Short answer. Yes. For filings sent by registered mail or accredited courier, the date of mailing — as shown by the post office stamp on the envelope or the registry receipt — is considered the date of filing in court. A pleading mailed on the last day of the period is therefore filed on time.
What the law says
the date of the mailing of motions, pleadings,
Rule 13, Section 3 — Manner of filing. Read the full provision →
What the law says
as shown by the post office stamp on the envelope or the registry receipt, shall be considered as the date of their filing, payment, or deposit in court
Rule 13, Section 3 — Manner of filing. Read the full provision →
The mailing date is the filing date
Rule 13 recognises four ways to file: personal submission to the court, registered mail, accredited courier, and — where the court is electronically equipped and has authorised it — electronic transmission. For the second and third, the rule is explicit: the date of the mailing, as shown by the post office stamp on the envelope or the registry receipt, shall be considered as the date of their filing, payment, or deposit in court. The day you hand the envelope to the post office is the day you filed, even if the court receives it a week later. The same date-of-mailing rule covers payments and deposits sent the same way.
The proof is the stamp and the receipt
The rule ties the filing date to two pieces of paper: the post office stamp on the envelope and the registry receipt. Guard both. Ask the postal clerk to stamp the date legibly, keep the registry receipt with the case file, and note that the rule directs that the envelope shall be attached to the record of the case — the court itself preserves the evidence of when you mailed. If a dispute arises over timeliness, those documents decide it. A mailing whose date cannot be proven is a filing whose date cannot be defended.
Not every method enjoys this rule
Match the method to its own reckoning. Personal filing is dated by the clerk of court, who shall endorse on the pleading the date and hour of filing — so a personal filing on the last day must actually reach the clerk that day. Electronic filing, where authorised, is dated by the date of electronic transmission. The generous mailing rule belongs to registered mail and accredited courier; ordinary mail is not among the modes the rule lists, and a courier that is not accredited does not carry the rule's benefit. The savings the rule offers depend entirely on using the channel it names.
Last-day mailing as strategy, not habit
The rule makes last-day mailing legally safe, not practically wise. A pleading in the mail is a pleading you can no longer correct: a missing annex, an unsigned page, or a wrong caption discovered the next morning is now travelling to the court as filed. Mailing early leaves room to catch such errors — and leaves the registry receipt in hand well before anyone questions the date. Use the last-day rule for what it is: a safety net when time genuinely runs out, with the envelope stamped, the receipt kept, and a photocopy of everything mailed retained in your file.