ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (ADB)

· Seminars on Election Laws for Regional Trial Court and First Level Court Judges

· Ladderized program of three modules for Corporate Court Judges on Philippine Corporate Culture, which contains a balanced mix of legal, business and accounting topics.

AUSTRALIAN-PHILIPPINE JUDICIAL COOPERATION PROJECT

· An exchange program between Philippine and Australian Justices and judges arranged by the Center for Democratic Institutions (CDI) of the Australian University and the Supreme Court through PHILJA. The program consists of familiarization with the legal and judicial systems of Australia through observation and study tours to different Australian courts, and consultations and other one-on-one meetings with Australian Justices and judges.

· Three (3) Australia-Philippine Judicial Cooperation Projects were held on March 6 to 17, 2000 and March 24 to April 1, 2001, in Sydney; and on October 16 to 25, 2001, in Melbourne, Australia.

· For the Philippine counterpart, the following were conducted:

__i. Colloquium and Dialogue between Australian Federal Court Judges and Philippine Executive Judges, on March 28 to 29, 2000, at PHILJA, Tagaytay City. Justices Bryan Alan Beaumont and Arthur Robert Emmett, both of the Federal Court of Australia, were the representatives from Australia.

__ii. Dialogue between Justices of the Federal Court of Australia and the Justices of the Court of Appeals and the Sandiganbayan of the Republic of the Philippines, on March 30, 2000, at the Court of Appeals Session Hall, Manila. Justice John Stanley Lockhart, a former member of the Federal Court of Australia, already in the country working with the Asian Development Bank, joined Justices Beaumont and Emmett.

BRITISH EMBASSY

· Seminar-Workshops for Family Court Judges and Court Social Workers

CANADIAN EMBASSY

· Donation of thirty-one (31) second-hand, Pentium 166 MHz computers to be used for hands-on training of Judges in their sessions on computer literacy and computer-aided legal research.

CD TECHNOLOGIES ASIA

· Donation of Lex Libris Folio of Laws and Jurisprudence, in CD-ROM format, to all courts nationwide, in line with the Supreme Court's project of computerizing the Judiciary for greater efficiency and effectivity.

COMMONWEALTH JUDICIAL EDUCATION INSTITUTE'S (CJEI's)
INTENSIVE STUDY PROGRAM FOR JUDICIAL EDUCATORS

· With funding support from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the objective of the program is to expose judicial educators to approaches, practices, skills and tools for judicial education with the view to assist judicial reform efforts. Since 1999, two members of PHILJA's Academic Offices and Academic Council have attended the CJEI program for judicial educators.

· Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr. is now a Patron of the CJEI, with the Philippines as the only non-Commonwealth nation represented in the group.

FINLAND EMBASSY

· Financial grant of Php 1 milllion for the conduct of two judicial seminars on the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA), held in Cebu City (Visayas region) and Davao City (Mindanao region) respectively.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LAW INSTITUTE (IDLI)

· A joint project with World Bank, the Benchbook for Trial Court Judges is intended to be a handy reference for judges as they sit on the Bench. It includes subjects on substantive law, civil and criminal procedure in regular courts and the Sandiganbayan, judicial ethics, grammar, TQM and TCPS, including pre-trial as a component of Court and Case Management.

· In partnership with AusAID, the conduct of training programs on the use of the Benchbook among RTC and MeTC judges. CD-ROM and web-based versions of the Benchbook are to follow.

THE ASIA FOUNDATION

· In partnership with PhilExport-TAPS and the Singapore Mediation Center: Mediation seminars, internships, refresher courses, advocates forums, and training the trainors workshops.

· In collaboration with CIDA, Ford Foundation, and Tanggol Kalikasan: Seminar-workshop on Environmental Law.

· Funding of two judicial seminars on the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act in the Luzon region.

· In partnership with AusAID: PHILJA's representation in the first ever International Conference on Conflict Resolution held in Toronto, Canada.

