th Floor)Please RSVP to Tory Pratt at victoria.pratt@americanbar.org by Tuesday, Oct. 4.

With nearly 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world.  As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.

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