The Supreme Court (SC) announced on Friday the approval of its amended rules adopting electronic and regionalized Bar examinations as the standard mode of admission into the practice of law.
“Under the Amended Rules, the bar examinations will be conducted electronically through a secure and reliable assessment platform. The examinations will be administered in English and will be uniform for all examinees,” the SC said.
The new rules are the product of the extensive study and deliberation by the Subcommittee on the Admission to the Bar, chaired by SC Associate Justice Ramon Paul L. Hernando.
Completion of the Clinical Legal Education Program (CLEP) under Rule 138-A or the Law Student Practice Rule is also required by the rules as part of the prescribed law degree courses for admission to the examinations.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the “digitalized, localized, and proctored” exams were implemented in the 2020-2021 Bar exams held in 2022, marking a historic shift from the traditional pen-and-paper modality.
Next year, the 2026 Bar exams are set to be conducted in local testing centers across the country and shall follow a compressed schedule of three days on September 6, 9, and 13, 2026.
