The Supreme Court has broadened its videoconferencing rules to allow persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) and children in conflict with the law (CICL) to join court proceedings remotely at all stages.
Under the new guidelines, first- and second-level courts are instructed to use videoconferencing as the preferred method for hearings involving PDLs and CICLs. First-level courts include Metropolitan and Municipal Trial Courts, while second-level courts are Regional Trial Courts.
The expansion covers arraignments, bail hearings, minor cases, and other ancillary proceedings, while still giving courts discretion to require in-person appearances when necessary. Measures are included to protect victims in gender-based violence cases, such as preventing them from seeing the accused during remote hearings.
Courts must also ensure that participants in remote hearings are not disadvantaged by limited access to technology. Supervised access points or temporary internet provisions can be set up in remote areas to facilitate participation.
Judges and justices are now permitted to preside over hearings from outside their judicial region if there are justifiable reasons, with prior approval from the Office of the Court Administrator.
The rules have also been extended to cover participants abroad, allowing Philippine embassies, consulates, and other government offices to serve as venues for videoconferencing.
The revised regulations, which take effect on February 16, 2026, build on earlier SC directives issued in 2019 and during the COVID-19 pandemic, which piloted remote hearings in correctional facilities and select courts.
This move forms part of the Supreme Court’s REAL Justice program—Remote Hearing and Equal Access to Law and Justice—which evolved from the Justice on Wheels initiative launched in 2004 to make court proceedings more accessible, inclusive, and efficient.