• The original and exclusive jurisdiction of the Adjudicators as well as the exclusive appellate jurisdiction of The Board has been defined (Sections 1 and 2, Rule II).
• The jurisdiction of the Secretary of Agrarian Reform over ALI cases has been incorporated in the DARAB Rules (Section 3, Rule II).
• There is a proviso for referral to the OSEC or his authorized representatives in instances where there is an administrative prejudicial issue involved (Section 5, Rule II).
• There is a proviso for referral to the BARC where complaints or petitions are not accompanied by the required BARC certification (Section 2, Rule III).

• One exception to the required BARC certification has been dropped (Section 1, Rules III).

• Related cases are required to be either incorporated in the complaint or annexed thereto (Section 2, Rule IV).
• A proviso for amendment of Complaint or Petition has been included (Section 3, Rule IV).
• A proviso for substitution of deceased parties has been included (Section 1, Rule V).
• A pauper litigant may stand to lose his status upon presentation of proof (Section 2, Rule V).
• A proviso for serving alternative or unknown Defendants or an entity without juridical personality is included (Sections 4 to 6, Rule V).
• Summons and notices issued by the Adjudicator must be written in English and Filipino (Section 1, 2nd and last par., Rule VII).
• Any DAR employee including the MARO can be tapped by the Adjudicator to personally serve the summons and Notices of Hearing (Section 2, Rule VII).
• Grounds for filing a Motion to Dismiss have been expanded to include improper venue, litis pendentia and res judicata (Section 3, 3rd par., Rule VII).
• Proviso to file Amended Answer or Answer to Amended Complaint as well as Reply has been included (Sections 5-6 and 10, Rule VII).
• The holding of an Initial and 2nd Preliminary Conference has been provided for (Section 8, Rule VII and Rule IV).
• Proviso to expunge inadmissible affidavits has been provided for (Section 9, 2nd par., Rule VII).
• Non-Lawyers who can appear before the Board or its Adjudicators now include:

• Any 3rd year law student enrolled in a recognized law school’s clinical legal education program approved by the Supreme Court, subject to the supervision and control of an IBP member duly accredited by the law school.

• Any DAR employee duly authorized by the appropriate Head of Office (Sections 1.3 and 1.4, Section 1, Rule VIII).

• The remedy of certiorari to question interlocutory orders has been removed and orders or resolutions of the Adjudicator on any issue, question, matter or incident raised before him shall be valid and effective until the hearing of the case has been terminated and resolved on the merits (Section 3, Rule X).
• Position Papers to be filed in the case must be verified and no additional affidavits or documents shall be submitted therewith except in cases of newly-discovered evidence (Section 5, Rule X).
• The period to render decision has been lengthened to 30 days after filing of verified Position Papers or after the lapse of the period to do so or after the conclusion of clarificatory hearing (Section 9, Rule X).
• A party whose Motion for Reconsideration (from a challenged decision) has been denied, shall have the remaining period to perfect his appeal but is granted a grace period of not less than 5 days in any case (Section 12, Rule X).
• The 3-day notice is imposed on Motions although the Board or Adjudicator may hear the Motion on shorter notice upon good cause especially in matters which may be disposed of motu proprio (Section 4, Rule XI).
• Intervention and Relief from Judgment which used to be dumped under Motions in the 1994 Rules now constitute Rule XII and Rule XVI of the 2003 Rules, respectively.
• Annual publication of decisions/resolutions/ final orders which cannot be served by personal service or registered mail is provided for with all notices of decisions/resolutions/final orders to be written in English or Filipino (Section 3, Rule XIII).
• Copies of the Notice of Appeal filed with the Adjudicator who rendered the decision/final order must be furnished to all affected parties and the Board (Section 1, Rule XIV) and must contain a certification as to no forum-shopping (Section 3, Rule XIV).
• The Board may act on Motions filed after Notice of Appeal regardless of whether or not the records have been elevated to it (Section 5, Rule XIV).
• If the records of the case are not received by the Board Secretariat within 30 days from receipt of a copy of the Notice of Appeal, the Board motu proprio or upon motion of the Appellant shall issue an Order for the transmittal of such records (Section 6, Rule XIV).
• The Appeal Memorandum and draft decision must now be filed with the Board although it is the Adjudicator who issues the Order for filing thereof (Section 9, Rule XIV).
• Preferential attention in Courts to agrarian cases provided in the 1994 Rules has been dropped.
• Land Valuation cases are now appealable to the Board and the jurisdictional amounts cognizable by the PARAD has been increased to 5 million and the RARAD above 5 million (Sections 2 and 5, Rule XIX).
• Decisions of the Board in Land Valuation cases may be brought to the Special Agrarian Court by means of an original action filed therewith. A Notice of Filing of Original Action, must be filed by the contesting party with the Board together with a certified true copy of the petition filed with the SAC (Section 7, Rule XIX).
• Final judgments for Just Compensation shall be executed against the Agrarian Reform Fund in the custody of LBP or Land Bank of the Philippines (Section 10, Rule XIX).
• Execution of the decision of the Adjudicator pending appeal may be granted by the Board conditioned on the posting of a sufficient bond to answer for damages which the aggrieved party may suffer in the event of reversal of the decision on appeal. However, the bond requirement shall not apply if Movant is a Farmer-Beneficiary/Pauper-litigant (Section 2, Rule XX).
• Provisions on execution are now more comprehensive and the effectivity of a Writ of Execution lasts for the entire 5 year period during which the judgment may be enforced by Motion, returnable every 30 days until the judgment is satisfied in full or its effectivity expires (Sections 4 and 8, Rule XX).
• The Executive Director of the Board Secretariat shall act and serve as the Clerk of the Board among other functions (Section 1, Rule XXII).
• All legal fees collectible by the Board or its Adjudicators shall be paid to the DAR Cashier or its counterpart Offices which shall segregate all fees collected from its general fund and shall also maintain a separate Book of Accounts for all transactions covered under the Rules (Section 4, Rule XXIII).

