Karyl Vic P.

Pilacan

Section 2-D JUDICIAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Judicial Dispute Resolution is a process by which a judge attempts to facilitate

settlement between parties undergoing litigation after a similar effort by a court
appointed mediator has failed. This would be the best kind of alternative mode in
settling a dispute. Why? The mediators are judges trained by the PHILJA, Jdr
judges and other experts. There is no need to ask for more in such case since
judges are considered to be the most impartial person in the planet of the earth
and the perfect persons to assist the parties in arriving at an amicable settlement.
Judges experience at first hand the problem of court dockets, therefore the
possibility of decreasing the such problem would increase.

It would increase because as stated in the book one reason why JDR was
created and why the judicial system was divided in the parts is that in section 18
of the revised rules of procedure which talks about how pre-trial can be a stage
of the proceedings where one or both party may consider in arriving at an
amicable settlement through the assistance of the judge presiding over the case.
However, judges were reluctant in doing so because any attempt to facilitate
settlement may lead to a perception of bias or undue interest that may prompt a
party to seek their disqualification, or worse.

Therefore, without thinking of such problem and since the process of settlement
is different from the trial of the case and also the judge who preside over the trial
of the case will be different from the judge that will facilitate the settlement, the
judges will now be less reluctant in facilitating settlements as compared before
and the result would be the decrease of the number of cases in the court
dockets.

Also, considering that the guidelines contain no specific limitation or mandate on

the manner by which a judge may conduct JDR. Thus, a judge is perfectly free to
adopt any approach or settlement technique he may deem appropriate, for the
purpose of encouraging the parties to settle. Such feature of the JDR is for the
benefit of the court and to the best interest of the parties since judges are
persons who are knowledgeable about the law due to cases that they need to
decide day by day and their need to always have their competence not just about
the law but also about other aspects of life in check. Therefore judges can apply
applicable laws in the JDR process.