Electronic Filing

No, only civil cases pending before the first and second level courts are covered. This includes civil cases governed by the Rules on Summary Procedure and Small Claims Cases, as well as Special Civil Actions.

September 1, 2024 is the start of the transition period to mandatory electronic filing and service. During the transition period, parties must still comply with the manner of filing provided under Rule 13, Section 3 of the Rules of Civil Procedure.

However, a PDF copy of the filed pleading, along with its attachments, must be sent to the official e-mail address of the court where the case is pending within 24 hours from the completion of the primary manner of filing. 

For filings by registered mail or accredited courier where the exact time of mailing cannot be ascertained, the 24 hours shall be reckoned from 11:59 p.m. of the date of mailing.

A directory of the official e-mail addresses of lower courts is available at https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/court-locator/.

The court will not act on the pleading until an electronic copy is sent to its e-mail.

The electronic copy must be sent from the e-mail address of record of the counsel and their law firm or institution, if any.

The e-mail address of record shall be in the [local-part]@[domain] syntax and capable of receiving e-mails from other senders, especially those outside the address’ own domain. The use of personal or nonprofessional e-mail accounts is prohibited.

The entire transmittal shall be deemed as not received until the transmittal is made using a valid e-mail address of record.

A Notice of Appearance shall be filed by the counsel of record of a party to the case, or the parties themselves, at their option, before the court where the case is pending in accordance with the Rules of Civil Procedure.

It shall contain the following: (1) the docket number and case title for which the notice is being filed; (2) the name/s of the party being represented; (3) the name/s of the lawyer/s appearing for that party; (4) the valid and professional email address of each lawyer, which they are entering as their email address of record for the case;

(4) the name of the lawyer/s’ firm or institution, if any; (5) the law firm or institution’s email address of record for the case; (6) optionally, the e-mail address/es of the party.

Starting September 1, 2024. The Notice of Appearance may be filed by itself before the court where the case is pending. It may also be filed together with the filing of a pleading or other court document.

Failure to file a notice of appearance shall be deemed a waiver of receipt of electronic copies of pleadings and court issuances. Additionally, the court will not act on any submission before a Notice of Appearance stating the e-mail address/es of record is filed.

Yes. Any changes in the e-mail address of record of any party, counsel, or law firm must be made pursuant to Rule 13, Section 11 of the Rules of Civil Procedure.

There is no need for the filing party or counsel to re-file the Notice of Appearance. A notice of change of e-mail address of record, filed and served according to Rule 13, Section 11, shall suffice.

After the counsel of the opposing party have filed their Notice of Appearance. By then, all electronic submissions shall also be sent mandatorily to the e-mail addresses of record of all counsel and their law firms or organization, if any, and optionally, to the parties, through electronic carbon copy (CC:).

The e-mail subject should be in this format: [Docket Number/s, Case Title] – [Designation of the Pleading or Court Submission]

The e-mail body should contain the following information:

1. The primary manner of filing (i.e., personal filing, registered mail, accredited courier, or electronic transmittal);
2. The filing date (based on the primary manner of filing); and
3. The case data, namely:
   1. docket number/s;
   2. case title/s;
   3. name of the filing party;
   4. contact number/s of the filer;
   5. other e-mail address of the filer, if any; and
   6. a list of the document titles of the attachments to the transmittal e-mail.

The pleading filed as well as its accompanying annexes or exhibits, if any. Each must be contained in separate PDF files and attached individually as direct attachments, not as external links to cloud storage, file-sharing sites, or other similar means. It must also not be contained in archive files and should not require additional extraction or conversion to PDF, otherwise, the pleading will be deemed not filed.

Further, the e-mail shall only contain PDF files pertaining to one case. Consolidated cases with more than one docket number shall be considered as one case.

The electronic submissions are deemed not filed when: (1) the electronic copies are not in PDF; (2) the PDF files have password protection or other encryption; (3) the PDF file is sent with embedded executable code or scripts; (4) the PDF file is sent in archive files such as ZIP (.zip) or RAR (.rar); or (5) the PDF file is corrupted.

No, as long as the receiving e-mail address service will not reject or block a transmittal e-mail due to the file size of the attachment.

NOTE: the courts’ official e-mail addresses can receive attachments with the size of up to 35mb.

Yes. The PDF copy of the submission may be: (1) electronically generated from a word-processing PDF creation program; (2) scanned images which are the exact and complete copies of the original document in paper, compiled in a PDF file; or (3) a combination of both methods. In all cases, the contents must be completely legible.

The scanned copy shall be controlling.

