SC now accepting proposals to change Rules of Civil Procedure

The Supreme Court is now accepting proposals on how to modify the country's 15-year-old Rules of Civil Procedure. According to the high court, submitted proposals will be tackled during the National Conference for the Revision of the Rules of Civil Procedure to be held next year. Interested parties have until January 11, 2013 to submit their proposals. The national conference will be spearheaded by the Supreme Court, with the help of the University of the Philippines Law Center and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines. Those who can submit proposed changes to the rules include members of the academe, judges and justices, government lawyers, and private law practitioners. They are encouraged "to contribute individual papers that identify those areas in the Rules of Civil Procedure that need revision or even rewriting and offering suggestions for doing so." The Civil Rule of Procedures, which took effect on July 1, 1997, "govern the procedure to be observed in actions, civil or criminal, and special proceedings," according to its Section 3 under Rule 1. The Supreme Court said proposals may include, among others:

• deletion of portions of the existing rules
• modifications of rules, as well as
• replacement of rules to better address the same needs.

A core committee of the national conference will evaluate all submitted proposals and sort them out into major subjects. The committee will then prepare a consolidated paper for each of the major subjects.  "Those who submit papers might eventually sit with others in small groups to hammer out proposals for the revisions of the rules," the Supreme Court said in a statement. The court reminded participants to limit their discussion of their proposals to three short bond pages per topic or per section of the rule that they want to be modified or altered. The pages should already include the following:

• specific rule being addressed,
• the deficiency to be pointed out in such rule,
• suggested draft of the needed change, and
• justification for the change being proposed.

The Supreme Court also reminded interested parties to use footnotes for citations and size 14 for the fonts. Parties should also include a table of contents if they are submitting more than five proposals. A short resumé or curriculum vitae of the contributor should also be included, the Supreme Court said.   Contributions in digital format may be e-mailed to newcivpro@gmail.com or sent to the Office of Associate Justice Roberto Abad at the Supreme Court of the Philippines along Padre Faura Street in Ermita, Manila. Those to be sent to the Office of Justice Abad should include a printed copy and an electronic copy in a compact disc. For further information, interested parties may also reach the SC through (02) 526-6189 and (02) 521-7241 and look for Attys. Al Espaldon and Katlyn Aguilar. — Mark D. Merueñas/KBK, GMA News