Internal Rules on the Proper Disposal of Case Rollos of the Court of Appeals

September 30, 2009

EN BANC

[A.M. No. 09-7-06-CA]

RESOLUTION

Acting on the compliance dated 30 September 2009 on the proposed Internal Rules on the Proper Disposal of Case Rollos of the Court of Appeals submitted by the Committee on Proper Disposal of Case Rollos of the Court of Appeals in relation to the Supreme Court's (SC's) Administrative Order No. 170-2008, the Court Resolved to APPROVE the proposed Internal Rules on the Proper Disposal of Case Rollos of the Court of Appeals, thus:

INTERNAL RULES ON THE PROPER DISPOSAL OF CASE ROLLOS OF THE COURT OF APPEALS

I. Coverage

The disposal shall cover Court of Appeals' case rollos of terminated cases for at least seven (7) years, i.e., cases which have been issued Entry/ies of Judgment not later than December 31, 2001.

For cases whose nature is specifically exempted under paragraph one (1) of SC Administrative Order No. 170-2008 dated November 11, 2008, the Committee on the Proper Disposal of Case Rollos of the Court of Appeals shall request the Honorable Presiding Justice for the assignment of a Supervising Justice who shall assist in the determination of said cases, which shall include but not be limited to the following: IaEHSD

a) Naturalization cases;

b) Big land cases, which include those covered by the CARP Law, other land cases like Reconstitution of Title, Applications for the Issuance of Title and others that have already been issued Entry/ies of Judgment shall be disposed of subject to the determination of the Chief, Judicial Records Division, and upon prior approval of the Presiding Justice; and

c) Cases with penalties of Death, Reclusion Perpetua and Life Imprisonment.

The term "case rollos" refers to case folders (i.e., of civil, criminal, special and other cases) containing the basic pleadings, motions, papers and other documents filed by the respective lawyers and litigants therein.

The term "terminated cases" means cases that have been decided, dismissed, withdrawn and/or otherwise disposed of, with their corresponding Entry/ies of Judgment duly issued by the Court of Appeals and/or the Honorable Supreme Court.

II. Procedure

1) Inventory

The Archives Section, Judicial Records Division (JRD for brevity) of the Court of Appeals, the section having custody of all terminated cases, shall conduct a physical inventory of said cases with the objective of extracting the following essential information/s:

a) CA G.R. case/docket number;

b) Case title;

c) Court/agency of origin; AIDTHC

d) Nature of the case;

e) Date of Entry/ies of Judgment;

f) Date of remand to the court/agency of origin; and

g) Addresses of counsels of record and/or litigants/parties

The foregoing extracted informations shall be recorded in a logbook specifically designated for this purpose and shall be under the custody and control of the Chief, Archives Section, JRD.

2) Encoding/Computerized Listing

The JRD shall maintain an encoded and/or computerized list of all these inventoried cases with the extracted essential informations/s.

The list of cases as prepared by the Court Management Information System during its conduct of the Encoding and Extraction Project of terminated cases for the years 1984 to 2007 shall be used by the JRD for purposes of compliance with this rule.

3) Report

The JRD shall prepare a report on the inventory of and encoding/computerized listing of those cases, and shall submit the same to the Presiding Justice, with copies furnished the Clerk of Court and the Committee on Proper Disposal of Case Rollos of the Court of Appeals.

The Chief, JRD shall supervise and take the necessary measures to ensure that the foregoing procedure is strictly complied with.

III. Request for Authority to Dispose and Compliance with Posting Requirements

a) A request for authority to dispose of case rollos shall be filed with the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) using the prescribed form (Form No. 1 as provided for by paragraph 2 of Supreme Court Administrative Order No. 170-2008); IcDESA

b) Notices of the intention to dispose of case rollos shall be posted for at least thirty (30) days from the date of receipt of the approval by the Office of the Court Administrator of the authority to dispose of case rollos at the main entrance of three (3) conspicuous public places such as the Central Post Office, National Archives of the Philippines and Court of Appeals;

c) The list of these cases shall be furnished all Executive Judges all over the Philippines through the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA), with the latter's directive to the Executive Judges to post the same in three (3) conspicuous public places in their respective area/s of jurisdiction; and

d) The list of these cases shall likewise be furnished the Chief, Administrative Office of all other concerned judicial and/or quasi-judicial agencies.

IV. Notice to Lawyers and Litigants

The Court of Appeals shall cause the sending of notices to lawyers and/or litigants of these cases subject of disposal containing the following information/s:

a) That their case is now subject of disposal;

b) That should they intend to withdraw certain documents from the case rollo of the same, they should manifest said intention in writing within thirty (30) days from notice thereof; and

c) That their failure to do so within the prescribed period would mean a waiver of said right. TCcIaA

V. Retention Period

The retention period of thirty (30) days from notice to the counsels and litigants of these cases shall include an additional period for mailing allowance as follows:

a) City of Manila — ten (10) days;

b) Metro Manila — fifteen (15) days;

c) Luzon — thirty (30) days;

d) Visayas — forty (40) days; and

e) Mindanao — forty five (45) days

VI. Manner of Disposal

The disposal must be carried out after the expiration of the thirty (30) day-retention period and mailing allowance as provided in the preceding paragraph. It shall be undertaken by selling and/or shredding of the subject case rollos or by some other practicable manner, as determined by the Presiding Justice.

The provisions of paragraphs 8 to 13 of Supreme Court Administrative Order No. 170-2008 shall apply to the manner of disposal of the subject case rollos.

The Management and Audit Division of the Court of Appeals shall be furnished with the list of cases for disposal for the required inspection and verification.

VII. Request for Exemption from Compliance with Rule IV Hereof

a) Terminated cases as of 1980 and earlier; and

b) Terminated cases whose rollos were either eaten/destroyed by termites, water-damaged, worn and torn by time and the like (i.e., hard to decipher and unreadable) as determined and with prior approval of the Presiding Justice. CHTcSE

VIII. Notice of Publication

Notwithstanding the non-requirement of a notice of publication in a newspaper of general circulation of the fact of disposal of case rollos, the Court of Appeals shall cause to be published once in a newspaper of general circulation a general notice as follows:

NOTICE OF DISPOSAL OF COURT OF APPEALS' CASE ROLLOS

"Please take NOTICE that all case rollos of cases with Entries of Judgment issued not later than December 31, 2001 shall be disposed of in accordance with Supreme Court-approved guidelines under its Administrative Order No. 170-2008 and the Internal Rules on the Proper Disposal of Case Rollos of the Court of Appeals.

The complete list of these cases shall be posted and/or are available at the designated places contained in the said Internal Rules."

(SGD.) REYNATO S. PUNOChief Justice

(SGD.) ANTONIO T. CARPIOAssociate Justice

On LeaveRENATO C. CORONAAssociate Justice

(SGD.) CONCHITA CARPIO-MORALESAssociate Justice

(SGD.) MINITA V. CHICO-NAZARIOAssociate Justice

On LeavePRESBITERO J. VELASCO, JR.Associate Justice

(SGD.) ANTONIO EDUARDO B. NACHURAAssociate Justice

(SGD.) TERESITA J. LEONARDO-DE CASTROAssociate Justice

(SGD.) ARTURO D. BRIONAssociate Justice

On LeaveDIOSDADO M. PERALTAAssociate Justice

(SGD.) LUCAS P. BERSAMINAssociate Justice

(SGD.) MARIANO C. DEL CASTILLOAssociate Justice

(SGD.) ROBERTO A. ABADAssociate Justice

(SGD.) MARTIN S. VILLARAMA, JR.Associate Justice