Special Rules of Court on Alternative Dispute Resolution

Rule 2

No arbitrator shall act as a mediator in any proceeding in which he is acting as arbitrator; and all negotiations towards settlement of the dispute must take place without the presence of that arbitrator. Conversely, no mediator shall act as arbitrator in any proceeding in which he acted as mediator.

Rule 2

Where the parties to mediation have agreed in the written settlement agreement that the mediator shall become the sole arbitrator for the dispute or that the settlement agreement shall become an arbitral award, the sole arbitrator shall issue the settlement agreement as an arbitral award, which shall be subject to enforcement under the law.

Rule 2

(A) Where the parties have agreed to submit their dispute to arbitration, courts shall refer the parties to arbitration pursuant to Republic Act No. 9285 bearing in mind that such arbitration agreement is the law between the parties and that they are expected to abide by it in good faith. Further, the courts shall not refuse to refer parties to arbitration for reasons including, but not limited to, the following: a. The referral tends to oust a court of its jurisdiction; b. The court is in a better position to resolve the dispute subject of arbitration; c. The referral would result in multiplicity of suits; d. The arbitration proceeding has not commenced; e. The place of arbitration is in a foreign country; f. One or more of the issues are legal and one or more of the arbitrators are not lawyers; g. One or more of the arbitrators are not Philippine nationals; or h. One or more of the arbitrators are alleged not to possess the required qualification under the arbitration agreement or law. (B) Where court intervention is allowed under ADR Laws or the Special ADR Rules, courts shall not refuse to grant relief, as provided herein, for any of the following reasons: a. Prior to the constitution of the arbitral tribunal, the court finds that the principal action is the subject of an arbitration agreement; or b. The principal action is already pending before an arbitral tribunal. The Special ADR Rules recognize the principle of competence-competence, which means that the arbitral tribunal may initially rule on its own jurisdiction, including any objections with respect to the existence or validity of the arbitration agreement or any condition precedent to the filing of a request for arbitration. The Special ADR Rules recognize the principle of separability of the arbitration clause, which means that said clause shall be treated as an agreement independent of the other terms of the contract of which it forms part. A decision that the contract is null and void shall not entail ipso jure the invalidity of the arbitration clause.

Rule 2

The arbitral tribunal shall be accorded the first opportunity or competence to rule on the issue of whether or not it has the competence or jurisdiction to decide a dispute submitted to it for decision, including any objection with respect to the existence or validity of the arbitration agreement. When a court is asked to rule upon issue/s affecting the competence or jurisdiction of an arbitral tribunal in a dispute brought before it, either before or after the arbitral tribunal is constituted, the court must exercise judicial restraint and defer to the competence or jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal by allowing the arbitral tribunal the first opportunity to rule upon such issues. Where the court is asked to make a determination of whether the arbitration agreement is null and void, inoperative or incapable of being performed, under this policy of judicial restraint, the court must make no more than a prima facie determination of that issue. Unless the court, pursuant to such prima facie determination, concludes that the arbitration agreement is null and void, inoperative or incapable of being performed, the court must suspend the action before it and refer the parties to arbitration pursuant to the arbitration agreement.

Rule 2

The Special ADR Rules do not apply to Court-Annexed Mediation, which shall be governed by issuances of the Supreme Court. Where the parties have agreed to submit their dispute to mediation, a court before which that dispute was brought shall suspend the proceedings and direct the parties to submit their dispute to private mediation. If the parties subsequently agree, however, they may opt to have their dispute settled through Court-Annexed Mediation.

Rule 2

It is the policy of the State to actively promote the use of various modes of ADR and to respect party autonomy or the freedom of the parties to make their own arrangements in the resolution of disputes with the greatest cooperation of and the least intervention from the courts. To this end, the objectives of the Special ADR Rules are to encourage and promote the use of ADR, particularly arbitration and mediation, as an important means to achieve speedy and efficient resolution of disputes, impartial justice, curb a litigious culture and to de-clog court dockets. The court shall exercise the power of judicial review as provided by these Special ADR Rules. Courts shall intervene only in the cases allowed by law or these Special ADR Rules.

Rule 2

The parties are free to agree on the procedure to be followed in the conduct of arbitral proceedings. Failing such agreement, the arbitral tribunal may conduct arbitration in the manner it considers appropriate.