Computerizing Bar test eyed by high Court

The Supreme Court will soon conduct a series of tests to determine the viability of computerizing the Bar examinations instead of the traditional handwritten examinations for aspiring lawyers.

In a Bar bulletin, the high court, through Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, the 2020/21 Bar chairman, said the Court En Banc had resolved to explore the possibility of computerizing the Bar exams under a “localized and proctored setting” to facilitate the speedy evaluation and release of results.

Leonen said the handwritten examinations had long been considered “to affect the evaluation of answers and to distort the playing field.”

“Within the next few months, a series of activities shall be commenced to rest the viability of the proposed system,” Leonen said.

The activities include holding two mock Bar examinations in several law schools.

“These activities will be done in partnership with the Philippine Association of Law Schools and other relevant sectors,” Leonen said.

“Building on the knowledge to be gained from these endeavors, the Office of the Bar Chairperson can assess early on the most apt modality for the Bar Examinations proper.”

The high court will announce the modality of the 2020/21 Bar examinations in the first quarter of 2021.

In another departure from tradition, next year’s exams will be held not only in Manila but also in Cebu City.

In a separate advisory, Leonen announced that the high court had approved the creation of a three-member Committee of Bar Examiners for each Bar subject to make the preparation of questions and the evaluation of answers more efficient in anticipation of a projected increase in the examinees.

The Bar exams for this year had to be postponed to November 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The exams were previously held during the four Sundays of November at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila.

“These innovations reflect the Court’s leap toward a more inclusive and fair admission to the practice of law. Such measures are not only necessary but also inescapable consequences of our current demands,” Leonen said.

“The COVID-19 pandemic ignited the resolve to effect the much-needed reforms in a system long pervaded with inequities. Ultimately, they ensure more reliable and equitable Bar Examinations.”

The Bar exams cover eight subjects: political and international law, labor law and social legislation, civil law, taxation law, mercantile law, criminal law, remedial law and legal and judicial ethics.

Leonen said in another bulletin that the scope and cutoff of canonical jurisprudential doctrines to be covered by the exams will be extended to Sept. 30, 2020. The cutoff for laws, rules and issuances remains until June 30, 2019.

The previously issued syllabi remain unchanged.

In the 2019 Bar exams, 2,103 candidates passed what is considered to be the country’s most grueling state examinations.