Katarungang

Pambarangay

Katarungang Pambarangay, or the Barangay

Justice System is a local justice system in
the Philippines. It is operated by the smallest
of the local government units, the barangay,
and is overseen by the barangay captain, the
highest elected official of the barangay and
its executive.[1] The barangay captain sits on
the Lupon Tagapamayapa along with other
barangay residents, which is the committee
that decides disputes and other matters.
They do not constitute a court as they do not
have judicial powers.[2]

The system exists to help decongest the

regular courts and works mostly as
"alternative, community-based mechanism
for dispute resolution of conflicts,"[1] also
described as a "compulsory mediation
process at the village level."[3]

Throughout the Philippines the Barangay

Justice Systems handles thousands of
cases a year.[4] Since officials have more
flexibility in decision-making, including from
complex evidence rules, and receive some
resources from government, the courts are
more numerous and accessible than other
courts and therefore the courts are able to
hear more cases and to respond more
immediately.[4]

The Katarungang Pambarangay share

characteristics with similar traditional, hybrid
courts in other countries such as the
Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Nigeria
and South Africa, among others.[5] Such
courts emerged during colonial periods as
Western imperial powers introduced western
legal systems.[5] The Western legal systems
were usually applied to westerners while the
local dispute resolution systems were
integrated into the Western system in a
variety of ways including incorporation of
local decision makers into the government in
some way.[5] After independence, many
states faced the same problems as their
former rulers, especially "limited
geographical reach of state institutions,
Western-modeled institutions often divorced
from community structures and
expectations, and resource constraints in the
justice sector."[5] Hybrid courts became a
"middle ground for supporting community
decision-making while simultaneously
expanding the authority and reach of the
state."[5]

Besides "hybrid courts", other authors have

described the system as a "Non-State
Justice System".[6]
History
There has long been a traditional, local
system of resolving disputes. Presidential
Decree 1508 talks an unofficial "time-
honored tradition of amicably settling
disputes among family and barangay
members at the barangay level without
judicial resources".[7]

Alfredo Flores Tadiar was the principal

author of Presidential Decree 1508, The
Katarungang Pambarangay Law,[8] and he
also wrote its implementing rules, requiring
prior conciliation as a condition for judicial
recourse. For 12 years (1980–1992), he was
a member of the Committee of Consultants,
Bureau of Local Government Supervision,
which oversaw the nationwide operations of
the Katarungang Pambarangay Law. Under
the decree, the body was known as Lupong
Tagapayapa .[7]

This decree was replaced by the Local

Government Code of 1991.

Operation, rules and

procedures
The Lupon Tagapamayapa is the body that
comprises the barangay justice system and
on it sit the baranagy captain and 10 to 20
members.[9] The body is normally
constituted every three years and holds
office until a new body is constituted in the
third year.[9] They receive no compensation
except honoraria, allowances and other
emoluments as authorized by law or
barangay, municipal or city ordinance.[9]

Almost all civil disputes and many crimes

with potential prison sentences of one year
or less or fines 5,000 or less.Philippine pesos
are subjected to the system.[10][9] In
barangays where a majority of members
belong to an indigenous people of the
Philippines, traditional dispute mechanisms
such as a council of elders may replace the
barangay judicial system.[9]

Upon receipt of the complaint, the chairman

to the committee, most often the barangay
captain, shall the next working day inform
the parties of a meeting for mediation.[9] If
after 15 days for the first meeting, the
mediation is not successful then a more
formal process involving the pangkat or body
must be followed.[9] There is another 15-day
period to resolve the dispute through this
more formal process, extendable by the
pangkat for yet another 15-day period.[9] If
not settlement has been reached, then a
case can be filed in the regular judicial
system of the Philippines.[2]

See also
Local Government Code
Local government in the Philippines

References
1. "Barangay Justice System (BJS),
Philippines" . Retrieved 13 December
2013.
2. "KATARUNGANG PAMBARANGAY"
(PDF). Legal Advisories. Philippine
National Police. July 2012. Retrieved
18 December 2013.
3. Clark, Samuel, and Matthew Stephens
(2011). Reducing Injustice? A Grounded
Approach to Strengthening Hybrid
Justice Systems: Lessons from
Indonesia. Traditional Justice:
Practitioners’ Perspectives WORKING
PAPERS series (PDF). International
Development Law Organization (IDLO).
p. 5. "For example, the Philippines’
 compulsory mediation process at the
village level, known as the Barangay
Justice system,..."
4. Chapman, Peter. "Hybrid Courts in East
Asia & Pacific: A recipe for success?" .
"East Asia & Pacific on the rise" blog. The
World Bank. Retrieved 16 November
2012.
5. Chapman, Peter. "History of Hybrid
Courts in East Asia & Pacific: A 'best fit'
approach to justice reform?" . "East Asia
& Pacific on the rise" blog. The World
Bank. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
6. Golub, S (2003). " 'Non-state Justice
Systems in Bangladesh and the
Philippines' " . Department for
 International Development, London.
Retrieved 16 November 2012.
7. "PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 1508" . The
LAWPhil Project. Retrieved 16 December
2013.
8. "Effective dispute settlement under the
katarungang pambarangay law" . Open
Library. 2009-12-11. Retrieved
2010-01-17.
9. Tibaldo, Art (April 15, 2013). "Settlement
of Conflicts in the Barangay (1st of two
parts)" . Sun-Star Baguio. Retrieved
18 December 2013.
10. "Circular No. 14-93 : Guidelines on the
Katarungang Pambarangay procedure" .
Supreme Court Administrative Circular.
 lawphil.net . July 15, 1993. External link
in |publisher= (help)

External links
For more details about the rules and
procedure of the system, see Legal
Procedures 03: Katarungang
Pambarangay from Legal Updates blog
The Katarungang Pambarangay
Handbook from the website of the
Department of the Interior and Local
Government Regional Office No. 5. For an
online version go to Scribd.com
PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 1508
(repealed by R.A. 7160) ESTABLISHING A
 SYSTEM OF AMICABLY SETTLING
DISPUTES AT THE BARANGAY LEVEL
R.A. 7160 AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A
LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE OF 1991

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