SC lauds passage of law expanding jurisdiction of trial courts

The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday lauded the enactment of the measure expanding the jurisdiction of trial courts, saying this would help decongest court dockets.

Signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on July 30, Republic Act 11576 amended some of the provisions of the Judiciary Reorganization Act of 1980.

“Through this new law, the jurisdictional amounts of our trial courts have now been adjusted to levels which are more suitable to the current economic conditions and property valuation in the country,” Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo said.

“This law will no doubt help [unclog] the dockets of our second level courts, which in turn would lead to a faster adjudication of cases and better administration of justice.”

Gesmundo thanked lawmakers for passing the measure and acknowledged his predecessors Diosdado Peralta and Lucas Bersamin who both supported the amendment.

The law allows the SC to adjust the jurisdictional amounts for first and second level courts to reflect the “extraordinary” supervening inflation or deflation of currency, change in the land valuation, or maintain the proportion of caseload between first and second level courts.

The last time a law was passed adjusting the jurisdiction of first and second level courts nationwide was in 1999, according to the SC. -MDM, GMA News