New rules on hearing and adjudication of cases to be pilot tested in selected courts

sc.judiciary.gov.ph/admin matters/others/Proposed Rules for Hearing and Adjudicating Disputes.pdf

Click link above to read full text of proposed Rules.

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Re : PROPOSED RULES FOR HEARING AND ADJUDICATING DISPUTES

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The dockets of first and second level courts (lower courts, collectively) remain heavily congested especially in big cities where most people live. Cases are postponed because judges are unable to hear the thirty to sixty cases on their calendars each day. These delays cause parties to simply give up and forego their remedies. Forty percent of persons accused of crimes walk away free because complainants and witnesses stop coming after too many postponements.

The Supreme Court has introduced important changes like mediation and small claims courts but these have not been enough. The case congestions and delays have prompted the Sub Committee to examine the existing system

for hearing and adjudicating disputes that we have inherited from Americans a hundred years ago. It proved good in the horse and buggy era when people and transactions were few but it is a huge burden today in our bustling cities

that teem with people and goods.

The proposed rules establish a new model for hearing and adjudicating claims. This is new to us but it is already being practiced by most countries with minor variations to suit their respective cultures. These rules seek to limit hearings in run-of-the-mill disputes, which constitute about eighty percent of all cases, to only two hearings: a preliminary conference and an adjudication hearing.

1. The preliminary conference will identify the factual and legal issues and ensure the submission of the judicial affidavits of the parties and their witnesses, including documentary evidence.

2. The adjudication hearing, on the other hand, will assemble all the parties and their witnesses and examine them based on their affidavits in a free-flowing fashion but strictly in the order in which the issues have been identified. After the examination of witnesses by both judge and counsels have been exhausted, the court will announce its findings face-to-face and release its written decision within fifteen days. Appeal in the case of the first level courts will be a one-hearing affair with adjudication at the end of the hearing.

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