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Legal education in the Philippines(See: wikipedia.org. Some of the data in this Wikipedia article may need verification ).

Legal education in the Philippines is developed and offered by Philippine law schools, supervisedby the Legal Education Board, and regulated by theCommission on Higher Education andthe Supreme Court of the Philippines.

Law degree programs are considered graduate programs in the Philippines. s such, admission tolaw schools re!uires the completion of a bachelor"s degree, with a sufficient number of credits orunits in certain sub#ect areas.

$raduation from a Philippine law school constitutes the primary eligibility re!uirement for

the Philippine Bar E%aminations, the national licensure e%amination for practicing lawyers in thecountry. &he bar e%amination is administered by the Supreme Court during the month of Septemberevery year.

'embers of the bar in the Philippines are re!uired to ta(e mandatory continuing legal education inorder to continue practicing their profession.

Legal education in the Philippines normally proceeds along the following route)

• *ndergraduate education +usually years-

• Law school +usually years-

•

 dmission to the bar +usually by ta(ing a Philippine bar e%am-• Legal practice and mandatory continuing legal education

History

&he *niversity of Santo &omas established its faculties of canon law and civil law in in /00 1rom/0 to 233, of only 0,043 students, only 56 graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Civil Law, 2with the degree of Licentiate in Civil Law and 0 with the degree of 7octor of Civil Law in thatuniversity.89

:n 263, the *niversidad Literia de 1ilipinas was established in 'alolos, Bulacan. :t offered Law aswell as 'edicine, Surgery and ;otary Public. :n266, 1elipe Calderon founded the Escuela de7erecho de 'anila and adopted the name 'anila Law College in 65. &he *niversity of thePhilippines opened its College of Law in 63. &here were around <3 1ilipino and mericanstudents.859 =ustice Sherman 'oreland of the Supreme Court of the Philippines was named its first7ean, but after he ultimately declined the position, he was replaced by $eorge . 'alcolm, who isrecogni>ed as the college"s first permanent dean.

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Legal Systems

&he Philippine legal system is an amalgamation of the world"s ma#or systems which arethe ?oman Civil Law and the Canon Law of the Catholic Churchinherited fromthe Spanish, EnglishCommon Law from the *nited States, and:slamic Law.

Law degree programs

Law degrees in the Philippines may be classified into three types@@professional, graduate level, andhonorary.

Professional law degrees

:n order to be eligible to ta(e the bar e%aminations, one must complete one of the two professional

degrees) &he Bachelor of Laws +Ll.B.- program or the=uris 7octor  +=.7.- program. dvanced degreesare offered by some law schools, but are not re!uirements for admission to the practice of law in thePhilippines.

• Bachelor of Laws (Ll.B.) @ &he Ll.B. is the most common law degree offered and conferred

by Philippine law schools. :t is a standard four@year law program covering all bar e%am sub#ects. lmost all law schools follow a standard LL.B. curriculum, wherein students are e%posed to there!uired bar sub#ects. Ather schools, li(e the *niversity of the Philippines College of Law, allowstudents to substitute electives for bar review sub#ects offered in the fourth year of study. 809

• Juris Doctor  (J.D.) @ &he =.7. program is a four@year law program. Li(e the standard Ll.B.

program, the =.7. curriculum covers the core sub#ects re!uired for the bar e%aminations. *nli(e theLl.B., the =.7. program re!uires students to finish the core bar sub#ects in 5 5 years, ta(e elective

sub#ects, undergo an apprenticeship, and prepare and defend a thesis.

89

 &he =.7. degree was firstconferred by the teneo School of Law in 66. side from the teneo, only two other law schoolsoffer the =.7.) the *niversity of Batangas College of Law and the 1ar Eastern *niversity :nstitute ofLaw.8<9

• Juris Doctor -aster of Business !dministration(J.D.-.B.!.) @ &he =.7.@'.B..

program is a double degree program in law and management offered at the graduate level. :t wasintroduced and is so far only offered by the La Salle@1E* 'B@=7 Program, a consortium of  1arEastern *niversity :nstitute of Law and7e La Salle $raduate School of Business. *nder thisprogram, the re!uirements of the =.7. and '.B.. programs are satisfied by the ta(ing of concurrentunits of study, allowing students to complete the program in five instead of si% years. 849

"raduate law degrees

Beyond the =.7. or Ll.B., members of the Philippine bar have the option of pursuing graduatedegrees in law.

