The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday said a total of 852 examinees will take the Shari’ah Bar examinations on April 28 and May 2 at the Ateneo de Davao University in Davao City and the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City.
Associate Justice Maria Filomena Singh, chairperson of the Shari’ah Bar Examinations Committee, said, there were 906 applicants, but only 852 of them complied with the requirements for the examinations.
Of those qualified to take the examinations, 575 of them will take the online exams at the Ateneo de Davao while 200 will take the tests at the Economics Building of UP.
Also 77 of the examinees will take the tests manually, using pen and paper, at the UP’s Malcolm Theater.
The Shari’ah Bar examinations were originally set by the SC last Feb. 25 and 28. However, the SC re-scheduled the examinations “in anticipation of the holy month of Ramadan (March 9 to April 8) and to allow the prospective examinees additional time to review and to prepare the application requirements.”
Subjects covered in the two-day examinations are jurisprudence (Figh) and customary laws (Adat); persons, family relations and property; succession, wills or adjudication and settlement of estates as well as procedure in the Shari’ah Courts.
Shari’ah or Islamic law is implemented in the legal system of the Philippines and applicable only to Muslims. Shari’ah courts set up in the country are under the direct supervision of the SC.
Justice Singh reminded that “the Shari’ah Bar Exams (SBE), similar to the Philippine Bar Examinations, is an official function of and a formal proceeding of the Supreme Court.”
“Any act or omission committed during the days of the SBE that impedes or obstructs, or in any manner interferes, with its normal operations, may constitute ground for contempt of the highest Court, and, if the transgressor is an examinee, it shall serve as a ground for Bar disqualification,” the SC magistrate stressed.