Judicial Affidavit Rule

Republic of the Philippines SUPREME COURT Manila A.M. No. 12-8-8-SC JUDICIAL AFFIDAVIT AFFIDAVIT RULE

Whereas, case congestion and delays pl ague most courts in cities, given the hu ge volume of cases Whereas, case filed each year and the slow and cumbersome adversarial syste1n that the judiciary has in place; Whereas, about 40 of criminal cases are dismissed annually owing to the fact that complainants Whereas, simply give up con1ing to court after repeated postponements; Whereas, few foreign businessmen ma!e long"term investments in the Philippin es because its Whereas, courts are unable to provide ample and speedy protection to their investments, !eeping its people poor; Whereas, in order to reduce the time needed for completing the testimonies of witnesses in cases Whereas, under litigation, on #ebruary $1, $01$ the %upreme &ourt approved for piloting by trial courts in 'ue(on &ity the compulsory use of judicial affidavits in place of the direct testimonies of witnesses; Whereas, it is reported that such pil oting has )uic!ly resulted in reducing by about two"thirds the Whereas, time used for presenting the testimonies of witnesses, thus speeding up the hearing and adjudication of cases; Whereas, the %upreme &ourt &ommittee on the Revision of the Rules of &ourt, headed by %enior Whereas,  *ssociate +ustice *ntonio - &arpio, and the %ub"&ommittee on the the Revision of the Rules on &ivil Procedure, headed by *ssociate +ustice Roberto *- *bad, have recommended for adoption a +udicial *ffidavit *ffidavit Rule that will replicate n ationwide the success of the 'ue(on &ity e .perience in the use of judicial affidavits; and Whereas,, the %upreme &ourt /n anc finds merit i n the recommendation; Whereas NOW, THEREFORE, the %upreme &ourt /n anc hereby issues and promulgates the following

Scope. "  " 2a3 his Rule shall apply to all actions, proceedings, and incidents re)uiring the Sectio 1. Scope. reception of evidence before 213 he Metropolitan rial &ourts, the Municipal rial &ourts in &ities, the Municipal rial &ourts, the Municipal &ircuit rial &ourts, and the %hari a &ircuit &ourts but shall not apply to small claims cases under *-M- 05"5"6"%&; 2$3 he Regional rial &ourts and the %haria 7istrict &ourts; 283 he %andiganbayan, the &ourt of a. a. *ppeals, the &ourt of *ppeals, and the %haria *ppellate &ourts;

243 he investigating officers and bodies authori(ed by the %upreme &ourt to receive evidence, including the 9ntegrated ar of the Philippine 29P3; and 2:3 he special courts and )uasi"judicial bodies, whose rules of procedure are subject to disapproval of the %upreme &ourt, insofar as their e.isting rules of procedure contravene the provisions of this Rule- 1 2b3 #or the purpose of brevity, the above courts, )uasi"judicial bodies, or investigating officers shall be uniformly referred to here as the court- Sectio 2. Submission of Judicial Affidavits and Exhibits in lieu of direct testimonies.  " 2a3 he parties shall file with the court and serve on the adverse party, personally or by licensed courier service, not later than five days before pre"trial or preliminary conference or the scheduled hearing with respect to motions and incidents, the following

213 he judicial affidavits of their witnesses, which shall ta!e the place of such witnesses direct testimonies; and 2$3 he parties docun1entary or object evidence, if any, which shall be attached to the judicial affidavits and mar!ed as /.hibits *, , &, and so on in the case of the complainant or the plaintiff, and as /.hibits 1, $, 8, and so on in the case of the respondent or the defendant2b3 %hould a party or a witness desire to !eep the original document or object evidence in his possession, he may, after the same has been identified, mar!ed as e.hibit, and authenticated, warrant in his judicial affidavit that the copy or reproduction attached to such affidavit is a faithful copy or reproduction of that or iginal- 9n addition, the party or witness shall bring the original document or object evidence for comparison during the preliminary conference with the attached copy, reproduction, or pictures, failing which the latter shall not be admittedhis is without prejudice to the introduction of secondary evidence in place of the original when allowed by e.isting rulesSectio !. Contents of judicial Affidavit. " * judicial affidavit shall be prepared in the language !nown to the witness and, if not in /nglish or #ilipino, accompanied by a translation in /nglish or #ilipino, and shall contain the following

2a3 he name, age, residence or business address, and occupation of the witness; 2b3 he name and address of the lawyer who conducts or supervises the e.amination of the witness and the place where the e.amination is being held; 2c3 * statement that the witness is answering the )uestions as!ed of him, fully conscious that he does so under oath, and that he may face criminal li ability for false testimony or perjury;

2d3 'uestions as!ed of the witness and his corresponding answers, consecutively numbered, that 213 %how the circumstances under which the witness ac) uired the facts upon which he testifies; 2$3 /licit from him those facts which are relevant to the issues that the case pr esents; and 283 9dentify the attached documentary and object evidence an d establish their authenticity in accordance with the Rules of &ourt; 2e3 he signature of the witness over his printed name; and 2f3 * jurat with the signature of the notary public who administers the oath or an officer who is authori(ed by law to administer the sameSectio ". Sworn attestation of the lawyer. " 2a3 he judicial affidavit shall contain a sworn attestation at the end, e.ecuted by the l awyer who conducted or supervised the e.amination of the witness, to the effect that

213 pon the termination of the testimony of his last witness, a party shall immediately ma!e an oral offer of evidence of his documentary or object e.hibits, piece by piece, in their chronological order, stating the purpose or purposes for which he offers the particular e.hibit-

