Court-Annexed Mediation

Enhanced pre-trial procedure that involves settling mediatable cases filed in court with the aid of an
accredited mediator by the Supreme Court.
Mandatory Coverage of CAM and JDR:
All civil cases, civil liability of criminal cases under Rule on Summary Procedure, civil aspect of violation of BP 22
except those civil cases which by law cannot be compromised.
2. Special proceedings for settlement of the cases
3. All civil and criminal cases with a certificate to file action issued by Punong Barangay or Pangkat
Tagapagkasundo under the Katarungang Pambarangay Law
4. Civil aspect for Quasi-Offenses under Title 14 of RPC
5. Civil aspect for less grave felonies punishable by correctional penalties not exceeding 6 years of imprisonment
and the offended party is a private person
6. Civil aspect of estafa, theft, and libel
7. All civil cases, probate, testate, and prostrate proceedings brought on appeal from the Exclusive and Original
Jurisdiction of first level courts under Section 33 (1) of Judiciary Organization Act of 1980
8. All forcible entry and unlawful detainer cases
9. All civil cases involving title or possession of real property
10. All Habeas corpus cases decided by first level courts in absence of RTC
1.

These cases shall not be referred to CAM and JDR:

1. Civil cases which by law cannot be compromised.
Article 2035: No compromise on the following questions shall be valid:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.

Civil status of persons

Validity of Marriage or Legal separation
Any ground for legal separation
Future Support
Future Legitime
Jurisdiction of Courts

2.
3.
4.
5.

Other criminal cases not covered under paragraphs 3-6 above

Habeas Corpus petitions
Cases covered under RA 9262
Cases with pending application for Restraining Orders/ Preliminary Injunctio

Procedure:
1. After filing the last pleading, the judge now shall issue an order requesting the parties to appear before PMC for
mediation to resolve their disputes. On that same date of the issuance of order, the court shall give a copy of that
order to the PMC.
2. The parties are individually required to appear for mediation process. In case they are not able to appear then
they may have their representatives provided that the latter have been fully authorized to negotiate, offer and
enter into a compromise agreement on their behalf through Special Power of Attorney.
3. Corporations, Partnerships or any juridical entity shall be represented by the ranking corporate officer fully
authorized by the Board Resolution without further attaining the approval of authorizing party.
4. It must also be included in the order the clear warning that failure of compliance on the part of the party will cause
them to be sanctioned
5. Following the date set in the order, the parties may now choose their accredited mediator. In case there is no
agreement that has been reached then the PMC unit staff will be the one who will choose by lot the mediator in
the presence of the parties and mediators. However, there are exceptional circumstances which need the special
qualifications of mediator. Thus, the parties are given opportunity to choose among the list of the mediators.

6. The mediator shall be considered as an officer of the court while performing his duties.
7. The mediator shall start the mediation process unless the parties and the mediator agree that they will have the
initial mediation conference not later than 5 days from the date of the order.
8. During the intiation mediation conference, the mediator shall introduce the mediation process, its benefits of early
settlement.
9. The mediator shall hold separate caucuses to know the respective desires of each party in the dispute. After that,
they will have the joint conference where evaluation of options take place
10. In line with the confidentiality of information, no record of joint conference or separate caucuses shall be taken. If
personal notes are taken then it shall be destroyed or shredded. These will be considered inadmissible in
evidence.
11. If settlement has not been reached in this stage, then the case will be referred back to the judge.
SETTLEMENT:
a. Full settlement
If full settlement has been reached then the parties with the assistance of their respective counsels shall draft a
compromise agreement to be submitted to the court for judgment. Upon compliance, the parties shall instead
submit a satisfaction of claims or a mutual withdrawal of the case. Afterwards, the court shall now order the
dismissal of the case
b. Partial Settlement
If partial settlement has been reached then the parties shall submit the terms for the appropriate action of the
court without waiting for the resolution of the unsettled part.
JUDICIAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION
It is the second stage in the three stage process of court diversion. Upon the failure of settling the dispute in CAM,
the case will be now resolved using the JDR process. In JDR, there are two stages: 1.) from the filing of the
complaint to the conduct of ADR and the during the JDR pre-trial stage 2.) Pre-trial proper until trial and
judgment. The one who will preside over in the first stage is the JDR judge while on the second stage it is the trial
judge.
QUALIFICATIONS:
-All judges who have been oriented with the JDR procedures and completed their training in mediation,
conciliation and neutral evaluation.

PROCEDURE:
1. During the pre-trial conference, the JDR judge shall brief the parties as well as the counsels of the CAM and JDR
processes.
2. The JDR judge shall issue an Order of Referral to CAM directing the parties together with the counsels to proceed
to PMCU bringing also with them a copy of said order.
It shall include in the Order or in another Order, the pre-setting of the case of JDR which will not be not earlier
than 45 days from the time the parties first appeared in the PMCU
3. Failure to settle their dispute at CAM, the parties shall now appear at the PRESET date before the JDR Judge
who will act as the mediator-conciliator-neutral evaluator

As a mediator and conciliator, the judge here shall facilitate the communication with regard to the settlement
of the dispute and makes an effort to reconcile their differences.
As a neutral-evaluator, the judge shall assess the strengths and weaknesses of each partys case and make
a non-binding impartial evaluation on the possible outcomes or success of each party in the case.