SC allows PNP's e-Subpoena (online service of subpoena)
Four (4) years from the first time it was thought of, e-Subpoena is here today. Below are reports about this good news. Please note that this system applies only between lower courts and the police force.
Scrap those court summons being sent in hand-carry mails that take weeks or months; “electronic subpoenas” can now be used and transmitted in matter of seconds. Considered a “major breakthrough,” the Supreme Court, the Department of Justice, Philippine National Police officially launched on Wednesday the e-Subpoena system, a web-based information system that speeds up the transmittal of court subpoenas and notices to the police. (Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/598335/e-subpoena-launched#ixzz53Djo9l9q Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook) In a circular dated December 21, 2017, Marquez also directed lower courts with connectivity issues to use contingency measures and implement the program immediately. “Pending full connectivity of all the courts nationwide, those courts which have no signal or are experiencing intermittent Internet signals in their stations are directed to use available Internet facilities in their respective areas and utilize the monthly Extraordinary and Miscellaneous Expense Allowance provided the judges in sending the e-Subpoena,” the order stated. (SC orders implementation of e-Subpoena system January 4, 2018; Written by Hector Lawas; Published in Nation)
Ipinag-utos na ng Korte Suprema ang mahigpit na implementasyon sa pagpapatupad ng electronic subpoena system o “e-subpoena” sa mga lower courts sa buong kapuluan. Ito ay para matugunan ang kabiguan ng mga Philippine National Police (PNP) process officers na dumalo sa kanilang court duties. (E-subpoena sa mga lower courts, mahigpit na ipatutupad simula ngayong 2018 Posted By: Bombo Jerald Ulepon: January 03, 2018 | 12:40 PM)
The Supreme Court (SC) is set to fully implement this year the electronic subpoena (eSubpoena) for police officers and men to assure their attendance in court hearings and other proceedings. Court records show that the non-attendance of police investigators in court has led to the dismissal of criminal cases, particularly drug-related cases, or extended the detention of suspects. Court Administrator Jose Midas P. Marquez said the SC has conducted trainings for all first and second level courts in the country on the eSubpoena system as part of the judiciary’s modernization program in partnership with the Philippine National Police (PNP). (SC to fully enforce eSubpoena this year; Updated January 3, 2018; 9:31 AM By Rey Panaligan)
Rule 21's Section 1. Subpoena and subpoena duces tecum. — Subpoena is a process directed to a person requiring him to attend and to testify at the hearing or the trial of an action, or at any investigation conducted by competent authority, or for the taking of his deposition. It may also require him to bring with him any books, documents, or other things under his control, in which case it is called a subpoena duces tecum. (1a, R23)
