Mediation is a process of settling disputes with the assisstance of an acceptable, impartial and neutral third party called a mediator. The mediator helps parties identify issues and develop proposals to resolve their disoutes. Once the parties have arrived at a mutually acceptable arrangment, the agreement becomes the basis for the court’s decision on the case.

This form of mediation is also known as court-annexed mediation since the case has already been filed in court.

Judicial Dispute Resolution (JDR) is another innovation in the Philippine court system. When court-annexed mediation fails, the case is brought to the judge who then acts as a conciliator, a neutral evaluator and a mediator. The judge will try to mediate the case. If the judge’s intervention as a mediator succeeds, the case is concluded with a judgment based on a compromise. If the dispute is still unresolved, then the case is referred to another judge for trial. Both parties must now be prepared for litigation.