Core amendment: RTC civil case limits
- Section 1 amends Section 19 of Batas Pambansa Blg. 129 to define when Regional Trial Courts have exclusive original jurisdiction in civil cases.
- Section 19(1) gives exclusive original jurisdiction to Regional Trial Courts in all civil actions where the subject of litigation is incapable of pecuniary estimation.
- Section 19(2) gives exclusive original jurisdiction where the case involves title to, or possession of, real property, or any interest therein, if the assessed value exceeds Twenty thousand pesos (P20,000.00), or in Metro Manila if it exceeds Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000.00).
- Section 19(2) excludes from RTC jurisdiction forcible entry into and unlawful detainer of lands or buildings, and confers original jurisdiction over those actions upon Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts, and Municipal Circuit Trial Courts.
- Section 19(3) gives RTC exclusive original jurisdiction in admiralty and maritime actions where the demand or claim exceeds One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00), or in Metro Manila where it exceeds Two hundred thousand pesos (P200,000.00).
- Section 19(4) gives RTC exclusive original jurisdiction in probate matters (testate and intestate) where the gross value of the estate exceeds One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00), or in Metro Manila where it exceeds Two hundred thousand pesos (P200,000.00).
- Section 19(5) gives RTC exclusive original jurisdiction over actions involving the contract of marriage and marital relations.
- Section 19(6) gives RTC exclusive original jurisdiction in all cases not within the exclusive jurisdiction of any other court, tribunal, person, or body exercising judicial or quasi-judicial functions.
- Section 19(7) gives RTC exclusive original jurisdiction over civil actions and special proceedings within the exclusive jurisdiction of a Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court and the Court of Agrarian Relations as provided by law.
- Section 19(8) gives RTC exclusive original jurisdiction where the demand, exclusive of interest, damages of whatever kind, attorney’s fees, litigation expenses, and costs, or the value of the property in controversy exceeds One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000), or in Metro Manila where it exceeds Two hundred thousand pesos (P200,000).
Core amendment: MTCC/MTC/MCT civil jurisdiction
- Section 3 amends Section 33 of Batas Pambansa Blg. 129 to define Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts, and Municipal Circuit Trial Courts’ exclusive original jurisdiction in civil cases.
- Section 33(1) grants them exclusive original jurisdiction over civil actions and probate proceedings (testate and intestate) including the grant of provisional remedies in proper cases where the value of the personal property, estate, or amount of the demand does not exceed One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00), or in Metro Manila where it does not exceed Two hundred thousand pesos (P200,000.00).
- Section 33(1) limits the threshold to the amount exclusive of interest, damages of whatever kind, attorney’s fees, litigation expenses, and costs, and requires those amounts be specifically alleged.
- Section 33(1) requires that interest, damages of whatever kind, attorney’s fees, litigation expenses, and costs are included in the determination of the filing fees.
- Section 33(1) provides that when there are several claims or causes of action between the same or different parties in the same complaint, the amount of the demand is the totality of the claims in all causes of action, irrespective of whether the causes of action arose out of the same or different transactions.
- Section 33(2) grants exclusive original jurisdiction over forcible entry and unlawful detainer, with a rule on ownership defenses:
- If the defendant raises question of ownership and possession cannot be resolved without deciding ownership, the issue of ownership is resolved only to determine the issue of possession.
- Section 33(3) grants exclusive original jurisdiction over civil actions involving title to, or possession of, real property, or any interest therein where the assessed value does not exceed Twenty thousand pesos (P20,000.00), or in Metro Manila where it does not exceed Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000.00).
- Section 33(3) provides a valuation rule for land not declared for taxation purposes: the value is determined by the assessed value of the adjacent lots.
Core amendment: MTCC/MTC/MCT criminal jurisdiction
- Section 2 amends Section 32 of Batas Pambansa Blg. 129 to define criminal jurisdiction for Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts, and Municipal Circuit Trial Courts.
- Section 32 states that, except in cases within the exclusive original jurisdiction of the Regional Trial Courts and the Sandiganbayan, these lower courts exercise:
- Section 32(1) exclusive original jurisdiction over all violations of city or municipal ordinances committed within their respective territorial jurisdiction.
- Section 32(2) exclusive original jurisdiction over all offenses punishable with imprisonment not exceeding six (6) years, regardless of the amount of fine, and regardless of other imposable accessory or other penalties, including the civil liability arising from such offenses or predicated thereon, irrespective of kind, nature, value, or amount.
- Section 32(2) proviso provides that in offenses involving damage to property through criminal negligence, the lower courts have exclusive original jurisdiction over them.
Delegated jurisdiction: cadastral and land registration
- Section 4 amends Section 34 of Batas Pambansa Blg. 129 to establish delegated jurisdiction in certain cadastral and land registration cases.
- The Supreme Court may assign Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts, and Municipal Circuit Trial Courts to hear and determine cadastral or land registration cases involving lots where there is no controversy or opposition, or contested lots with a value not exceeding One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00) (Section 34).
- For contested lots, the value must be ascertained by the affidavit of the claimant, or by agreement of the respective claimants if there is more than one, or from the corresponding tax declaration of the real property (Section 34).
- Decisions in these delegated cases are appealable in the same manner as decisions of the Regional Trial Courts (Section 34).
Jurisdictional amount adjustments over time
- Section 5 provides that after five (5) years from the effectivity of Republic Act No. 7691, specified jurisdictional amounts in Section 19(3), (4), and (8) and Section 33(1) of Batas Pambansa Blg. 129 as amended are adjusted to Two hundred thousand pesos (P200,000.00).
- Section 5 provides that five (5) years thereafter, those adjusted jurisdictional amounts are further adjusted to Three hundred thousand pesos (P300,000.00).
- Section 5 includes a Metro Manila proviso clause for the abovementioned jurisdictional amounts, without changing the mandated P200,000.00 and P300,000.00 adjustment structure for the covered amounts.
Transitory application and transfer procedure
- Section 7 applies the Act to all civil cases that have not yet reached the pretrial stage.
- Section 7 allows, by agreement of all the parties, civil cases cognizable by municipal and metropolitan courts under the Act to be transferred from Regional Trial Courts to the Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts, and Municipal Circuit Trial Courts.
- Section 7 directs that the executive judge of the appropriate Regional Trial Court shall define the administrative procedure for transferring affected cases resulting from the redefinition of jurisdiction to the lower courts.
Supersession, amendments, and compliance
- Section 6 states that all laws, decrees, and orders inconsistent with the provisions of Republic Act No. 7691 are considered amended or modified accordingly.
- Section 1 through Section 4 operate as direct amendments to Sections 19, 32, 33, and 34 of Batas Pambansa Blg. 129.