The filename of the main pleading shall follow this format: [Docket number/s, Case Title]-[Designation of the Document].

The designation may be shortened in the filename but it must still contain sufficient information to ascertain the nature of the relief sought.

The filename of the accompanying document shall follow this format: [Document Label or Title] – [Docket number/s, Case Title] – [Designation of the Main Pleading to which it is attached].

The filer shall transmit the electronic documents in several batches. However, each e-mail must be clearly marked by indicating in the subject the batch number of the e-mail and the total batches of e-mails sent.

Yes, as they may be subject to inspection by the court or other parties when necessary.

The additional accompanying documents shall be excluded from the records or rollo of the case/s for which they have been submitted, even if the electronic copy in PDF of the primary pleading or court submission has been correctly filed.

Yes, the filing lawyer, law firm, or party may be subject to disciplinary action, or any appropriate sanction imposed by the court.

If the primary manner of filing is through electronic transmission, the form and substance of the contents of the PDF copy, as first filed, shall be controlling. However, if the document had already been filed physically, by registered mail, or by accredited courier, then it shall be controlling, and the subsequent electronic filing shall be an exact copy of the filed paper copy.

If the court determines, motu proprio, or on motion, and after notice and hearing, that there are material discrepancies, it may impose appropriate sanctions or refer such finding to the proper office for disciplinary action on the lawyer, law firm, or party responsible.

Yes, the filing party or counsel must retain a copy of each transmittal e-mail, in any form prescribed by pertinent rules on evidence, while the case is pending for the inspection of the court or other parties when necessary.

No court shall accept as an excuse for any purpose that one has failed to check the inbox of their e-mail addresses of record. As such, counsels, law firms or institution, and parties have the obligation to regularly and diligently monitor their inboxes.

Further, any lawyer who neglects to regularly check the inbox of their e-mail address of record, to the detriment of the cause of their client, shall be subjected to disciplinary action.

Yes, upon motion of the filing party or counsel but only with respect to: (1) accompanying documents to pleadings or other court submission which are not readily amenable to digitization to portable document format (PDF); and (2) sealed and confidential documents or records.

The waiver shall also apply to electronic submissions made after the transition period.

It shall be proved by its existence in the electronic case record or rollo, without prejudice to the presentation of the proof of filing as provided in the 2019 Amendments to the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure.

No, only parties and their respective counsel with e-mail addresses of record filed with the court for a particular case are entitled access to the case records.

If the court issues the order or other document prior to the filing of the notice of appearance, any party or counsel who files their notice of appearance after the issuance shall not be entitled to the PDF copy of the order or other document.

NOTE: pursuant to Section 12 of the Guidelines, non-parties may gain access to the electronic case records and e-rollo of civil cases once the court has uploaded them in the relevant web sites subject to rules on confidentiality and data privacy.

No. Electronic copies are only available for documents filed on or after September 1, 2024.

Starting September 1, 2024, all issuances by first and second level courts, duly served in accordance with the modes provided in Rule 13 of Rules of Civil Procedure, shall also be sent in PDF copies to the e-mail addresses of record of the parties and their respective counsel.

Unless the primary mode of filing elected in accordance with Rule 13 of the Rules of Civil Procedure is electronic submission, the receipt of inbound or outbound court documents during the transition period shall not initiate or toll filing periods. The reckoning date shall still be from the completion of the primary mode of filing or service.

NOTE: Inbound court documents refer to documents filed by parties to the court. Meanwhile, outbound court documents refer to issuances from the court sent to the parties.

On December 1, 2024, subject to the following conditions: (1) that the amendments to Rule 13 and related provisions of the Rules of Court shall have been promulgated; and (2) that the Court has ordered for electronic transmittal to be the primary manner of filing in a judicial region or in the entire country.

After the transition period, the receipt of the electronic copies of inbound and outbound court documents shall have the effect of initiating or tolling the periods for filing.

However, this shall not apply to: (1) summons which shall still be governed by Rule 14 of the 2019 Amendments to the 1997 Rules of Procedure; (2) the filing and service of initiatory pleadings which shall still be governed by Rule 13 and other pertinent rules, until their amendment, subject to the requirement of submitting electronic copies accompanying the primary manner of filing. 

Yes, it shall be subject to the rules on data privacy and personal information protection, as well as other data privacy issuances by the Court.

Technical support is currently available through this e-mail address: tech.support.spji@judiciary.gov.ph.

By the end of September, all Regional Court Managers, chambers of Executive Judges, and trial court branches will also have their designated technical support line to which queries may be sent.