PHILIPPINES Law and Practice Contributed by: Leland R Villadolid J, Gilberto D Gallos, Antonio Jose Gerardo T Paz and Leo Frederick Z Cruz, Angara Abello Concepcion Regala & Cruz (ACCRALAW)
9.5 Enforcement of a Judgment From a Foreign Country Foreign judgments may be enforced in the Philippines by filing a complaint with the RTC for recognition and enforcement. Philippine courts will recognise the validity of a foreign judgment so long as it is shown that there has been an opportunity for a full and fair hearing before a court of competent jurisdiction. In the case of a foreign judgment on a specific thing, the judgment is deemed conclusive upon the title to the thing. In the case of a judgment against a per- son, the judgment is merely presumptive evidence of a right between the parties and their successors in interest. In either case, an action for enforcement of a foreign decision may be repelled only on narrow grounds, by evidence of: • want of jurisdiction; • want of notice to the adverse party; • collusion; • fraud; or • clear mistake of law or fact. Depending on the level at which the suit was initiated, the Philippine regular court system provides for three levels of appeal. Suits initiated at the first-level courts may be appealed, by notice of appeal, to the second-level courts. There- after, the decision of second-level courts may be fur- ther appealed, through a petition for review, to the Court of Appeals. Appeals brought to the Court of Appeals through the latter mode of appeal are not a matter of right, and thus may be dismissed outright by the Court of Appeals for lack of merit. Finally, the decision of the Court of Appeals may be appealed, by petition for review on certiorari, to the Supreme Court. 10. Appeal 10.1 Levels of Appeal or Review to a Litigation
For suits initiated at the second-level courts, decisions of the latter may be appealed, by notice of appeal, to the Court of Appeals. Thereafter, the decision of the Court of Appeals may be further appealed to the Supreme Court through a petition for review on cer- tiorari. However, decisions of the second-level courts should be appealed directly to the Supreme Court, by petition for review on certiorari, in cases where only pure questions of law are involved . The Court of Appeals’ decisions, whether in the exer- cise of its original jurisdiction or appellate jurisdiction, are appealable only to the Supreme Court through a petition for review on certiorari. 10.2 Rules Concerning Appeals of Judgments Please see 10.1 Levels of Appeal or Review to a Liti- gation . 10.3 Procedure for Taking an Appeal Depending on the level at which the suit was initially filed, appeal may be taken through: • a notice of appeal filed with the RTC or the Court of Appeals; • a petition for review filed with the Court of Appeals; or • a petition for review on certiorari filed with the Supreme Court. Generally, parties have 15 days from the date of receipt of the adverse decision to file their appeal. 10.4 Issues Considered by the Appeal Court at an Appeal Appeals are generally confined to reviewing the records of the case generated through the proceed- ings conducted at the trial court level. Appellate courts review the transcripts of the proceedings, the plead- ings, motions and other documents filed by the par- ties, as well as the various exhibits admitted into evi- dence, to determine whether there was an error in the determination of an issue of fact and law committed by the lower court. Appellants are not permitted to raise new issues or to present new evidence that were not properly raised before the trial court.
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