2020 Guidelines for the Conduct of the Court-Annexed Mediation (CAM) and Judicial Dispure Resolution (JDR) in Civil Cases (A.M. No. 19-10-20-SC)

D. Common Provisions to CAM and JDR

Section 4. Imposition of Sanctions. - In addition to paragraph (b) of the preceding Section, the Judge, upon recommendation of the mediator or JDR Judge, or upon motion of the interested party, or motu proprio, may impose sanctions upon the following:

(a) Any party who fails to appear before the mediator or JDR Judge despite due notice; or
(b) Any person who engages in contemptuous conduct during mediation or JDR proceedings.

Section 5. Imposable sanctions. - The trial court shall impose the following sanctions:

(a) dismissal of the case, when there is failure of the plaintiff and counsel to appear without valid cause when so required;
(b) ex parte presentation of plaintiff's evidence and dismissal of defendant's counterclaims when there is failure of the defendant and counsel to appear wihout valid cause when so required.

The court may, likewise, impose other sanctions, including but not limited to:

(a) censure;
(b) reprimand;
(c) contempt; or
(d) reimbursement by the absent party of the costs of the appearing party, including attorney's fees for that day up to treble such costs, payable on or before the date of the re-scheduled setting.


Jurisprudence:

To reiterate, A.M. No. 01-10-5-SC-PHILJA regards mediation as part of pre-trial where parties are encouraged to personally attend the proceedings. The personal non-appearance, however, of a party may be excused only when the representative, who appears in his behalf, has been duly authorized to enter into possible amicable settlement or to submit to alternative modes of dispute resolution. To ensure the attendance of the parties, A.M. No. 01-10-5-SC-PHILJA specifically enumerates the sanctions that the court can impose upon a party who fails to appear in the proceedings which includes censure, reprimand, contempt, and even dismissal of the action in relation to Section 5, Rule 18 of the Rules of Court. The respective lawyers of the parties may attend the proceedings and, if they do so, they are enjoined to cooperate with the mediator for the successful amicable settlement of disputes so as to effectively reduce docket congestion.

Although the RTC has legal basis to order the dismissal of Civil Case No. 13-2007, the Court finds this sanction too severe to be imposed on the petitioner where the records of the case is devoid of evidence of willful or flagrant disregard of the rules on mediation proceedings. There is no clear demonstration that the absence of petitioner’s representative during mediation proceedings on March 1, 2008 was intended to perpetuate delay in the litigation of the case. Neither is it indicative of lack of interest on the part of petitioner to enter into a possible amicable settlement of the case.

The Court notes that Manalang was not entirely at fault for the cancellation and resettings of the conferences. Let it be underscored that respondents’ representative and counsel, Atty. Miguel, came late during the January 19 and February 9, 2008 conferences which resulted in their cancellation and the final resetting of the mediation proceedings to March 1, 2008. Considering the circumstances, it would be most unfair to penalize petitioner for the neglect of her lawyer.

Assuming arguendo that the trial court correctly construed the absence of Manalang on March 1, 2008 as a deliberate refusal to comply with its Order or to be dilatory, it cannot be said that the court was powerless and virtually without recourse. Indeed, there are other available remedies to the court a quo under A.M. No. 01-10-5-SC-PHILJA, apart from immediately ordering the dismissal of the case. If Manalang’s absence upset the intention of the court a quo to promptly dispose the case, a mere censure or reprimand would have been sufficient for petitioner’s representative and her counsel so as to be informed of the court’s intolerance of tardiness and laxity in the observation of its order. By failing to do so and refusing to resuscitate the case, the RTC impetuously deprived petitioner of the opportunity to recover the land which she allegedly paid for.

Unless the conduct of the party is so negligent, irresponsible, contumacious, or dilatory as for non-appearance to provide substantial grounds for dismissal, the courts should consider lesser sanctions which would still achieve the desired end. The Court has written "inconsiderate dismissals, even if without prejudice, do not constitute a panacea nor a solution to the congestion of court dockets, while they lend a deceptive aura of efficiency to records of the individual judges, they merely postpone the ultimate reckoning between the parties. In the absence of clear lack of merit or intention to delay, justice is better served by a brief continuance, trial on the merits, and final disposition of the cases before the court.

It bears emphasis that the subject matter of the complaint is a valuable parcel of land measuring 328 square meters and that petitioner had allegedly spent a lot of money not only for the payment of the docket and other filing fees but also for the extra-territorial service of the summons to the respondents who are now permanent residents of the U.S.A. Certainly, petitioner stands to lose heavily on account of technicality. Even if the dismissal is without prejudice, the refiling of the case would still be injurious to petitioner because she would have to pay again all the litigation expenses which she previously paid for. The Court should afford party-litigants the amplest opportunity to enable them to have their cases justly determined, free from constraints of technicalities. Technicalities should take a backseat against substantive rights and should give way to the realities of the situation. Besides, the petitioner has manifested her interest to pursue the case through the present petition. At any rate, it has not been shown that a remand of the case for trial would cause undue prejudice to respondents. (Chan Kent v. Micarez, G.R. No. 185758, March 09, 2011)