What is an interlocutory order?

QUESTION: What is an interlocutory order?

ANSWER: An interlocutory order refers to an order issued between the commencement and the end of the suit which is not a final decision of the whole controversy and leaves something more to be done on its merits.

An interlocutory order does not fully dispose of the case but merely settles certain incidental issues to be resolved along the way to the resolution of the case.

It is basic that Rule 45 of the Rules of Court governs appeals from judgment or final orders. A final order is one which disposes of the whole subject matter or terminates a particular proceeding or action, leaving nothing to be done but to enforce by execution what has been determined. The resolution of the Sandiganbayan sought to be reviewed or set aside is not in any sense judgment or a final order, but an interlocutory order. An order is interlocutory if it does not dispose of a case completely, but leaves something more to be done on its merits. The order of the Sandiganbayan denying the motion to quash filed by petitioners is interlocutory in nature because it leaves something more to be done by the Sandiganbayan, by way of resolving the case on the merits. The denial of petitioners’ motion to quash allows the same petitioners to enter a plea, go to trial without prejudice on their part to present the special defenses they invoked in their motion and if, after trial on the merits, an adverse decision is rendered, to appeal therefrom via appeal by certiorari. (G.R. No. 142030)