THE Supreme Court has made legal research simpler and easier by making the Philippine Reports accessible to anyone, anytime, anywhere.
On July 3, 2023, the Supreme Court officially launched two new features on the Supreme Court E-Library: The Philippine Reports E-Books and individual case citation.
The Philippine Reports is the official publication of decisions and final resolutions of the Supreme Court. As the authorized reference for legal citations, the Philippine Reports serves as an essential resource for judges, lawyers, legal researchers, law schools, and students.
Now spanning hundreds of volumes, the Philippine Reports is prepared by the SC Office of the Reporter and printed by the SC Printing Services. Copies are available at the Supreme Court, for a fee of PhP600.00 for each volume to cover printing costs.
With this launch of the Philippine Reports E-Books project, the Philippine Reports may now be accessed by simply going online and visiting the SC E-Library, ahead of the printed copy. No new account is needed and no payment nor subscription is required.
In addition, individual case citation is also now available on the SC E-library, enabling researchers to use the correct Philippine Reports citation while browsing Supreme Court decisions.
The Philippine Reports E-Books project is consistent with the target outcomes of the Supreme Court’s Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022-2027 (SPJI) of Efficiency, Innovation, and Access as (1) it streamlines efficiency since the user can now scan through entire books in seconds and instantly find case citations with ease; (2) it adopts innovation as it utilizes a variety of digital formats tailored to a legal researcher’s preference; and (3) it enhances access for all as the public can now use the Philippine Reports E-Books for free, whenever, wherever.
Currently, volumes 823 up to 867 are now available as Phil Report E-Books, while decisions promulgated from 2008 to 2019 now include the individual case citation feature. Additional E-Books and individual case citation will be uploaded every week to the SC E-Library.
A brainchild of Acting Chief Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen, the Working Chairperson of the Supreme Court Committee on Computerization and Library chaired by Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo, the Philippine Reports E-Books comes in three formats: (1) portable document format (pdf.), which can be read on any device; (2) electronic publication (epub.) format, which can be viewed in any e-book reader; and (3) flip book format, which allows the user to read the volume like an actual book. The individual case citation can be viewed as a pdf. file.
The Philippine Reports E-Books project is also a collaboration between the Supreme Court Library Services and the Office of the Reporter. The Office of the Reporter converted the printed Philippine Reports to soft copies in pdf, while the SC E-Library technical team converted the said pdfs to epub format. The SC Management Information Systems Office also helped in converting the online material as flip books.
