Courts’ delay in resolving commercial cases scored

THE Department of Finance (DOF) has cried foul over the “questionable” and “deliberate” delay in the resolution of commercial cases pending in various courts in the country.

The Office of Court Administrator headed by Court Administrator Jose Midas P. Marquez said it has received a letter from Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III urging his office to compel trial courts to comply with their mandate to resolve cases within the required period, considering the delay in resolution of various commercial cases such as rehabilitation, insolvency, and liquidation cases, among others.

The SC, through Marquez, whose office supervises all lower courts, acted on Dominguez’s letter that was sent to the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA).

In his letter, Dominguez cited the case of Land Bank of the Philippines “a creditor party in numerous rehabilitation and insolvency proceedings, where there appears to be a questionable trend of unwarranted delay and/or circumvention of court proceedings.”

He also said that “some case proceedings may have been deliberately delayed” and “have remained pending for more than one year without any approved rehabilitation plans.”

Under Section 72 of Republic Act No. 10142, the law on the Rehabilitation or Liquidation of Financially Distressed Enterprises and Individuals, designated commercial court judges have one year to act on the cases brought before them.

In light of this, Marquez issued OCA Circular No. 105-2021 “strongly” reminding all judges of the Special Commercial Courts and those handling commercial cases to adhere to Section 72 of RA 10142.

Marquez also enjoined all commercial court judges to “remain in full control of the proceedings in their sala and...adopt a firm policy against improvident postponements.”

He warned that failure to comply with the one-year limit for deciding cases constitutes gross inefficiency and warrants the imposition of administrative sanctions against erring judges.

A total of 147 regional trial courts (RTCS) in the country have been designated by the SC as special commercial courts (SCC)— spread across 12 judicial regions in the country—to handle exclusively cases like rehabilitation, insolvency and liquidation filed by firms and individuals.

The designation of SCCS started in 2000 with the passage of Republic Act No. 8799, the Securities Regulations Code, which transferred to the courts the jurisdiction of cases erstwhile cognizable by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Initially, SCCS have jurisdiction over commercial cases like intracorporate disputes, issuance of search and seizure in civil actions, admiralty and maritime laws, dissolution of partnerships, financial rehabilitation, and liquidation, among others.

Later, cases involving intellectual property were added to the SCCS jurisdiction.

In late 2016, the SC further designated the SCCS as cybercrime courts for cases involving the Cybercrime Prevention Act under Republic Act No. 10175.

In 2019, the jurisdiction of the SCCS was expanded to cover issues involving the Philippine Competition Act under RA 10667.