Question & AnswerQ&A (PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 946)
The main purpose of Presidential Decree No. 946 is to reorganize the Courts of Agrarian Relations, streamline their procedures, and make the courts more effective and efficient in implementing the accelerated agrarian reform program.
The Supreme Court exercises administrative supervision over the Courts of Agrarian Relations.
Judges must be natural-born citizens of the Philippines, have practiced law for at least 10 years or held a law-related office for a like period, and have at least 4 years of experience in agrarian relations law or agrarian reform. In exceptionally meritorious cases, these qualifications may be dispensed with.
The Courts of Agrarian Relations have original and exclusive jurisdiction over cases involving rights and obligations related to agricultural land cultivation and use, agrarian reform laws, collection of amortizations, annulment of lease contracts, boundary disputes, membership issues in farmers' associations, expropriation, ejectment proceedings related to agrarian lands, and violations of agrarian reform penal provisions among others.
All actions shall be commenced in the Branch where the land involved is situated. Each Branch has territorial jurisdiction over all cases involving lands within its entire Regional District. If the land straddles multiple districts, jurisdiction is exclusive to the Branch where the case was first filed.
Judges must resolve petitions within 15 days from submission by the parties and decide all cases within 30 days from submission for decision.
No, the Rules of Court are not applicable even in a suppletory character. The Courts of Agrarian Relations have their own uniform rules of procedure to achieve just, expeditious, and inexpensive adjudication.
They are entitled to the rights of a pauper and/or indigent litigant, including the issuance of duly certified copies of stenographic notes free of charge, and enjoy these privileges in appellate courts until the case is finally disposed.
Appeals to the Court of Appeals must be made within 15 days from notice of order or decision. The Court of Appeals reviews findings of fact supported by substantial evidence and law. Appeals to the Supreme Court are only on questions of law via petition for review on certiorari within 30 days.
Judges must not sit in cases where they or their relatives up to the sixth degree of consanguinity or affinity have a pecuniary interest, or where they have acted as executor, administrator, guardian, trustee, or counsel, unless all parties give written consent entered upon the record.