• aster of Laws (LL..) @ &he Ll.'. is a graduate law degree offered to holders of basic law

degrees +LL.B. and =.7.-. :t is generally offered to law graduates and lawyers of any nationality. Anlyfive Philippine law schools so far conduct the program@@*niversity of Santo &omas 1aculty of CivilLaw, which first offered the program *niversity of 'anila'anuel L. Due>on *niversityCollege ofLaw San Beda $raduate School of Law and PL' $raduate School of Law of the Pamantasan ng

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Lungsod ng Maynila teneo School of Law, the 1ar Eastern *niversity :nstitute of Law, the Escuelade 7erecho de 'anila +now 'anila Law College 1oundation-, and the *niversity of the PhilippinesCollege of Law8/9 College of Law +*niversity of the City of 'anila-. LL.'. programs were onceoffered by the but were eventually phased out due to lac( of enrollment and funding.

&here are two (inds of doctoral programs in law offered in the Philippines)

• Doctor of #i$il Law (D.#.L.) @ &he 7.C.L. program is a doctoral program in law offered to

holders of the LL.' degree. Candidates who hold only LL.B. degrees may be admitted uponcompletion of prere!uisite LL.'. sub#ects. &he 7.C.L. was pioneered by the*niversity of Santo&omas 1aculty of Civil Law. &heir program structure is highly similar to the 7.C.L. offered inthe Complutense *niversity of 'adrid.829 &he PL' $raduate School of Law has already opened itsown 7.C.L. program.869

• Doctor of the Science of Law (S.J.D.) @ a doctoral program in law soon to be offered in

the San Beda $raduate School of Law.839

Honorary law degrees

Some Philippine universities also confer the honorary 7octor of Laws +LL.7.- degree. :t is given tofamous individuals who, in the discretion of the awarding institution, were found to have madesignificant contributions to a certain field, or to the improvement of society or development of theconditions of man(ind in general. Honorary law doctorates in the past include)

• ing =uan Carlos : of Spain +LL.7., honoris causa, *niversity of Santo &omas-89

• *;ESCA 7irector $eneral oichiro 'atsuura +LL.7., honoris causa, *niversity of Santo

&omas-89

• former :nternational Court of =ustice =udge Cesar Beng>on +LL.7.,honoris causa,  teneo de

'anila *niversity and *niversity of Santo &omas- 859 89

• former *nited ;ations $eneral ssembly President Carlos P. ?omulo +Ll.7., honoris

causa, *niversity of Santo &omas-89

• former Philippine President Cora>on !uino +LL.7., honoris causa,*niversity of the

Philippines and *niversity of Santo &omas-809 89

• former Philippine President 1erdinand 'arcos +LL.7., honoris causa, *niversity of the East-89

• former Philippine President ?amon 'agsaysay +LL.7., honoris causa, *niversity of the East-89

• former Philippine Chief =ustice rtemio Panganiban +LL.7., honoris causa, *niversity of

:loilo-8<9

• Canadian Chief =ustice Beverly 'cLachlin, P.C. +LL.7., honoris causa,  teneo de 'anila

*niversity-859

• former chairman of the *nited ;ations Security Council, Carlos P. ?omulo +LL.7., honoris

causa, *niversity of the East-89

• former Philippine 1irst Lady urora ragon Due>on +LL.7., honoris causa, *niversity of

Santo &omas-89

• former Philippine 1irst Lady :melda 'arcos +LL.7., honoris causa,*niversity of the

Philippines-.809

• Philippine Senator 'iriam 7efensor Santiago +LL.7., honoris causa, Centro Escolar

*niversity and Favier *niversity-849 8/9

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• former Philippine Senator  ?aul 'anglapus +LL.7., honoris causa, teneo de 'anila

*niversity-859

• former Philippine Commission on Elections Chairman Christian 'onsod +LL.7., honoris

causa, teneo de 'anila *niversity-859

Practicality

Ghile advanced law degrees +LL.'., 7.C.L., S.=.7., LL.7.- may elevate a lawyer"s standing inacademic settings, the basic law degree +LL.B., =.7.- remains the most important academic!ualification to be admitted to the practice of law in the Philippines. 829

%cclesiastical law degrees

  few ?oman Catholic seminaries and graduate schools offer degree programs in Canon Law, anecclesiastical program that is not re!uired in thePhilippine Bar E%aminations.&he *niversity of Santo&omas 1aculty of Canon Law runs the oldest academic programs of this (ind. :ts Licentiate of

#anon Law (J.#.L.) and Doctor of #anon Law (J.#.D.) programs are open to priests, nuns,theologians, and even to lay people +i.e., trial court #udges, law deans, family lawyers etc.-. =udgesof the ?oman Catholic 'arriage &ribunal typically hold academic degrees in the field.869 7egrees incanon law, strictly spea(ing, are not considered law degrees in the Philippines.

