UNDERSTANDING ADJUDICATION

Adjudication describes the legal process that helps expedite and deliver a court's
resolution regarding an issue between two parties. The result of the process is a
judgment and court opinion that is legally binding. Most adjudication hearings center
on disputes that involve money or nonviolent infractions and result in the distribution
of rights and obligations for all parties involved.

This legal process differs from other justice-seeking or evidence-based court cases. It is
instead used to settle disputes between private parties, political officials and a private
party, public bodies and public officials. In the healthcare industry, for example,
adjudication can determine a carrier's liability for monetary claims submitted by an
insured person.

ADJUDICATION PROCESS DISPUTES:

Types of disputes handled or resolved through adjudication include the following:

 Disagreements between private parties, such as single-persons, individual

entities or corporations
 Disagreements between private parties and public officials
 Disagreements between public officials and/or public bodies

Requirements for full adjudication include requisite notice to all interested parties (all
legally-interested parties or those with a legal right affected by the disagreements) and
an opportunity for all parties to have their evidence and arguments heard.

THE ADJUDICATION PROCESS:

Formal rules of evidence and procedure govern the process where the initiating party,
or trier, gives a notice establishing the facts in controversy and defines any applicable
laws. The notice also sometimes outlines the nature of the dispute between the
parties and recounts where and when the dispute occurred, and the desired result
based on law. However, there are no specific requirements regarding the notice of
adjudication.

An adjudicator is then appointed and a notice is sent to the defending party. The

responding party or defendant submits a defense to the claim of adjudication by the
plaintiff. The adjudicator gives the plaintiff and defendant a chance to present their
arguments at a hearing and makes a final ruling. This is not too dissimilar from an
arbitrator in an arbitration hearing settling a business dispute.
STABILITY AND CERTAINTY IN JUDICIAL DECISIONS – that’s where the rule of
law best thrives. The familiar doctrine of stare decisis commands that once a question of
law has been examined and decided, it should be deemed settled and closed to further
argument. This simply means that a ruling on a certain state of facts established in a
final decision of the Philippine Supreme Court has to be followed in subsequent cases
by all courts in the land where the facts are substantially the same, regardless of
whether the parties and property are the same.