The Supreme Court will test in September a video-based system that would allow high-risk detainees to stand trial and testify in criminal cases without having to leave their jail cells.
Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez revealed on Thursday that the “tele-hearing” system will be pilot tested in Davao City.
“This would allow detainees to testify in court without them leaving their detention cells,” Marquez said in an interview.
The high court is also planning to have the system applied in civil cases to allow overseas Filipino workers to testify without going home, he added.
The tele-hearing system would make use of videoconferencing technology to allow the remote testimonies and appearances of those facings charges and still in jail.
According to Marquez, the equipment necessary to conduct the tele-hearing, such as laptops and monitors, were already installed in the hearing room of the Davao City Jail.
A 100-foot monopole tower with necessary equipment was also built within the Davao Hall of Justice compound and will be connected to the three jail facilities in the city.
The Office of the Court Administrator earlier recommended to the Court en banc the system to allow the trial of those facing terror-related cases to continue without the suspects exiting their jail cells, following a request by Davao City Jail Warden Supt. Grace Taculin, who cited security threats by the transportation of high-risk detainees to local courts for their trial.
The DCJ, which houses some 4,000 detainees, have high-risk prisoners and arrested members of the terrorist New People’s Army, Abu Sayyaf, and Maute groups.
The Court Administrator assured the public and the detainees the new mechanism will not affect or jeopardize the accused’s constitutional rights, as there are procedural safeguards in the implementing rules. They include the presence of the counsel of the accused in the same designated room in the jail facility throughout the tele-hearing.
Detainees with grave or serious medical conditions, whom the authorities might find difficult to bring to court for their trial, are also covered by the proposal.
Under the Rules of Court, the accused is required to be physically present during his or her arraignment, promulgation of the case, and when the court needs his or her presence.