De$elopments

&here is a move among members of the Philippine ssociation of Law Schools +PLS- to converttheir Ll.B. programs into =.7. curricula.89 &here are currently two possible directions for the change)1irst, the conversion of Ll.B. programs through adopting a model substantially similar to the =.7.curriculum introduced by the teneo School of Law +the =.7. Programs of the 1E*@La Salle

consortium and the *niversity of Batangas Law School are of this mold-, and second, simplychanging the name of the degree conferred from Ll.B.I to =.7.I while essentially retaining the samecourse offerings as those in the 7ECS 'odel Law Curriculum +7ECS Arder ;o. 5/, series of 626-.89

 Admission to the practice of law 

&he 62/ Constitution of the Philippines has given the Supreme Court the sole power to admitindividuals to the practice of law in the Philippines.8539&his power is e%ercised through a BarE%amination Committee, an ad hoc academic group tas(ed to formulate !uestions, administer

proceedings, grade e%aminations, ran( candidates, and release the results of the Philippine BarE%amination.

&o be eligible to ta(e the national bar e%am, a candidate must be a 1ilipino citi>en, at least twenty@one years of age, and holder of a bachelor"s degree and a law degree obtained from a governmentrecogni>ed law school in the Philippines. $raduates of law schools from other countries must obtaina law degree from the Philippines to !ualify for the Philippine Bar.859

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Philippine Bar %&aminations

&he Philippine Bar E%aminations is the national licensure e%am for admission to the practice of law.:t is conducted during the four Sundays of September of every year. :t is arguably the hardest andthe most media@covered of all government licensure e%aminations in the country.8559 :t is alsoreputedly one of the hardest bar e%aminations in the world.8509

1or candidates intending to practice :slamic law in the Philippines, the Special Bar Exams for Shari’aCourt Lawyers is given every two years. &he Supreme Court Bar Affice conducts the e%am while theAffice of 'uslim ffairs determines the !ualification and eligibility of candidates to the e%ams. 859

!ttorneys-at-law

&o be a full@fledged lawyer in the Philippines and be eligible to use the title Attorney , a candidatemust graduate from a Philippine law school, ta(e and pass the Philippine Bar E%aminations, ta(e the

 ttorney"s Aath, and sign his name in the Rolls of Attorneys of the Supreme Court .85<9

&he full names of lawyers are found in the Rolls of Attorneys of the Supreme Court , and in a similarlist included in a Supreme Court publication entitledLaw List8549

Legal Education Board

&he Legal Education Board supervises all law schools and continuing legal education providers inthe Philippines.85/9 &he Board is headed by a Chairman who is a retired #ustice of a collegiate court+i.e., Supreme Court, Court of ppeals, Sandiganbayan, Court of &a% ppeals, etc.-. ?egularmembers of the Board include a representative from each of the following) 8529

• :ntegrated Bar of the Philippines +:BP-

• Philippine ssociation of Law Schools +PLS-

• Philippine ssociation of Law Professors +PLP-

• active law practitioners

• bonafide law students

&he Board has made legal reforms which include@@the stricter selection of law students and lawprofessors improvements in !uality of instruction and facilities of law schools provisions for legalapprenticeship of law students and the re!uirement of attendance to continuing legal educationseminars for practicing attorneys.8569

Mandatory Continuing Legal Education

Lawyers with names appearing in the Rolls of Attorneys of the Supreme Court , unless disbarred, areall members of the :ntegrated Bar of the Philippines +:BP-. 8039

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However, to be :BP members of good standing, lawyers are re!uired to complete, every three years,at least thirty@si% hours of continuing legal education seminars approved by the 'andatoryContinuing Legal Education Committee +'CLE-. 'embers who fail to comply shall pay a non@compliance fee, and shall be listed as a delin!uent member .809

&he 'andatory Continuing Legal Education Affice, established by the Supreme Court, is the official

government agency tas(ed to implement compliance with the 'CLE re!uirement. 8059