Rule 1.2. Nature of the proceedings.-All proceedings under the Special ADR Rules are special proceedings.

Manual for Executive Judges (2009)

9Special RaffleAs a rule, there shall be no special raffle of any case except in petitionsfor writ of habeas corpus, applications for bail in cases where thecomplaint or information has not yet been filed with the court,applications for the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO),cases involving foreign tourists, cases with motions for special raffleaccompanied by a motion for reduction of bail, applications for theissuance of search warrants, applications for protection order,petitions for writ of amparoand petitions for writ of habeas data.The special raffle shall be conducted upon written application of aparty. A certification granting or denying the application and citingthe reason/s therefor shall be issued accordingly. Such certificationshall be attached to the record of the case or expedienteimmediatelyand shall form part of the record of the case. For expediency, theExecutive Judge shall be allowed to write the action on the applicationif there are no other reasons aside from those mentioned in theapplication.If the application is granted, the special raffle shall be held in thesession hall of the Executive Judge in the presence of the membersof the Raffle Committee scheduled to sit on the date of raffle, or, ifnot available, the members of the Raffle Committee of the next regularraffle. The phrase “special raffle” shall be written on the upper left-hand corner of the complaint or information in the same manner asin regular raffle. A certification to the effect that a special raffle wasduly held and that the case was assigned to the branch drawn in theprocess shall be issued and signed by all the members of the RaffleCommittee.The date and time of the raffle shall be written on the front cover ofthe record of the case or expediente

and on the first page of theinitial pleading and signed by the members of the Raffle Committee (A.M. NO. 03-8-02-SC, February 15, 2004)

Special Raffle

c) Cases Cognizable by the Special Commercial Courts1) The Special Commercial Courts shall try and decide casesinvolving violations of Intellectual Property Rights which fallwithin their jurisdiction and those cases formerly cognizableby the Securities and Exchange Commission. (OCA CircularNo. 82-2003, June 30, 2003)It shall also handle violations of intellectual property rightsunder Intellectual Property Code, Republic Act No. 8293.(A.M. No. 03—03-03-SC, June 17, 2003)2) All cases involving admiralty and maritime laws shall be triedand decided by Special Commercial Courts, except thosewhich have already undergone the pre-trial stage in civil casesand arraignment stage in criminal cases in the ordinary courts,in which case the same shall be retained by the courtpreviously assigned to try them. The unloaded casestransferred to the Special Commercial Courts shall beconsidered as raffled to them to maintain an equal distributionof cases. (OCA Circular No. 50-2005, May 3, 2005)3) In order to ensure a just and equitable distribution of cases,the designated Special Commercial Courts shall continue toparticipate in the raffles of other cases; Provided,however,that the Executive Judge concerned shall adopt a procedurewhereby every IP/SEC/Admiralty or Maritime case assignedto a Special Commercial Court should be considered a caseraffled to it and be duly credited to such court. (OCA CircularNo. 82-2003, June 20, 2003)(Manual for Executive Judges, October 28, 2009)