TO ENSURE EFFICIENCY and effectivity of the mobile court under the Justice on Wheels project in the Visayas, the Supreme Court held consultations with local government officials of Bohol on the JOW Project at the Bohol Tropics, Tagbilaran City last June 30.
     The Court decided to deploy a mobile court in Bohol in view of the large number of municipal circuit trial courts there without Presiding Judges and its courts’ high caseloads. A third mobile court will also deployed in Mindanao. The first mobile court is operating in Luzon.
     Since its 2004 launching, the mobile court has already heard and resolved several cases in Metro Manila and surrounding areas, resulting in the release of a number of juveniles in conflict with the law. The JOW Project, one of the initiatives under the Judicial Reform Support Project, is aimed at bringing the courts closer to the poor and providing a fast and free resolution of conflicts through conciliation, mediation, and adjudication.
     The mobile court is in the form of a large bus staffed by a judge, a prosecutor, and a stenographer, among others. It is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia.