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The Philippine Supreme Court is launching a five-year strategic plan to digitize its operations, including the development of a blockchain platform to secure judicial documents and the exploration of artificial intelligence for legal research, Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo announced.
The announcement positions the judiciary as the latest branch of the Philippine government to formally pursue blockchain technology, joining separate and distinct initiatives from executive agencies and the legislature.
The Supreme Court’s plan, part of its Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations (SPJI), aims to make court processes more efficient, transparent, and accessible.
“The development of a secure digital platform using blockchain technology will be pursued by the Court,” Gesmundo said. “This will ensure the authenticity, integrity, and traceability of verifying court-issued documents.”
A Sovereign System with Foreign Aid
Gesmundo noted that the Supreme Court has “sought the assistance of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA)” for the development and implementation of its blockchain system, The Manila Times reported.
This approach appears to differ from other government blockchain projects.
- The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), for example, will roll out its own “VERITAS” blockchain, which its draft rules show is a sovereign platform anchored to the DICT’s Philippine National Public Key Infrastructure (PNPKI).
The Chief Justice also detailed plans for a new Case Records Management System (CRMS) to be fully integrated with the existing e-Court PH platform.
This, he said, ensures “the centralized, secure, and efficient management of court records, while providing stakeholders with convenient, real-time access to case-related documents through a single, unified interface.”
AI and a National Blockchain Debate
In addition to blockchain, Gesmundo said the SC is “exploring a potential partnership with Anycase.ai, an artificial intelligence-driven legal research platform” to improve the speed of legal research. An “AI Governance Framework” is also being drafted to guide its ethical use.
The Supreme Court’s announcement lands in the midst of a wider national debate on how the government should adopt blockchain.
The Philippine Senate is currently deliberating the “Blockchain the Budget Bill,” a legislative push to put the national budget on an immutable ledger to fight corruption.
That move runs parallel to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) confirming it is in talks with US-based Polygon Labs for a potential grant to pilot a similar budget transparency system.
Disclosure: The author is assisted by AI in writing this article
This article is published on BitPinas: Supreme CourtTo Roll Out Blockchain-Base Platform, AI Initiative in 5-Year Digital Plan
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