"x x x.
Delays in cases
Sereno on Valentine's Day also asked the public “to bear with the judiciary” while it combats delays in the resolution of cases.
Sereno said one of the reasons for delays in resolving cases is the lack of government prosecutors – a sentiment she had already shared with Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas and Justice Secretary Leila De Lima.
“All concerned agencies in the criminal justice system should coordinate. We all should communicate,” she said.
The heavy volume of caseload also adds to the delays.
According to the National Statistical Coordination Board, from 2005-2010, Philippine lower courts were confronted with an annual average caseload of more than one million – equivalent to an average of around 4,221 cases per working day.
In 2012, SC Justice Antonio Carpio wrote in Rappler that 21% of trials take 2 to 5 years to finish, while 13% take more than 5 years.
The judiciary, he said, does not fully comply with constitutionally-prescribed case disposition timelines: "not more than 24 months for the Supreme Court, not more than 12 months for all other appellate courts, and not more than 3 months for all other lower courts, all counted from the date of submission for resolution of the case."
"Since public office is a public trust, the judiciary must account to the public for the clogged dockets," Carpio wrote.
x x x."
