Special Rules of Procedure

• The 2024 Shari’ah Bar Exam Syllabus includes the study of the Special rules of procedure governing Shari’a courts (ijra-at al mahakim al shari’ah).
• R.A No. 11054 (BANGSAMORO ORGANIC LAW) was asked in the 2022 Shari’ah Bar Exams although not included in the syllabus.
• R.A No. 11596 (ANTI-CHILD MARRIAGE LAW) and other relevant laws were asked in the 2021 Shari’ah Bar Exams although not included in the syllabus.
• The Rules of Court are applied suppletorily in Shari’ah courts.
• Under AM No. 19-10-20-SC or the rules providing for amendment to the rules of civil procedure, answer shall now be filed within 30 days from receipt of the summons.
• Study the coverage, but also go beyond the coverage.
• Memorize some relevant Arabic terms and learn their equivalent terms in English.
• Read a lot of case-based review materials such as decided cases of the Supreme Court.
• Familiarize yourself with definitions and distinctions of some relevant topics; some examiners tend to give a lot of objective type questions.
• Focus on understanding the “procedure” and mechanisms of implementing laws and rules of procedure in Shari’ah courts.
• The Shari'ah District Courts in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region exercise exclusive original jurisdiction over cases involving disputes related to marriage, divorce, betrothal or breach of contract to marry, customary dower or mahr, disposition and distribution of property upon divorce, maintenance and support, and consolatory gifts.
• There is hereby created within the Bangsamoro territorial jurisdiction, as part of the Philippine judicial system, a Shari'ah High Court.
• The Shari'ah District Courts in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region exercise appellate jurisdiction over cases decided upon the Shari'ah Circuit Courts in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region within its territorial jurisdiction as provided under Article 144 of Presidential Decree No. 1083, as amended.
• The Shari'ah District Courts also exercise jurisdiction over cases involving communal properties, ta'zir offenses, civil actions under Shari'ah law enacted by the Parliament involving real property in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region where the assessed value of the property does not exceed Four hundred thousand pesos (₱400,000.00), and civil actions where the demand or claim does not exceed Two hundred thousand pesos (₱200,000.00).
• In the appellate courts, the parties are called the appellant and the appellee.
• Necessary Party or Proper Party is one who is not indispensable but who ought to be joined as party if complete relief is to be accorded as to those already parties, or for a complete determination or settlement of the claim subject of the action.
• Plaintiff or mudda’i is a person, who if he should voluntarily relinquish his claim, cannot be compelled to prosecute it.
• There cannot be a right of action without a cause of action.
• Correlative obligation of the defendant to respect that right (father’s duty to give support) is a legal right.
• Right of Action is the right to commence an action in order to obtain a relief.
• Cause of Action is a formal statement of the operative facts that give rise to such remedial right.
• Representative Party is one acting in a fiduciary capacity, or allowed to sue or be sued in behalf of other persons such as the trustee of an express trust, a guardian, executor, or administrator, or a party authorized by statute.
• Right of Action is a remedial right belonging to a person to presently enforce a cause of action.
• Defendant or mudda’alai is a person who, if he should wish to avoid the litigation is compelled to sustain it.
• An act or omission of the defendant in violation of said legal right (father’s failure to give the support) is an act or omission of the defendant.
• Indispensable Party is one without whom no final determination can be had of an action and shall be joined either as plaintiffs or defendants.
• Real party in interest is the party who stands to be benefited or injured by the judgement in the suit, or the party entitled to the avails of the suit.
• Jurisdiction is a matter of substantive law; Venue is a matter of procedural law.
• Special Rules of Procedure governing the Shari’a Courts (Ijra-at Mahakim Al-Shari’a) promulgated by the Supreme Court on September 20, 1983.
• The Shari'ah High Court decisions are appealable to the Court of Appeals pending the complete organization of the Shari'ah High Court.
• The Shari'ah High Court exercises exclusive original jurisdiction over cases where either or both parties are Muslims, provided the non-Muslim party voluntarily submits to its jurisdiction.
• The Shari’a Courts are courts of limited jurisdiction, to be known respectively as Shari’a District Courts and Shari’a Circuit Courts, which exercise powers and functions in accordance with this Title.
• The Shari’a Courts are not included in the enumeration of courts covered by the Judiciary Reorganization Act of 1980 (B.P 129) notwithstanding that, when the Act took effect on August 14, 1981, PD1083 was already in force.
• In RA 11054, it has been declared that Shari'ah courts within the Bangsamoro territorial jurisdiction shall form part of the Philippine judicial system subject to the supervision of the Supreme Court.
• Substantive Law is a law which creates, defines or regulates rights, or which regulates rights and duties which give rise to a cause of action.
• Remedial or Adjective law prescribes the method of enforcing rights or obtaining a redress for their invasion.
• The regular courts within the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region shall continue to function under the supervision of the Supreme Court.
• Jurisdiction is the authority of a court to hear and decide a case; Venue is the place where the action may be instituted and tried.
• Jurisdiction cannot be waived by stipulations of the parties; Venue may be waived by the parties.
• The Shari'ah High Court decisions are final and executory except on questions of law which may be raised before the Supreme Court following the procedure for appeals from the Court of Appeals to the Supreme Court.