Thursday, August 5, 2021

Progress for justice: Gesmundo lauds passage of law expanding jurisdiction of trial courts

Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo has lauded the passage of Republic Act 11576 that expands the jurisdiction of trial courts nationwide as he expects that this will help declog court dockets.

“Through this new law, the jurisdictional amounts of our trial courts have now been adjusted to levels which are more suitable to the current economic conditions and property valuation in the country,” he said in a statement after President Rodrigo Duterte signed the law last July 30.

“This law will no doubt help declog the dockets of our second-level courts, which in turn would lead to a faster adjudication of cases and better administration of justice,” the chief justice pointed out.

Gesmundo said the law, known as the Act Further Expanding the Jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts in Cities, Municipal Trial Courts, and Municipal Circuit Trial Courts, amends Judiciary Reorganization Act of 1980.

Among its provisions, the chief justice said the new law increased “the jurisdictional amount cognizable by the Regional Trial Courts (RTCs) in all civil actions which involve the title to, or possession of, real property, or any interest therein, from the previous amount of P20,000 (P50,000 in Metro Manila) to P400,000, except for forcible entry into and unlawful detainer of lands and buildings, original jurisdiction over which remains with the first-level courts.”

“R.A. No. 11576 also increases the jurisdiction of the RTCs in all actions and maritime jurisdiction where the demand or claims exceeds P2,000,000, from the previous amount of P100,000 (P200,000 in Metro Manila); in all matters of testate and intestate probate where the gross value of the estate exceeds P2,000,000, from the previous amount of P100,000 (P200,000 in Metro Manila); and in all other cases in which the demand, exclusive of interest, damages of whatever kind, attorney’s fees, litigation expenses and costs or the value of the property in controversy exceeds P2,000,000, from the previous amount of P100,000,” he added.

Gesmundo said the law delegates to the Supreme Court (SC) “the authority to adjust the jurisdictional amount for first- and second-level courts to: (1) reflect the extraordinary supervening inflation and deflation of currency; (2) reflect change in the land valuation; or (3) maintain the proportion of caseload between first- and second-level courts, without prejudice on the part of the Congress to adjust the amounts when the circumstances warrant.”