Bianca Marie J. Angela M. Rañola
On 08 January 2025, the Supreme Court En Banc issued A.M. No. 24-02-06-SC, approving the Rule on Family Mediation (“Rule”). The Rule applies to cases between or among (a) husband and wife; (b) parents and children; ( c) brothers and sisters; (d) other ascendants and descendants; (e) relatives within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity; and (f) parties in former or current common-law, dating, or sexual relationships, which fall within the jurisdiction of family courts, first and second level courts, and the Court of Appeals.
Under Section 2(d) of the Rule, family mediation is defined as “a process in which a mediator, functioning as an impartial third party, facilitates the resolution of family disputes and supports the parties’ voluntary agreements”.
Section 3 of the Rule provides for the cases which must be referred to family mediation, namely: those involving issues under the Family Code and other laws, which can be the subject of a compromise agreement, such as support, custody, visitation, property relations, and guardianship; settlement of intestate estates; cross-border disputes in international child abduction, support, custody and visitation, guardianship, and other civil cases involving children filed in the Philippines, between a Filipino residing in the Philippines or temporarily residing abroad and a citizen of a member-country of the Council of ASEAN Chief Justices; and other civil cases or the civil aspect of criminal cases where mediation is allowed by law and other relevant rules.
The Rule also allows some aspects of cases which cannot be subject to family mediation, as well as cases covered by the Rule on Declaration of Absolute Nullity of Void Marriages and Annulment of Voidable Marriages and the Rule on Legal Separation, among others, to be referred to family mediation upon agreement of the parties.
Family mediation does not take the place of any conditions precedent to filing a civil action as may be provided by the Rules of Civil Procedure. Rather, the directive to refer the case to mediation is issued by the court in its Pre-Trial Order, which presupposes that such conditions precedent were complied with, the parties failed to reach an amicable settlement, and the case was subsequently filed before the court.
The mediation shall be facilitated by an assigned family mediator, who is mandated to exert all efforts towards the immediate settlement of the dispute. The mediator is authorized to hold separate private caucuses with each of the parties, including any children involved, if necessary and consented to by the parties. The Rule provides guidance on the treatment of vulnerable persons, towards whom the mediator must be mindful, sensitive, and considerate of their special circumstances. It is also the mediator’s responsibility to maintain a safe environment to allow the parties to freely and fully participate in the proceedings. Moreover, the Rule provides for the qualifications, training, accreditation, and ethical standards and conduct required of a family mediator.
The mediation period is thirty (30) days from receipt of the order referring the case to family mediation. This period is extendible upon the recommendation of the family mediator and the approval of the court for a period not exceeding thirty (30) days. In the event that a settlement is reached, the parties shall prepare a compromise agreement, after which the court shall issue a judgment, decision, or order approving the same. However, if the parties are unable to reach an agreement or if any of them fail to appear in succeeding proceedings after starting to negotiate in a previous mediation proceeding, the mediation is considered unsuccessful, in which case the family mediator shall immediately submit a report to the court. Thereafter, if the court is convinced that settlement is still possible, it shall immediately refer the case to Judicial Dispute Resolution.
Finally, emphasizing the importance of the proceedings, the Rule provides that the court shall order the dismissal of the case when both plaintiff/petitioner and counsel refuse to undergo family mediation without justifiable reason, or the ex parte presentation of the plaintiff/petitioner’s evidence and/or dismissal of the counterclaim when it is the defendant/respondent and counsel who refuse to undergo family mediation without justifiable reason.