ADMIN. MATTER; PAO Clients not exempted from the payment of Sheriff’s Expenses since these are not properly considered as “Fees”; to allow free access to courts, however, PAO officials and employees are now authorized to serve subpoenas, summons, and other court processes in cases involving their clients

Re: Letter dated April 18, 2011 of Chief Public Attorney Persida Rueda-Acosta Requesting Exemption from the Payment of Sheriff’s Expenses

A.M. No. 11-10-03-O, 30 July 2013.

Sheriff’s Expenses are different from Sheriff’s Fees.

“Sheriff's expenses, however, cannot be classified as a "fee" within the purview of the exemption granted to PAO's clients under Section 6 of R.A. No. 9406. Sheriff's expenses are provided for under Section 10, Rule 141 of the Rules of Court, viz.

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Sheriff's expenses are not exacted for any service rendered by the court; they are the amount deposited to the Clerk of Court upon filing of the complaint to defray the actual travel expenses of the sheriff, process server or other court-authorized persons in the service of summons, subpoena and other court processes that would be issued relative to the trial of the case. It is not the same as sheriff's fees under Section 10, Rule 141 of the Rules of Court, which refers to those imposed by the court for services rendered to a party incident to the proceedings before it.” (Emphasis and underscoring supplied)

PAO Lawyers now authorized to serve summons, subpoenas, and other processes on behalf of their clients or only in cases involving their clients.

“The Court, however, is not unmindful of the predicament of PAO's clients. In exempting PAO's clients from paying docket and other legal fees, R.A. No. 9406 intended to ensure that the indigents and the less privileged, who do not have the means to pay the said fees, would not be denied access to courts by reason of poverty. Indeed, requiring PAO's clients to pay sheriff's expenses, despite their exemption from the payment of docket and other legal fees, would effectively fetter their free access to the courts thereby negating the laudable intent of Congress in enacting R.A. No. 9406.

Free access to the courts and adequate legal assistance are among the fundamental rights which the Constitution extends to the less privileged. Thus, Section 11, Article III of the 1987 Constitution mandates that "[f]ree access to the courts and quasi-judicial bodies and adequate legal assistance shall not be denied to any person by reason of poverty." The Constitution affords litigants — moneyed or poor — equal access to the courts; moreover, it specifically provides that poverty shall not bar any person from having access to the courts. Accordingly, laws and rules must be formulated, interpreted, and implemented pursuant to the intent and spirit of this constitutional provision.

Access to justice by all, especially by the poor, is not simply an ideal in our society. Its existence is essential in a democracy and in the rule of law. Without doubt, one of the most precious rights which must be shielded and secured is the unhampered access to the justice system by the poor, the underprivileged and the marginalized.

Having the foregoing principles in mind, the Court, heeding the constitutional mandate of ensuring free access to the courts and adequate legal assistance to the marginalized and less privileged, hereby authorizes the officials and employees of PAO to serve summons, subpoena and other court processes pursuant to Section 3, Rule 14 of the Rules of Court. The authority given herein by the Court to the officials and employees of PAO shall be limited only to cases involving their client.

Authorizing the officials and employees of PAO to serve the summons, subpoenas and other court processes in behalf of their clients would relieve the latter from the burden of paying for the sheriff's expenses despite their non-exemption from the payment thereof under Section 6 of R.A. No. 9406. The amount to be defrayed in the service of summons, subpoena and other court processes in behalf of its clients would consequently have to be taken from the operating expenses of PAO. In turn, the amount advanced by PAO as actual travel expenses may be taken from the amount recovered from the adversaries of PAO's clients as costs of suit, attorney's fees or contingent fees prior to the deposit thereof in the National Treasury.” (Emphasis and underscoring supplied)