03 A - Court-Annexed Mediation

COURT-ANNEXED MEDIATION (CAM)
TO: ALL JUDGES OF COURTS WHERE PHILIPPINE MEDIATION CENTER (PMC)

UNITS HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED.
Procedure
1. After the last pleading has been filed, the judge shall issue an order requiring the parties
to forthwith appear before the concerned Philippine Mediation Center (PMC) Unit staff to
start the process for the settlement of their dispute through mediation. On the same date,
the court shall give to the PMC a copy of the Order for mediation.
2. Individual parties are required to personally appear for mediation. In the event they
cannot do so, they can send their representatives who must be fully authorized to appear,
negotiate and enter into a compromise, through a Special Power of Attorney.
3. Corporations, partnerships, or other juridical entities shall be represented by a ranking

corporate officer fully authorized by a Board Resolution to offer, negotiate, accept, decide
and enter into a compromise agreement, without need of further approval by or notification
to the authorizing party.
4. The Order issued shall include a clear warning that sanctions may be imposed upon a
party for 12 failure to comply therewith, in accordance with the Section below on sanctions.
5. On the date set in the Order, the parties shall proceed to select a mutually acceptable
mediator from among the list of accredited mediators. If no agreement is reached, the PMC
Unit Staff shall, in the presence of the parties and the Mediators, choose by lot the one who
will mediate the dispute from among the Mediators inside the Unit, ensuring a fair and
equal distribution of cases: Provided, however, that in exceptional circumstances where
special qualifications are required of the mediator, the parties shall be given an opportunity
to select from the entire list of accredited mediators.
6. The Mediator shall be considered an officer of the court while performing his duties as
such or in connection therewith.
7. The concerned Mediator shall forthwith start the mediation process, unless the parties
and mediator agree to reset the initial mediation conference, which shall not be later than
five (5) days from the original date.
8. At the initial conference, the Mediator shall explain to both parties the mediation process,
stressing the benefits of an early settlement of their dispute based on serving their mutual
interests, rather than the legal positions taken by them.
9. With the consent of both parties, the Mediator may hold separate caucuses with each
party to 13 determine their respective real interests in the dispute. Thereafter, another joint
conference may be held to consider various options that may resolve the dispute through
reciprocal concessions and on terms that are mutually beneficial to both the parties.
10. The Mediator shall not record in any manner the proceedings of the joint conferences
or of the separate caucuses. No transcript or minutes of mediation proceedings shall be
taken. If personal notes are taken for guidance, the notes shall be shredded and destroyed.
Should such record exists, they shall not be admissible as evidence in any other
proceedings.
11. If no settlement has been reached at the end of the period given, the case must be
returned to the referring judge.
Sanctions
The court, upon recommendation of the Mediator, may impose sanctions upon a
party who fails to appear before the Philippine Mediation Center (PMC) Unit as directed
by the referring judge, or upon any person who engages in abusive conduct during
mediation proceedings, as provided for in the Rules of Court as part of the Pre-Trial and
other issuances of the Supreme Court, including, but not limited to censure, reprimand,
contempt, requiring the absent party to reimburse the appearing party his costs, including
attorney’s fees for that day up to treble such costs, payable on or before the date of the re-
scheduled setting. Sanctions may also be imposed by the referring judge upon his own
initiative or upon motion of the interested party.
Upon justifiable cause duly proved in the hearing called on the motion to reconsider
filed by the absent party, concurred in by the concerned mediator, the sanctions imposed
may be lifted or set aside in the sound discretion of the referring judge.
Duration of Mediation
In the PMC The Mediator shall have a period of not exceeding thirty (30) days to
complete the mediation process. Such period shall be computed from the date when the
parties first appeared for the initial conference as stated in the Order to appear. An extended
period of another thirty (30) days may be granted by the court, upon motion filed by the
Mediator, with the conformity of the parties.
Suspension of periods
The period during which the case is undergoing mediation shall be excluded from
the regular and mandatory periods for trial and rendition of judgment in ordinary cases and
in cases under summary proceedings.
Settlement
If full settlement of the dispute is reached, the parties, assisted by their respective
counsels, shall draft the compromise agreement which shall be submitted to the court for
judgment upon compromise or other appropriate action. Where compliance is forthwith
made, the parties shall instead submit a satisfaction of claims or a mutual withdrawal of
the case and, thereafter, the court shall enter an order dismissing the case.
If partial settlement is reached, the parties shall, with the assistance of counsel,
submit the terms thereof for the 15 appropriate action of the court, without waiting for
resolution of the unsettled part.
In relation to the unsettled part of the dispute, the court shall proceed to conduct
JDR proceedings in accordance with PART THREE hereof where JDR is available.

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COURT-ANNEXED MEDIATION (CAM)

TO: ALL JUDGES OF COURTS WHERE PHILIPPINE MEDIATION CENTER (PMC)

3. Corporations, partnerships, or other juridical entities shall be represented by a ranking

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