The Supreme Court has ordered the disposition and destruction of old court records and papers including exhibits that are clogging the corridors, stairways and fire exits of the Hall of Justice.
Scheduled for disposal are long-decided cases and unneeded documents and papers that pose a fire hazard and can impede passage along the corridors, stairways, and fire exits, aside from being an eye sore in the various courthouses nationwide.
Regional Trial Court Branch 30 presiding Judge Rafael Crescencio Tan, Jr. said this was supposed to be scheduled in December last year.
Tan said he has long-decided records dating back to the time of the erstwhile Court of First Instance, until it became an Agrarian court, up to the present.
Quoting the Supreme Court simplified guidelines for disposing the records, Judge Tan said parties and lawyers involved in cases that were already decided or completely terminated have the primary responsibility of keeping and preserving copies of court documents and records affecting their rights and obligations.
The Supreme court said that even though the duty of the courts is to keep and maintain only records of active and properly archived cases, the courts continue to hold records of cases that were decided or completely terminated, but only for a reasonable length of time to enable interested parties to secure copies before these records are disposed of with the exception of the decisions and proofs of their finality.
The inventory of completely terminated cases will start in April, and will be reported to the Office of the Court Administrator on or before April 30.
Physical segregation and extraction of records for first and second level courts shall be done in July.
To be retained are cases pending appeal before the Supreme Court. (PNA)
