Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.872 · Article 3. Requirements for Addressing Complaints About Court-Program Mediators
Disqualification from subsequently serving as an adjudicator
Text — As posted by the Judicial Council of California (read October 22, 2026)
A person who has participated in a complaint proceeding or otherwise received information about the substance of a complaint, other than information that is publicly disclosed under rule 3.871(d), must not subsequently hear or determine any contested issue of law, fact, or procedure concerning the dispute that was the subject of the underlying mediation or any other dispute that arises from the mediation as a judge, an arbitrator, a referee, or a juror, or in any other adjudicative capacity, in any court action or proceeding.
Notes and commentary — not rule text
History
Rule 3.872 amended and renumbered effective July 1, 2009, effective date extended to January 1, 2010; adopted as rule 1622.3 effective January 1, 2006; previously amended and renumbered as rule 3.868 effective January 1, 2007.
Advisory Committee Comment
Persons who participated in a complaint proceeding are prohibited from subsequently adjudicating the dispute that was the subject of the underlying mediation or any other dispute that arises from the mediation because they may have learned of confidential mediation communications that were disclosed in the complaint proceeding or may have been influenced by what transpired in that proceeding. Because the information that can be disclosed publicly under rule 3.871(d) is limited and excludes mediation communications, it is unnecessary to disqualify persons who received only publicly disclosed information from subsequently adjudicating the dispute.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As posted by the Judicial Council of California (read October 22, 2026)
- Official file
- https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/three/rule3_872
- Text hash
- sha256 1e1ffb5c9b19e0bf6d960114eca2d9c7f71feaf5e8b92d5453358718f94e6b6b
- Composed by
- compose_crc.py 2026-10-22: the Judicial Council's rule pages read paragraph by paragraph; verify_crc.py's second reading of the Council's per-title PDFs finds every paragraph
BenchPath cards that rely on this text
- Inyo County Superior Court Local Rules of Court (effective July 1, 2025) — Article VI: Civil Proceedings
- San Diego Superior Court Local Rules (2026) — Division II: Civil
- Ventura County Superior Court Local Rules of Court (effective July 1, 2026) — Chapter 3: Court Calendars, Case Management, and Delay Reduction
This rule cites
Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.