Projects and Activities

For 2023-2024, JRI is taking a stronger and more active role in advocating justice reforms that strengthen the responsiveness and accountability of our judicial institutions. The following are some of the key projects slated for this year:

• As a cornerstone project, JRI will be holding a Justice Summit in Q4 2023 to be attended by various stakeholders of our justice system to discuss the state of our justice system and its developmental agenda. A series of pre-summit consultative workshops will be held to identify and focus on key themes.

• Preparatory to the Justice Summit and the consultative workshops, a justice survey will be conducted in Q3 2023 to gather perceptions, particularly from the business community, on the judicial system and planned reforms by the Supreme Court. 

• To enhance legal literacy and awareness of the business sector, including foreign investors domiciled in the country, JRI will also launch an infographics online primer on the Philippine legal system for investors and businessmen, the contents of which include the alternative dispute resolution procedures available for businessmen, legal processes for common business issues and a discussion of our legal system and the various institutions that comprise it. 

Some of the initiatives undertaken by JRI to promote reforms in our justice system since its organization in 2015 are as follows:

• The members of the JRI Board met with former Supreme Court Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin and Judicial Academy Chancellor Adolf Azcuna in 2019 to discuss the status of its judicial reform projects and to push for the operationalization of the Judicial Integrity Board and Corruption Prevention and Investigation Office. This was followed through in 2020 with two meetings with former Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta together with other members of the Supreme Court, Judicial Integrity Board (JIB) and the Philipine Judicial Academy to discuss priorities and perspectives of the Judiciary on issues affecting business and the economy.

• JRI also participated in various forums, study groups and research studies on subjects such as the MBC forum on the “New Voices of the Senate”, Joint Business Forum with CJ Lucas Bersamin, the Revised Corporation Code, federalism based-charter, International Bar Association study on local judicial system, and the 2019 Legal Education Summit. 

• As part of its role as a judicial reform advocate, JRI also issued various public statements in support of the decongestion of jails in the light of the pandemic situation, the  speedy disposition of court cases, protection against warrantless searches and seizures and  media freedom,  the  passage of special laws to address  the Covid-19 pandemic and  expand the jurisdiction of the lower level courts to decongest the Regional Trial Courts, and a more thorough review of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.