New rule on conducting pretrial

The Supreme Court has taken a move to make the wheel of justice in the Philippines rotate faster. This can be gleaned from a rule that was adopted by the High Tribunal, which provides guidelines to be observed by trial court judges and clerks of court in the conduct of pretrial and the use of deposition-discovery measures.

For public information, the new rule is designed to “abbreviate court proceedings, ensure prompt disposition of cases and decongest court dockets.”

Under the new rule, the procedure has to be observed in the pretrial of cases:

First. Within one day from receipt of the complaint:

Summons shall be prepared and shall contain a reminder to defendant to observe restraint in filing a motion to dismiss, and instead allege the grounds thereof as defenses in the Answer, in conformity with IBP-OCA Memorandum of Policy Guides dated March 12, 2002.

The court shall issue an order requiring the parties to avail of interrogatories to parties under Rule 25 and request for admission by adverse party under Rule 16 or other measures under Rules 27 and 28 within five days from the filing of the answer. A copy of the order shall be served upon the defendant together with the summons and upon the plaintiff.

Within five days from date of filing of the reply, the plaintiff must promptly move ex parte that the case be set for pretrial conference. If the plaintiff fails to file said motion within the given period, the Branch COC sshall issue a notice of pretrial.

Second. The parties shall submit, at least three days before the pretrial, pretrial briefs containing the following:

A statement of their willingness to enter into an amicable settlement indicating the desired terms thereof or to submit the case to any of the alternative modes of dispute resolution;

A summary of admitted facts and proposed stipulation of facts;

The issued to be tried or resolved;

The documents or exhibits to be presented, stating the purpose thereof. (No evidence shall be allowed to be presented and offered during the trial in support of a party’s evidence-in-chief other than those that had been earlier identified and premarked during the pretrial, except if allowed by the court for good cause shown);

A manifestation of their having availed of their intention to avail themselves of discovery procedures or referral to commissioners; and

The number and names of the witnesses, the substance of their testimonies, and the approximate number of hours that will be required by the parties for the presentation of their respective witnesses.

The rule on the contents of the pretrial brief must strictly be complied with. The parties are bound by the representations and statements in their respective pretrial briefs.

Third. At the start of the pretrial conference, the judge shall immediately refer the parties and/or their counsel if authorized by their clients to the PMC mediation unit for purposes of mediation if available. If mediation fails, the judge will schedule the continuance of the pretrial conference. Before the continuance, the judge may refer the case to the Branch COC for a preliminary conference to assist the parties in reaching a settlement, to mark the documents or exhibits to be presented by the parties and copies thereof to be attached to the records after comparison and to consider such other matters as may aid in its prompt disposition.

During the preliminary conference, the Branch COC shall also ascertain from the parties the undisputed facts and admissions on the genuineness and due execution of the documents marked as exhibits. The proceedings during the preliminary conference shall be recorded in the “Minutes of Preliminary Conference” to be signed by both parties and/or counsel, the form of which is hereto attached as Annex “C.”

The minutes of preliminary conference and the exhibits shall be attached by the Branch COC to the case record before the pretrial.