The following updates were covered by SyCipLaw’s bulletin to its clients:
A. Supreme Court (SC) issued SC Administrative Circular No. 33-2020 (Online Filing of Complaint or Information and Posting of Bail due to Rising Cases of COVID-19 Infection, dated March 31, 2020) which allows the filing of a complaint or information and the posting of bail through electronic means. The Circular was issued as a result of the physical closure of all courts in the country for the duration of the “public health emergency as declared by the President pursuant to existing laws” caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
B. On March 27, 2020, the Office of the Prosecutor General of the DOJ released an issuance to all prosecutors of the National Capital Region (NCR) that gives prosecutors the option of conducting an “electronic inquest” or “e-inquest” in the NCR “during the entire period of the public health emergency.”
The issuance of guidelines for the conduct of e-inquests has been confirmed by the DOJ Secretary and the DOJ Prosecutor General in various news reports, although the copy of the issuance has not yet been posted on the DOJ’s official website (https://www.doj.gov.ph/).
The bulletin was prepared by SyCipLaw partner John Christian Joy A. Regalado, with the assistance of legal assistant, Marlo Karlo T. Carrasco
The full text of the bulletin can be found below: