B.M. No. 850
B.M. No. 850
B.M. No. 850
850
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EN BANC
RESOLUTION
Considering the Rules on Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) for members of the Integrated Bar of the
Philippines (IBP), recommended by the IBP, endorsed by the Philippine Judicial Academy, and reviewed and passed
upon by the Supreme Court Committee on Legal Education, the Court hereby resolves to adopt, as it hereby adopts,
the following rules for proper implementation:
RULE 1
PURPOSE
Continuing legal education is required of members of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) to ensure that
throughout their career, they keep abreast with law and jurisprudence, maintain the ethics of the profession and
enhance the standards of the practice of law.
RULE 2
MANDATORY CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION
Within two (2) months from the approval of these Rules by the Supreme Court En Banc, the MCLE Committee shall
be constituted in accordance with these Rules.
Members of the IBP not exempt under Rule 7 shall complete, every three (3) years, at least thirty-six (36) hours of
continuing legal education activities approved by the MCLE Committee. Of the 36 hours:
(b) At least (4) hours shall be devoted to trial and pretrial skills.
(c) At least five (5) hours shall be devoted to alternative dispute resolution.
(d) At least nine (9) hours shall be devoted to updates on substantive and procedural laws, and jurisprudence.
(e) At least four (4) hours shall be devoted to legal writing and oral advocacy.
(f) At least two (2) hours shall be devoted to international law and international conventions.
(g) The remaining six (6) hours shall be devoted to such subjects as may be prescribed by the MCLE
Committee.
RULE 3
COMPLIANCE PERIOD
The initial compliance period shall begin not later than three (3) months from the constitution of the MCLE
Committee. Except for the initial compliance period for members admitted or readmitted after the establishment of
the program, all compliance periods shall be for thirty-six (36) months and shall begin the day after the end of the
previous compliance period.
Members in the National Capital Region (NCR) or Metro Manila shall be permanently assigned to Compliance
Group 1.
Section 5. Compliance period for members admitted or readmitted after establishment of the program.
Members admitted or readmitted to the Bar after the establishment of the program shall be permanently assigned to
the appropriate Compliance Group based on their Chapter membership on the date of admission or readmission.
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The initial compliance period after admission or readmission shall begin on the first day of the month of admission or
readmission and shall end on the same day as that of all other members in the same Compliance Group.
(a) Where four (4) months or less remain of the initial compliance period after admission or readmission, the
member is not required to comply with the program requirement for the initial compliance.
(b) Where more than four (4) months remain of the initial compliance period after admission or readmission,
the member shall be required to complete a number of hours of approved continuing legal education activities
equal to the number of months remaining in the compliance period in which the member is admitted or
readmitted. Such member shall be required to complete a number of hours of education in legal ethics in
proportion to the number of months remaining in the compliance period. Fractions of hours shall be rounded
up to the next whole number.
RULE 4
COMPUTATION OF CREDIT UNITS
Section 1. Guidelines
The following are the guidelines for computation of credit units (CU):
2.2 BOOK 50-100 PP 101+ PUBLISHED BOOK SINGLE AUTHOR 12-16 CU 17-20 CU
2 AUTHORS 10-12 CU 13-16 CU
3 OR MORE 5-6 CU 7-11 CU
2.3 BOOK EDITOR 1/2 OF THE CU OF PUBLISHED BOOK WITH PROOF AUTHORSHIP AS
EDITOR CATEGORY
In numbers 2 and 3 of the guidelines in the preceding Section, the total maximum credit units shall not exceed
twenty (20) hours per three (3) years.
RULE 5
CATEGORIES OF CREDIT
(a) Attending approved education activities like seminars, conferences, symposia, in-house education
programs, workshops, dialogues or round table discussions.
(b) Speaking or lecturing, or acting as assigned panelist, reactor, commentator, resource speaker, moderator,
coordinator or facilitator in approved education activities.
(a) Preparing, as an author or co-author, written materials published or accepted for publication, e.g., in the
form of an article, chapter, book, or book review which contribute to the legal education of the author member,
which were not prepared in the ordinary course of the member's practice or employment.
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(b) Editing a law book, law journal or legal newsletter.
RULE 6
COMPUTATION OF CREDIT HOURS
Credit hours are computed based on actual time spent in an activity (actual instruction or speaking time), in hours to
the nearest one-quarter hour.
RULE 7
EXEMPTIONS
The following members of the Bar are exempt from the MCLE requirement:
(a) The President and the Vice President of the Philippines, and the Secretaries and Undersecretaries of
Executives Departments;
(c) The Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court, incumbent and retired members of the
judiciary, incumbent members of the Judicial and Bar Council and incumbent court lawyers covered by the
Philippine Judicial Academy program of continuing judicial education;
(d) The Chief State Counsel, Chief State Prosecutor and Assistant Secretaries of the Department of Justice;
(f) The Government Corporate Counsel, Deputy and Assistant Government Corporate Counsel;
(h) The Ombudsman, the Overall Deputy Ombudsman, the Deputy Ombudsmen and the Special Prosecutor
of the Office of the Ombudsman;
(j) Incumbent deans, bar reviews and professors of law who have teaching experience for at least 10 years
accredited law schools;
(k) The Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor and members of the Corps of Professors and Professorial Lectures of the
Philippine Judicial Academy; and
(b) Those who have retired from law practice with the approval of the IBP Board of Governors.
A member may file a verified request setting forth good cause for exemption (such as physical disability, illness, post
graduate study abroad, proven expertise in law, etc.) from compliance with or modification of any of the
requirements, including an extension of time for compliance, in accordance with a procedure to be established by
the MCLE Committee.
The compliance period shall begin on the first day of the month in which a member ceases to be exempt under
Sections 1, 2, or 3 of this Rule and shall end on the same day as that of all other members in the same Compliance
Group.
Applications for exemption from or modification of the MCLE requirement shall be under oath and supported by
documents.
RULE 8
STANDARDS FOR APPROVAL OF EDUCATION ACTIVITIES
Subject to the rules as may be adopted by the MCLE Committee, continuing legal education program may be
granted approval in either of two (2) ways: (1) the provider of the activity is an approved provider and certifies that
the activity meets the criteria of Section 3 of this Rules; and (2) the provider is specially mandated by law to provide
continuing legal education.
All continuing legal education activities must meet the following standards:
(a) The activity shall have significant current intellectual or practical content.
(b) The activity shall constitute an organized program of learning related to legal subjects and the legal
profession, including cross profession activities (e.g., accounting-tax or medical-legal) that enhance legal
skills or the ability to practice law, as well as subjects in legal writing and oral advocacy.
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(c) The activity shall be conducted by a provider with adequate professional experience.
(d) Where the activity is more than one (1) hour in length, substantive written materials must be distributed to
all participants. Such materials must be distributed at or before the time the activity is offered.
(e) In-house education activities must be scheduled at a time and location so as to be free from interruption
like telephone calls and other distractions.
RULE 9
APPROVAL OF PROVIDERS
Any persons or group may be approved as a provider for a term of two (2) years, which may be renewed, upon
written application. All providers of continuing legal education activities, including in-house providers, are eligible to
be approved providers. Application for approval shall:
(a) An official record verifying the attendance at the activity shall be maintained by the provider for at least
four (4) years after the completion date. The provider shall include the member on the official record of
attendance only if the member's signature was obtained at the time of attendance at the activity. The official
record of attendance shall contain the member's name and number in the Roll of Attorneys and shall identify
the time, date, location, subject matter, and length of the education activity. A copy of such record shall be
furnished the IBP.
