ADMINISTRATIVE
CIRCULAR NO. 4-94
TO:
COURT
OF APPEALS, SANDIGANBAYAN, COURT OF TAX APPEALS, REGIONAL TRIAL COURTS,
METROPOLITAN TRIAL COURTS, MUNICIPAL TRIAL COURTS, MUNICIPAL CIRCUIT
TRIAL
COURTS, THE SOLICITOR GENERAL, THE GOVERNMENT CORPORATE COUNSEL, ALL
MEMBERS
OF THE GOVERNMENT PROSECUTION SERVICE AND ALL MEMBERS OF THE INTEGRATED
BAR OF THE PHILIPPINES
SUBJECT:
ADDITIONAL
REQUISITES FOR CIVIL COMPLAINTS, PETITIONS AND OTHER INITIATORY
PLEADINGS
FILED IN ALL COURTS AND AGENCIES OTHER THAN THE SUPREME COURT AND THE
COURT
OF APPEALS, TO PREVENT FORUM SHOPPING OR MULTIPLE FILING OF SUCH
PLEADINGS.
Revised
Circular
No. 28-91 dated February 8, 1994, applies to and governs the filing of
petitions in the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals and is intended
to prevent the multiple filing of petitions or complaints involving the
same issues in other tribunals or agencies as a form of forum shopping.cralaw:red
Complementary
thereto
and for the same purpose, the following requirements, in addition to
those
in pertinent provisions of the Rules of Court and existing circulars,
shall
be strictly complied with in the filing of complaints, petitions,
applications
or other initiatory pleadings in all courts and agencies other than the
Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals and shall be subject to the
sanctions
provided hereunder.cralaw:red
[1] The
plaintiff,
petitioner, applicant or principal party seeking relief in the
complaint,
petition, application or other initiatory pleading shall certify under
oath in such original pleading, or in a sworn certification annexed
thereto
and simultaneously filed therewith, to the truth of the following facts
and undertakings: (a) he has not raised the same issue in the Supreme
Court,
the Court of Appeals, or any other tribunal or agency; (b) to the best
of his knowledge, no such action or proceedings is pending in the
Supreme
Court, the Court of Appeals, or any other tribunal or agency; (c) if
there
is any such action or proceeding which is either pending or may have
been
terminated, he must state the status thereof; and (d) if he should
thereafter
learn that a similar action or proceeding has been filed or is pending
before the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals or any other tribunal or
agency, he undertakes to report that fact within five (5) days
therefrom
to the court or agency wherein the original pleading and sworn
certification
contemplated herein have been filed.cralaw:red
The
complaint and
the initiatory pleadings referred to and the subject of this Circular
are
the original civil complaint, counterclaim, cross-claim, third [fourth,
etc.[ party complaint, or complaint-in-intervention, petition, or
application
wherein a party asserts his claim for relief.cralaw:red
[2] Any
violation
of this Circular shall be a cause for the dismissal of the complaint,
petition,
application or other initiatory pleading, upon motion and after
hearing.
However, any clearly willful and deliberate forum-shopping by any party
and his counsel through the filing of multiple complaints or other
initiatory
pleadings to obtain favorable action shall be a ground for summary
dismissal
thereof and shall cosntitute direct contempt of court. Furthermore, the
submission of false certification or non-compliance with the
undertakings
therein, as provided in Paragraph 1 hereof, shall constitute indirect
contempt
of court, without prejudice to disciplinary proceeding against the
counsel
and the filing of a criminal action against the guilty party.cralaw:red
This
Circular shall
take effect on April 1, 1994.cralaw:red
February 8,
1994.
[Sgd.]
ANDRES
R. NARVASAChief
Justice |