THE Supreme Court has designated 77 more regional trial courts as special commercial courts or SCC, bringing to 144 such courts in 12 judicial regions in the country.
Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez said the move was meant to address the influx of cases involving competition and intellectual property as well as cybercrime.
Marquez said the SCCs will now be known as special cybercrime courts and special competition courts.
“Due to (the) influx of cases that may be filed in view of the expanded jurisdiction of the SCCs and their designation as cybercrime courts and competition courts, additional branches of the RTCs have been designated as SCCs to promote expediency and efficiency in handling all cases under the jurisdiction of the SCCs,” Marquez said in a circular.
“To ensure a just and equitable distribution of cases among the said SCCs and regular courts, the designated SCCs shall continue to be included in the raffle of regular cases provided that the inflow of commercial, cybercrime and competition cases is minimal and is lower than the average caseloads of the other courts in those stations as determined by the court administrator,” he added.
Marquez said his office will closely monitor the caseloads of the SCCs to ensure the efficient distribution and disposition of cases.
The designation of some RTCs as SCCs started in 2009 with the passage of Republic Act 8799 or the Securities Regulation Code that transfers some cases to the courts previously under the jurisdiction of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The SCCs have jurisdiction over cases such as intra-corporate disputes, admiralty and maritime laws, dissolution of business partnership, as well as financial rehabilitation and liquidation, among others.
The SC later added intellectual property cases to their caseloads.
In 2016, the SC also included cybercrime cases in their mandate, and three years later, it added competition cases to their caseload.
