Bar exams may soon cover only 4 subjects

CEBU, Philippines - Good news for future lawyers —the Legal Education Board (LEB) is proposing to reduce Bar exam subjects from the current 8 to only 4 as part of the revision of the curricula of Law schools in the country.

This will also cut the bar exam schedules to two consecutive Sundays instead of four.

Earlier, the LEB approved the revised law curricula, a final copy of which would soon be released by the LEB working committee, which is composed of Law school deans.

The LEB proposed to limit the Bar exam subjects to Political and International Law, which composes 20 percent of the total grade; Civil Law and Business Organizations (30 percent); Criminal Law (20 percent); and Remedial Law (30 percent).

The proposal will be submitted to the LEB and its review committee, and finally to the Supreme Court, en banc, for final approval.

University of St. La Salle College of Law dean Ralph Sarmiento, in his Facebook post, said the Supreme Court has initially approved the proposal.

“The proposed revised law curricula for the Bachelor of Laws and the Juris Doctor programs will dramatically change the landscape of legal education and the Bar examinations,” Sarmiento said in his post.

Sarmiento enumerated the contents of the proposed curricula, which include, among others, the integration of Legal Ethics and Legal Forms into the other law subjects.

“For example, in Criminal Procedure, when the filing of a criminal complaint or information is discussed, the preparation and writing of a Complaint-Affidavit and Information should also be taught immediately,” he explained.

The LL.B. curriculum will have a total of 120 units, while the J.D. curriculum will have a total of 126. Both LL.B. and J.D. curricula would have 4 units of Legal Apprenticeship Program, 2 units of Law Practice Simulation, and 54 units of elective courses.

The J.D. curriculum, however, would have an additional 6 units of Thesis Writing.

Taxation, Labor, and Commercial Law will not be incorporated into other subjects like Civil Law or Business Organizations.

“Instead, they will become electives, and law schools will have the option to offer them or not depending on the tracks they choose to specialize on. For example, if a law school will offer a business track, then it can offer Taxation, Labor & Commercial law subjects as electives,” Sarmiento said.

The LEB working committee is chaired by University of San Carlos College of Law dean Joan Largo.

Other members of the committee working on the revised curricula project are law deans from Lyceum University, Saint Louis University, De La Salle Lipa, Silliman University, Ateneo de Davao University, Father Saturnino Urios University, and Far Eastern University, along with the Philippine Association of Law Schools. — (FREEMAN)