Internal Rules of Procedure on the Disposition of En Banc Cases

April 18, 1997 INTERNAL RULES OF PROCEDURE ON THE DISPOSITION OF EN BANC CASES 1. Filing All petitions for review or certiorari (petition) and notices of appeal (notice) shall be filed with the Ad Hoc Judicial Dept. (AHJD). Upon receipt thereof, the AHJD shall indicate thereon the date and time of filing, and record the same in a logbook strictly in the order of the time of filing, giving each the appropriate docket number. There shall be separate logbooks for appealed cases and petitions. 2. Assignment of Case to a Commissioner in Charge Upon receipt of the petition or notice, the Director of the AHJD (Director) shall assign it to a Commissioner-in-Charge (CIC) in accordance with the system provided in these rules. He shall also assign the case to a Head Executive Assistance (HEA) who shall assist the CIC in disposing said case. The identities of the CIC and HEA shall at all times be kept confidential. 3. System for Assigning Cases All the cases shall be assigned to the Commissioners in the order of their seniority on a first-filed-first-assigned basis. The appealed cases shall be assigned separately from the petitions. 4. Report on Sufficiency of Notice or Petition In transmitting to the CIC the notice or petition, the Director shall attach a memorandum containing his finding on the timeliness of the notice or petition, proper service on the other party, compliance with form, inclusion of required attachments, and compliance with all other requirements. 5. Preliminary Disposition The Commission may dismiss outright the case if not sufficient in form or not in compliance with all the requirements. Otherwise, the Commission may approve the notice or, in case of a petition, order the respondent to comment thereon without giving due course thereto, or give due course thereto by ordering the respondent to answer within the reglementary period. The CIC is authorized by the Commission En Banc to act on its behalf for this purpose. 6. Issuance of Interlocutory Orders Applications or motions for interlocutory orders such as extension of time for filing of pleadings, setting of hearings, postponement of hearings, or submission of documents shall be acted upon by the CIC for the Commission En Banc . 7. Provisional Remedies Provisional remedies may be granted only by the Commission En Banc after notice and hearing. Not later than one week from the submission of the incident for resolution, the CIC shall route to the other Commissioners his recommended resolution on the application for a provisional remedy. The other Commissioners shall indicate thereon their concurrence or disagreement. In case all the other Commissioners concur, the order shall be released by the Director. In case a Commissioner dissents, a meeting of the Commissioners shall be called by the CIC to deliberate and vote thereon. The CIC shall, thereupon, cause the issuance of the order in accordance with the decision of the Commission En Banc . 8. TRO A TRO valid for 72 hours may be issued Ex-Parte by the Chairman or by the Commission En Banc upon the instance of any Commissioner. Any extension of such TRO may only be issued by the Commission En Banc after due notice and hearing. 9. Hearings All hearings on all incidents in a case shall be conducted in the presence of at least three Commissioners with the CIC always in attendance. 10. Decision Within two months from the submission of a case for resolution, the CIC shall rout to the other Commissioner the draft of his proposed decision. The Commissioners shall indicate thereon their concurrence or disagreement. If all of them concur, the same shall be submitted to the Commission for immediate approval. In case a Commissioner dissents, the same shall be submitted to the Commission for deliberation and for a vote to be taken thereon. If the majority supports the proposed decision, the CIC shall finalize the text thereof in conformity with the action taken by the majority. The Commissioners may file separate concurring or dissenting opinions. If the majority dissented from the proposed decision, the CIC may rewrite the decision in accordance the position of the majority without changing his vote, or the decision may be written by any Commissioner who voted with the majority. In any event, the CIC may file his separate dissenting opinion. A separate concurring or dissenting opinion shall be submitted by the writer-Commissioner to the Director not later than two weeks from his receipt of the majority decision. With or without such separate opinion, the Director shall release the decision after the lapse of such period of time. In case no Commissioner has reserved to file a separate concurring or dissenting opinion, the Director may release the decision immediately upon signing by the Commissioners in the majority. A motion for reconsideration shall be resolved in accordance with the same procedures. 11. Signatory to Orders To prevent disclosure of the identity of the CIC, all orders shall be signed by the Director. The TRO issued by the Chairman, however, shall be signed by him for the Commission En Banc . The Decision shall be signed by all the concurring Commissioners and by all those who may have dissented (but indicating such dissent) unless they file separate dissenting opinion. 12. Deliberation Deliberation of cases by the Commission En Banc shall be in Executive session attended only by the Director and the Commission Secretary. The HEA shall be allowed to be present only during the deliberation of the case assigned to him. APPROVED: (SGD.) PERFECTO R. YASAY, JR. Chairman SGD. FE ELOISA C. GLORIA SGD. ROSALINDA U. CASIGURAN Associate Commissioner Associate Commissioner SGD. EDIJER A. MARTINEZ SGD. DANILO L. CONCEPCION Associate Commissioner Associate Commissioner