The Supreme Court (SC) will begin on January 8 accepting applications for the 2023 online and regionalized Bar examinations which will be conducted on Sept. 17, 20, and 24.
In a Bar Bulletin, the SC said the January 8 to April 30, 2023 application period will be for new law graduates and those who will take the examinations for the first time.
For “refreshers” or those who will take the examinations for the fourth time or more, the application period will be from May 1, 2023 to July 8, 2023.
“The Application Form for the 2023 Bar Examinations shall be accomplished only through Bar Applicant Registration Information System and Tech Assistance (BARISTA), the Court’s new online application platform. Once the application periods commence, applicants may access BARISTA,” the SC advisory said.
In the Bar Bulletin issued by Associate Justice Ramon Paul L. Hernando, chairperson of the 2023 Bar examinations committee, the SC also said that all applicants are required to submit through BARISTA and through courier service the supporting documentary requirements “beginning Aug. 1, 2023, but not later than Oct. 24, 2023,” or 30 calendar days from the last day of the Bar exams.
“Failure to submit these required documents within the prescribed period will result in the disqualification of the applicant and the immediate stoppage of the checking of his or her examination answers,” the bulletin said.
It said the Bar examination fee is set at P12,800, which was reasonably adjusted to cover the increased cost of software licensing, venue rentals for local testing centers, and safety measures due to inflation.
There are 11 testing areas in the online and regionalized Bar examinations. These are: Luzon – Baguio City, Tuguegarao City, San Fernando City in La Union, National Capital Region, and Naga City; Visayas – Cebu City, Iloilo City, and Tacloban City; and in Mindanao – Davao City, Cagayan de Oro City, and Zamboanga City.
The local testing centers (LTCs), like law schools and universities in the 11 testing areas, will be announced later by the SC.
Instead of the traditional eight subjects in the Bar examinations, there will only be six core subjects—two each for three days.
Justice Hernando had earlier said that “Commercial Law and Taxation Law have been conjoined to the close affinity between these two fields in legal practice, while Remedial Law and Legal and Judicial Ethics with Practical Exercises were fused together as these subjects complement each other in actual practice.”
Because of this, the subjects for examinations on Sept. 17, 2023 will be Political and Public International Law in the morning, and Commercial and Taxation Laws in the afternoon, from 8 a.m. to 12 noon and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
On Sept. 20, 2023, the subjects covered are Civil Law in the morning and Labor Law and Social Legislation in the afternoon. On Sept. 24, 2023, Criminal Law and Remedial Law will be in the morning and Legal and Judicial Ethics with Practical Exercises in the afternoon.
Hernando said the early release of the Bar exams results would be complementary to an early conduct of the examinations.