Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) is a court order of limited duration. It commands the parties in the case to maintain a certain status until the court can hear further evidence and decide whether to issue a preliminary injunction A temporary restraining order or TRO is a precursor to the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction. It is issued by a court to preserve the status quo until the hearing of an application for preliminary injunction.
Temporary restraining orders (TRO) are short-term pre-trial temporary injunctions. To obtain a TRO, a party must convince the judge that he or she will suffer immediate irreparable injury unless the order is issued. If the judge is convinced that a temporary restraining order is necessary, he or she may issue the order immediately, without informing the other parties and without holding a hearing. These orders are intended to be stop-gap measures, and only last until the court holds a hearing on whether or not to grant a preliminary injunction. Judges’ decisions on whether or not to issue a TRO may not be appealed.
Because a TRO may be issued without informing the other party and without holding a hearing.
Rule 58 of the Rules of Court explains the nature of a preliminary injunction. According to Section 1 of this rule:
“A preliminary injunction is an order granted at any stage of an action or proceeding prior to the judgement or final order, requiring a party or a court, agency or a person to refrain from a particular act or acts. It may also require the performance of a particular act or acts, in which case it shall be known as preliminary mandatory injunction.”
In Pahila-Garrido vs. Tortogo (GR 156358, Aug. 17, 2011), the Supreme Court, through Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin, held:
“The controlling reason for the existence of a judicial power to issue the writ of injunction is that the court may thereby prevent a threatened or continuous irremediable injury to some of the parties before their claims can be thoroughly investigated and advisedly adjudicated. The application for the writ rests upon an alleged existence of an emergency or of a special reason for such an order to issue before the case be regularly heard, x x x A temporary restraining order and a writ of preliminary injunction both constitute temporary measures availed of during the pendency of the action. x x x It is well settled that the sole object of a temporary restraining order or a writ of preliminary injunction, whether prohibitory or mandatory, is to preserve the status quo until the merits of the case can be heard. x x x” (Emphases supplied)
Preliminary injunction defined; who may grant. (a) A preliminary injunction is an order granted at any stage of an action or proceeding prior to the judgment or final order, requiring a party to an administrative case or any third person to refrain from a particular act or acts.
A writ of preliminary injunction is defined as follows:
[A] writ of preliminary injunction is an ancillary and interlocutory order issued as a result of an impartial determination of the context of both parties. It entails a procedure for the judge to assess whether the reliefs prayed for by the complainant will be rendered moot simply as a result of the parties’ having to go through the full requirements of a case being fully heard on its merits. Although a trial court judge is given a latitude of discretion, he or she cannot grant a writ of injunction if there is no clear legal right materially and substantially breached from a prima facie evaluation of the evidence of the complainant. Even if this is present, the trial court must satisfy itself that the injury to be suffered is irreparable.
A writ of preliminary injunction is issued to: [P]reserve the status quo ante, upon the applicant’s showing of two important requisite conditions, namely:
(1) the right to be protected exists prima facie, and
(2) the acts sought to be enjoined are violative of that right. It must be proven that the violation sought to be prevented would cause an irreparable injustice.
Rule 58, Section 3 of the Rules of Court provides the instances when a writ of preliminary injunction may be issued:
Section 3. Grounds for issuance of preliminary injunction. – A preliminary injunction may be granted when it is established:
(a) That the applicant is entitled to the relief demanded, and the whole or part of such relief consists in restraining the commission or continuance of the act or acts complained of: or in requiring the perfonnance of an act or acts, either for a limited period or perpetually;
(b) That the commission, continuance or non-performance of the act or acts complained of during the litigation would probably work injustice to the applicant; or
(c) That a party, court, agency or a person is doing, threatening, or is attempting to do, or is procuring or suffering to be done, some act or acts probably in violation of the rights of the applicant respecting the subject of the action or proceeding, and tending to render the judgment ineffectual.
Mandatory injunction is an order requiring the defendant to do some positive act for the purpose of putting an end to a wrongful state of things created by him, or otherwise in fulfilment o his legal obligation.
A mandatory injunction is issued when a court directs a person to perform certain acts, as opposed to prohibitory injunction, which seeks to preserve the status quo. The defendant named in a mandatory injunction must undo the wrong or injury that one has caused. Unless prevented by constitutional or statutory provision, a court may issue a mandatory injunction where the defendant’s encroachment on the plaintiff’s rights is immediate, intentional and repetitive.
A court exercises its discretion in deciding whether to issue a mandatory injunction. Even when the facts established justify the issuance of a mandatory injunction, courts usually require a mandatory injunction only in extraordinary circumstances to give the plaintiff adequate relief.