• He represents himself as a party to the case;

• He represents a farmers’ organization or its members, provided that he shall present proof of authority from the organization or its members or such authority duly signed by the Chief Executive Officer of the organization;

• He is a law student who has successfully completed his third year of the regular four-year prescribed law curriculum and is enrolled in a recognized law school’s clinical legal education program approved by the Supreme Court. His appearance pursuant to this rule shall be under the direct supervision and control of a member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines duly-accredited by the law school. Any and all pleadings, motions, memoranda or other papers to be filed must be signed by the supervising attorney for and in behalf of the legal aid clinic.

• He is a DAR employee duly authorized by the appropriate Head of Office in accordance with the internal regulations of the Department of Agrarian Reform. For this purpose, the DAR employee must have the prescribed authorization form before he may be allowed to appear before the Board or any of its Adjudicators

• The rights and obligations of persons, whether natural or juridical, engaged in the management, cultivation, and use of all agricultural lands covered by Republic Act (RA) No. 6657, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL), and other related agrarian laws;

• The preliminary administrative determination of reasonable and just compensation of lands acquired under Presidential Decree (PD) No. 27 and the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP);

• The annulment or cancellation of lease contracts or deeds of sale or their amendments involving lands under the administration and disposition of the DAR or Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP);

• Those cases involving the ejectment and dispossession of tenants and/or leaseholders;

• Those cases involving the sale, alienation, pre-emption, and redemption of agricultural lands under the coverage of the CARL or other agrarian laws;

• Those involving the correction, partition, cancellation, secondary and subsequent issuances of Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs) and Emancipation Patents (EPs) which are registered with the Land Registration Authority;

• Those cases involving the review of leasehold rentals;

• Those cases involving the collection of amortizations on payments for lands awarded under PD No. 27, as amended, RA No. 3844, as amended, and RA No. 6657, as amended, and other related laws, decrees, orders, instructions, rules and regulations, as well as payment for residential, commercial, and industrial lots within the settlement and resettlement areas under the administration and disposition of the DAR;

• Those cases involving the annulment or rescission of lease contracts and deeds of sale, and the cancellation or amendment of titles pertaining to agricultural lands under the administration and disposition of the DAR and LBP; as well as EPs issued under PD 266, Homestead Patents, Free Patents, and miscellaneous sales patents to settlers in settlement and re-settlement areas under the administration and disposition of the DAR;

• Those cases involving boundary disputes over lands under the administration and disposition of the DAR and the LBP, which are transferred, distributed, and/or sold to tenant-beneficiaries and are covered by deeds of sale, patents, and certificates of title;

• Those cases involving the determination of title to agricultural lands where this issue is raised in an agrarian dispute by any of the parties or a third person in connection with the possession thereof for the purpose of preserving the tenure of the agricultural lessee or actual tenant-farmer or farmer-beneficiaries and effecting the ouster of the interloper or intruder in one and the same proceeding; and

• Those cases previously falling under the original and exclusive jurisdiction of the defunct Court of Agrarian Relations under Section 12 of PD No. 946 except those cases falling under the proper courts or other quasi-judicial bodies such other agrarian cases, disputes, matters or concerns referred to it by the Secretary of the DAR.

• Preliminary determination of just compensation for land acquisition;

• Where the issue pertains to whether or not the parcel of land shall be the subject of coverage under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP);

• Where the Secretary of the DAR directly refers the matter to the Board or Adjudicator; or

• Upon certification of the Municipal Agrarian Reform Officer (MARO) and the DAR Technologist of the non-existence of the BARC or the inability of the BARC to convene.