2b3 *fter each piece of e.hibit is offered, the adverse party shall state the legal ground for his objection, if any, to its admission, and the court shall immediately ma!e its ruling respecting that e.hibit2c3 %ince the documentary or object e.hibits form part of the judicial affidavits that describe and authenticate them, it is sufficient that such e.hibits are simply cited by their mar!ings during the offers, the objections, and the rulings, dispensing with the description of each e.hibitSectio &. Application of rule to criminal actions. " 2a3 his rule shall apply to all criminal actions

213 ?here the ma.imum of the imposable penalty does not e.ceed si. years; 2$3 ?here the accused agrees to the use of judicial affidavits, irrespective of the penalty involved; or  283 ?ith respect to the civil aspect of the actions, whatever the penalties involved are2b3 he prosecution shall submit the judicial affidavits of its witnesses not later than five days before the pre"trial, serving copies if the same upon the accused- he complainant or public prosecutor shall attach to the affidavits such documentary or object evidence as he may have, mar!ing them as /.hibits *, , &, and so on- =o further judicial affidavit, documentary, or object evidence shall be admitted at the trial2c3 9f the accused desires to be heard on his defense after receipt of the judicial affidavits of the prosecution, he shall have the option to submit his judicial a ffidavit as well as those of his witnesses to the court within ten days from receipt of such affidavits and serve a copy of each on the public and private prosecutor, including his documentary and object evidence previously mar!ed as /.hibits 1, $, 8, an d so on- hese affidavits shall serve as direct testimonies of the accused and his witnesses when they appear before the court to testifySectio 1'. Effect of non!compliance with the judicial Affidavit "ule. " 2a3 * party who fails to submit the re)uired judicial affidavits and e.hibits on time shall be deemed to have waived their submissionhe court may, however, allow only once the late submission of the same provided, the delay is for a

valid reason, would not unduly prejudice the opposing party, and the defaulting party pays a fine of not less than P 1,000-00 nor more than P:,000-00 at the discretion of the court2b3 he court shall not consider the affidavit of any witness who fails to appear at the scheduled hearing of the case as re)uired- &ounsel who fails to appear without valid cause despite notice shall be deemed to have waived his clients right to confront by cross" e.amination the witnesses there present2c3 he court shall not admit as evidence judicial affidavits that do not conform to the content re)uirements of %ection 8 and the attestation re)uirement of %ection 4 above- he court may, however, allow only once the subse)uent submission of the compliant replacement affidavits before the hearing or trial provided the delay is for a valid reason and would not unduly prejudice the opposing party and provided further, that public or private counsel responsible for their preparation and submission pays a fine of not less than P1,000-00 nor more than P :,000-00, at the discretion of the courtSectio 11. "epeal or modification of inconsistent rules. " he provisions of the Rules of &ourt and the rules of procedure governing investigating officers and bodies authori(ed by the %upreme &ourt to receive evidence are repealed or modified insofar as these are inconsistent with the provisions of this Rule#$wphi#

he rules of procedure governing %uasi!judicial  bodies inconsistent herewith are hereby disapprovedSectio 12. Effectivity. " his rule shall ta!e effect on +anuary 1, $018 following its publication in two newspapers of general circulation not later than %eptember 1:, $01$- 9t shall also appl y to e.isting cases-

Manila, %eptember 4, $01$-

A.M. No. 11-9-4-SC

EFFICIENT USE OF PAPER RULE

Whereas, to produce 500 reams of paper, twenty trees are cut and 100,000 liters of water are used, water that is no longer reusable because it is laden with chemicals and is just released to the environment to poison our rivers and seas; Whereas, there is a need to cut the judicial system’s use excessive quantities of costly paper, save our forests, avoid landslides, and mitigate the worsening effects of climate change that the world is experiencing; Whereas, the judiciary can play a big part in saving our trees, conserving precious water and helping mother earth; !", #$%&%'!&%, the (upreme )ourt %n *anc hereby issues and promulgates the following+ Sec. 1

Title of the Rule- #his rule shall be .nown and cited as the %fficient /se of aper &ule

 Sec. 2 Applicability 

 #his rule shall apply to all courts and quasi-judicial bodies under the

administrative supervision of the (upreme )ourt Sec. 3

Format and Style  a2 3ll pleadings, motions and similar papers intended for the court and

quasi-judicial body’s consideration and action 4court-bound papers2 shall written in single space with one-and-a half space between paragraphs, using an easily readable font style of the party’s choice, of  1-si6e font, and on a 17 inch by 85- inch white bond paper; and

b2 3ll decisions, resolutions and orders issued by courts and quasi-judicial bodies under the administrative supervision of the (upreme )ourt shall comply with these requirements (imilarly covered are the reports submitted to the courts and transcripts of stenographic notes Sec. 4

Margins and Prints 9 #he parties shall maintain the following margins on all court-bound

papers+ a left hand margin of 15 inches from the edge; an upper margin of 1: inches from the edge; a right hand margin of 10 inch from the edge; and a lower margin of 10 inch from the edge %very page must be consecutively numbered Sec. 5

Copies to be filed   /nless otherwise directed by the court, the number of court- bound

papers that a party is required or desires to file shall be as follows+ a n the (upreme )ourt, one original 4properly mar.ed2 and four copies, unless the case is referred to the )ourt %n *anc, in which event, the parties shall file ten additional copies 'or the %n *anc, the parties need to submit only two sets of annexes, one attached to the original and an extra copy 'or the