Following the successful launch of the Puerto Princesa Justice Zone in Palawan last year, the Justice Sector Coordinating Council (JSCC) is set to establish another milestone as it propels Dagupan City, Pangasinan as the 13th Justice Zone on 25 March 2024.
The JSCC, composed of the Supreme Court PH, the Department of Justice - Philippines, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), creates Justice Zones nationwide for the purpose of achieving efficient and effective delivery of justice through coordination among justice sector institutions at the local level. The Dagupan City Justice Zone is another significant step in fostering real-time collaboration among justice sector agencies to identify common issues and generate working solutions to better address them.
The JSCC Technical Working Group on Processes and Capacity Building headed by Supreme Court Associate Justice Maria Filomena D. Singh has undertaken preparatory activities to assess the viability of Dagupan City as the next Justice Zone. The assessment was made through the accomplishment of the Justice Zone components checklist and the evaluation thereof, as well as the conduct of a Resource Mapping, an Orientation and Consultation Meeting, and a Development Planning Workshop with the Dagupan City justice sector stakeholders.
Once established, Dagupan City shall join the vastly growing list of Justice Zones around the country which now include Quezon City, Cebu City, Davao City, Angeles City, Bacolod City, Naga City, Calamba City, Balanga City, and Baguio City. Specialty Zones were also created which will focus on specific areas of concern, namely, Zamboanga City as the first Trafficking-Free Justice Zone, Tagaytay City as the first Economic Justice Zone, and Puerto Princesa City as the first Green Justice Zone.
The Dagupan City Justice Zone's work to improve justice services is supported by the European Union’s Justice Sector Reform Programme: Governance in Justice II (Governance in Justice - GoJust). The European Union has been a committed partner to the Philippine’s Justice Sector since 2006 and has supported justice zones since 2014.