MANILA, Philippines - Law graduates taking this year’s Bar
examinations in November will not only deal with new
multiple-choice tests, they also have to pay higher exam fees.
The Supreme Court (SC) approved the increase in the Bar exam
and admission fee from P2,750 to P3,000. The Office of the Bar
Confidant (OBC), which administers the Bar exams, asked for
the increase to meet the rising cost of materials and personnel
requirements for the exams, which will be held in the University
of Sto. Tomas in Manila.
The coverage of the Bar exams, according to deputy clerk of
SC and OBC chief lawyer Ma. Cristina Layusa, shall be by topic
and sub-topic rather than by simply stating the covered laws.
Another change is the use of multiple-choice questions that
are constructed to specifically measure the candidate’s knowledge
of and ability to recall the laws, doctrines, and principles that every
new lawyer needs, and assess the candidate’s understanding of
the meaning and significance of those laws and principles as they apply
to specific situations.
The examinations shall also include essay-type questions, which will
not be Bar subject-specific. One essay, which will account for
60 percent of the essay portion grade, will require the candidate
to prepare a trial memorandum or a decision based on a documented
legal dispute. The remaining 40 percent will be covered by an essay
that will require the Bar candidate to prepare a written opinion
sought by a client concerning a potential legal dispute facing him or her.
In computing a candidate’s final grade in the Bar exams, the results of
the multiple-choice questions examinations will be given a weight of
60 percent, while those of the essay-type examinations will be given
a weight of 40 percent.
Since this is the first time that the new format will be implemented,
the answers of all candidates in the essay-type examinations will
be corrected irrespective of the results of their multiple-choice
questions examinations, which are known earlier because these
will be checked electronically.
In future Bar exams, however, the Bar chairperson shall recommend
to the court the disqualification of those whose grades in the
multiple-choice questions are so low that it would serve no useful
purpose to correct their answers in the essay-type examinations.
Associate Justice Roberto Abad, chair of 2011 Bar committee,
has conducted a series of seminars nationwide to orient law deans,
professors, and students of the changes.
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