· PHILJA as a recipient of a grant for a two-week Voluntary Visitors Program which included study visits to different agencies in the USA, on special areas of concern.

UNAFEI, Japan

· Seminar on Community Involvement in Crime Prevention

UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM (UNDP)

· Seminar on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which was attended by the former Chief Justice of India, Hon. P. N. Bhagwati, and presently the Regional Adviser of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for the Asia Pacific, and Mr. Clarence Dias, President of the International Center for Law and Development, as lecturers.

USAID-AGILE

· Training seminars on Corporate Law, Insolvency and Rehabilitation; and on Law and Economics.

· Focus Group Discussions on Docket Decongestion; Power of Judicial Review and Economic Policies; Restatement of the Doctrine of Primary Jurisdiction.

US EMBASSY

· PHILJA was invited to take part in digital video-conferencing sessions sponsored by the Cultural Affairs Office of the US Embassy. The first session was on "Judicial Education" with Judge Fern Smith, Director of the Federal Judicial Center in Washington, D.C., and the second on "Domestic Violence" with Ms. Lyn Levey from the National Center for State Courts, Williamsburg, Virginia, USA.

· "Through this medium of video-conferencing, we are able to link up with counterparts abroad and derive best practices from them without having to leave our shores, or for them to travel here." [Chancellor Ameurfina A. M. Herrera]

UNICEF

· Training of Trainers for a Comprehensive Juvenile Justice System for Children, Youth and Families
· Regional Multisectoral Seminars on Juvenile and Domestic Relations Justice
· Seminar-Workshops for Family Court Social Workers
· Seminar-Workshops on Strengthening the Legal Protection of Children
· Seminar-Workshops on Gender Sensitivity
· Court Appointed Special Advocates/Guardian Ad Litem (CASA/GAL) Volunteers' Training
· Workshop on Video-Conferencing Trial of Cases Involving Testimony of Children
· Video production of a moot court trial on child abuse, via video-conferencing
· Financing of video-conferencing facilities for Family Courts

WORLD BANK

· Sponsorship of a study by the Center for Public Resource Management (CPRM) which stressed the need to strengthen PHILJA's institutional structure, and to recognize and establish it as a unique institution within the Judiciary. The study went on to state that because of that uniqueness, there arises the necessity to accord the Academy wider administrative decision-making authority, actual possession, control and accountability of its resources, and financial management latitude.

· The CPRM study recognizes the Academy as a key reform area and a major factor in ensuring the success of the entire judicial reform program. It found that it is PHILJA that is being called upon as a primary agent of the Judiciary for defining and building an organizational culture imbued with the values of efficiency, effectiveness, accountability and integrity, and the continued improvement of performance by the courts.

· Sponsorship of 'The Impact of Judicial Education Study," which assessed the strengths and weaknesses of PHILJA's educational programs, and affirmed the perception and estimation of the judges-participants as one of high satisfaction with the usefulness and relevance of PHILJA programs to the discharge of their duties.

· Distance Learning Course on "Judicial Reforms: Performance and Accountability." A novel project for the World Bank, five countries were invited to participate - Bangladesh, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. PHILJA delegates tackled modules on Independence and Accountability, Empirical Research for Judicial Reforms, among others.

· PHILJA participation in World Bank's Global Conference on "Comprehensive Legal and Judicial Development: Towards an Agenda for a Just and Equitable Society in the 21st Century," held in Washington D.C.

QUASI-JUDICIAL AGENCIES

· Training Course for Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) Lawyers and Legal Assistants, in collaboration with the Institute for Judicial Administration.

· Seminar on Enhancement of Agrarian Reform Adjudication, upon the request of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

· Seminar-workshop for Family Court Judges and Court Social Workers, in partnership with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

· "The NLRC in the Forefront of Development" seminar-workshops, in collaboration with the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC).

· Seminar on the Law on E-Commerce and the Rule on Electronic Evidence for the Land Registration Authority (LRA).

[back to top] [home]