The Asia Foundation (TAF) is a nonprofit international development organization with six decades of experience and deep local expertise in addressing critical issues affecting Asia in the 21st century: governance and law, economic development, women’s empowerment, environment, and regional cooperation. Together with its partners, TAF is committed to Asia’s continued development as a peaceful, just, and thriving region of the world.

In 2013, two new Civil Procedure rules on Pre-Trial Conferences and Trials were presented in the National Conference for the Revision of the Rules of Civil Procedure in the Philippines. The Supreme Court decided to field test these rules before approving them to see if they would indeed serve their purpose: to fast-track the resolution of a huge backlog of civil cases in that country. TAF Philippines has engaged HNMCP to assist in providing an objective and holistic report on the efficacy of these two new rules and the impact of the proposed changes to the rules on Pre-Trial Conferences and Trials in civil litigation.

Activities & Deliverables

• Interviews with stakeholders—including lawyers, judges, parties;
• Research on best practices in pre-trial and trial procedures
• Written assessment of the proposed rules’ effectiveness, as well as recommendations regarding improvements to the rules and their roll out throughout the Philippines.