Title.
Section 1
SECTION 1. Title. — This Act shall be known as the "Alternative Dispute Resolution Act of 2004."
RA 9285 CHAPTER I - GENERAL PROVISIONS
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Declaration of Policy.
Section 2
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. — It is hereby declared the policy of the State to actively promote party autonomy in the resolution of disputes or the freedom of the parties to make their own arrangements to resolve their disputes. Towards this end, the State shall encourage and actively promote the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) as an important means to achieve speedy and impartial justice and de-clog court dockets. As such, the State shall provide means for the use of ADR as an efficient tool and an alternative procedure for the resolution of appropriate cases. Likewise, the State shall enlist active private sector participation in the settlement of disputes through ADR. This Act shall be without prejudice to the adoption by the Supreme Court of any ADR system, such as mediation, conciliation, arbitration, or any combination thereof as a means of achieving speedy and efficient means of resolving cases pending before all courts in the Philippines which shall be governed by such rules as the Supreme Court may approve from time to time.
Definition of Terms.
Section 3
SEC. 3. Definition of Terms.—For purposes of this Act, the term: "Alternative Dispute Resolution System'' means any process or procedure used to resolve a dispute or controversy, other than by adjudication of a presiding judge of a court or an officer of a government agency, as defined in this Act, in which a neutral third party participates to assist in the resolution of issues, which includes arbitration, mediation, conciliation, early neutral evaluation, mini-trial, or any combination thereof; "ADR Provider" means institutions or persons accredited as mediator, conciliator, arbitrator, neutral evaluator, or any person exercising similar functions in any Alternative Dispute Resolution system. This is without prejudice to the rights of the parties to choose nonaccredited individuals to act as mediator, conciliator, arbitrator, or neutral evaluator of their dispute. Whenever referred to in this Act, the term "ADR practitioners" shall refer to individuals acting as mediator, conciliator, arbitrator or neutral evaluator; "Authenticate" means to sign, execute or adopt a symbol or encrypt a record in whole or in part, intended to identify the authenticating party and to adopt, accept or establish the authenticity of a record or term; "Arbitration" means a voluntary dispute resolution process in which one or more arbitrators, appointed in accordance with the agreement of the parties, or rules promulgated pursuant to this Act, resolve a dispute by rendering an award; "Arbitrator" means the person appointed to render an award, alone or with others, in a dispute that is the subject of an arbitration agreement; "Award" means any partial or final decision by an arbitrator in resolving the issue in a controversy; "Commercial Arbitration" - An arbitration is "commercial" if it covers matter arising from all relationships of a commercial nature, whether contractual or not; "Confidential information" means any information, relative to the subject of mediation or arbitration, expressly intended by the source not to be disclosed, or obtained under circumstances that would create a reasonable expectation on behalf of the source that the information shall not be disclosed. It shall include (1) communication, oral or written, made in a dispute resolution proceedings, including any memoranda, notes or work product of the neutral party or non party participant, as defined in this Act; (2) an oral or written statement made or which occurs during mediation or for purposes of considering, conducting, participating, initiating, continuing or reconvening mediation or retaining a mediator; and (3) pleadings; motions, manifestations, witness statements, reports filed or submitted in an arbitration or for expert evaluation; "Convention Award" means a foreign arbitral award made in a Convention State; "Convention State" means a State that is a member of the New York Convention; "Court" as referred to in Article 6 of the Model Law shall mean a Regional TrialCourt; "Court-Annexed Mediation" means any mediation process conducted under the auspices, of the court, after such court has acquired jurisdiction of the dispute; "Court-Referred Mediation" means mediation ordered by a court to be conducted in accordance with the Agreement of the Parties when an action is prematurely commenced in violation of such agreement; "Early Neutral Evaluation" means ADR process wherein parties and their lawyers are brought together early in a pre-trial phase to present summaries of their cases and receive a nonbinding assessment by an experienced neutral person, with expertise in the subject in the substance of the dispute; "Government Agency" means any governmental entity, office or officer, other than a court, that is vested by law with quasi judicial power or the power to resolve or adjudicate disputes involving the government, its agencies and instrumentalities, or private persons; "International Party" shall mean an entity whose place of business is outside the Philippines. It shall not include a domestic subsidiary of such international party or a co-venturer in a joint venture with a party which has its place of business in the Philippines. The term foreign arbitrator shall mean a person who is not a national of the Philippines; "Mediation" means a voluntary process in which a mediator, selected by the disputing parties, facilitates communication and negotiation, and assists the parties in reaching a voluntary agreement regarding a dispute, "Mediator" means a person who conducts mediation; "Mediation Party" means a person who participates in a mediation and whose consent is necessary to resolve the dispute; "Mediation-Arbitration" or Med-Arb is a two-step dispute resolution process involving both mediation and arbitration: "Mini-trial" means a structured dispute resolution method in which the merits of a case are argued before a panel comprising senior decision makers with or without the presence of a neutral third person after which the parties seek a negotiated settlement: "Model Law" means the Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration adopted by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law on 21 June 1985: "New York Convention" means the United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards approved in 1958 and ratified by the Philippine Senate under Senate Resolution No. 71: "Non-Convention Award" means a Foreign arbitral award made in a State which is not a Convention State: "Non-Convention State" means a State that is not a member of the New York Convention; "Non-Party Participant" means a person. Other than a party or mediator, who participates in a mediation proceeding as a witness, resource person or expert; "Proceeding" means a judicial, administrative, or other adjudicative process, including related pre-hearing or post-hearing motions,conferences and discovery: Record" means an information written in a tangible medium or stored in an electronic or other simila medium, retrievable in a perceivable form; and "Roster" means a list of persons qualified provide ADR services as neutrals or to serve arbitrators.
Electronic Signatures in Global and E-Commerce Act.
Section 4
SEC. 4. Electronic Signatures in Global and E-Commerce Act.—The provisions of the Electronic Signatures in Global and E-Commerce Act. and its Implementing Rules and Regulations shall apply to proceedings contemplated in this Act.
Liability of ADR Providers/ Practitioners.
Section 5
SEC. 5. Liability of ADR Providers/ Practitioners.—The ADR providers and practitioners shall have the same civil liability for acts done in the performance of their duties as that of public officers as provided in Section 38 . Chapter 9. Book I of the Administrative Code of 19.
Exception to the Application of this Act.
Section 6
SEC. 6. Exception to the Application of this Act.—The provisions of this Act shall not apply to resolution or settlement of the following: (a) labor disputes covered by Presidential Decree No. 442. otherwise known as the Labor Code of the Philippines, as amended and its Implementing Rules and Regulations: (b) the civil status of persons; (c) the validity of a marriage: (d) any ground for legal separation: (e) the jurisdiction of courts: (f) future legitime: (g) criminal liability; and (h) those which by law cannot be compromised.
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Source: Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines — Philippine laws are public documents (works of the government).