(1) This activity has been approved for MCLE by the IBP in the amount of ________ hours of which
hours will apply in (legal ethics, etc.), as appropriate to the content of the activity;
(2) The activity conforms to the standards for approved education activities prescribed by these Rules
and such regulations as may be prescribed by the IBP pertaining to MCLE.
(c) The provider shall issue a record or certificate to all participants identifying the time, date, location, subject
matter and length of the activity.
(d) The provider shall allow in-person observation of all approved continuing legal education activities by
members of the IBP Board of Governors, the MCLE Committee, or designees of the Committee and IBP staff
for purposes of monitoring compliance with these Rules.
(e) The provider shall indicate in promotional materials, the nature of the activity, the time devoted to each
devoted to each topic and identify of the instructors. The provider shall make available to each participant a
copy of IBP-approved Education Activity Evaluation Form.
(f) The provider shall maintain the completed Education Activity Evaluation Forms for a period of not less than
one (1) year after the activity, copy furnished the IBP.
(g) Any person or group who conducts an unauthorized activity under this program or issues a spurious
certificate in violation of these Rules shall be subject to appropriate sanctions.
The approval of a provider may be renewed every two (2) years. It may be denied if the provider fails to comply with
any of the requirements of these Rules or fails to provide satisfactory education activities for the preceding period.
The approval of any provider referred to in Rule 9 may be revoked by a majority vote of the IBP Board of Governors,
upon recommendation of the MCLE Committee, after notice and hearing and for good cause.
RULE 10
ACTIVITY AND PROVIDER APPROVAL FEE
Application for approval of an education activity or as a provider requires payment of an appropriate fee.
RULE 11
GENERAL COMPLIANCE PROCEDURES
Each member shall secure from the MCLE Committee a Compliance Card before the end of his compliance period.
He shall complete the card by attesting under oath that he has complied with the education requirement or that he is
exempt, specifying the nature of the exemption. Such Compliance Card must be returned to the address indicated
therein not later than the day after the end of the member's compliance period.
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Each member shall maintain sufficient record of compliance or exemption, copy furnished the MCLE Committee.
The record required to be provided to the members by the provider pursuant to Section 3(c) of Rule 9 should be
sufficient record of attendance at a participatory activity. A record of non-participatory activity shall also be
maintained by the member, as referred to in Section 3 of Rule 5.
RULE 12
NON-COMPLIANCE PROCEDURES
(a) Failure to complete the education requirement within the compliance period;
(c) Failure to provide satisfactory evidence of compliance (including evidence of exempt status) within the
prescribed period;
(d) Failure to satisfy the education requirement and furnish evidence of such compliance within sixty (60)
days from receipt of a non-compliance notice;
(e) Any other act or omission analogous to any of the foregoing or intended to circumvent or evade
compliance with the MCLE requirements.
A member failing to comply will receive a Non-Compliance Notice stating the specific deficiency and will be given
sixty (60) days from the date of notification to explain the deficiency or otherwise show compliance with the
requirements. Such notice shall contain, among other things, the following language in capital letters:
The Member may use this period to attain the adequate number of credit hours for compliance. Credit hours earned
during this period may only be counted toward compliance with the prior compliance period requirement unless
hours in excess of the requirement are earned, in which case, the excess hours may be counted toward meeting the
current compliance period requirement. lawphil.net
RULE 13
CONSEQUENCES OF NON-COMPLIANCE
A member who, for whatever reason, is in non-compliance at the end of the compliance period shall pay a non-
compliance fee.
Any member who fails to satisfactorily comply with Section 2 of Rule 12 shall be listed as a delinquent member by
the IBP Board of Governors upon the recommendation of the MCLE Committee, in which case, Rule 139-A of the
Rules of Court shall apply.
RULE 14
REINSTATEMENT
Section 1. Process
The involuntary listing as a delinquent member shall be terminated when the member provides proof of compliance
with the MCLE requirement, including payment of non-compliance fee. A member may attain the necessary credit
hours to meet the requirement for the period of non-compliance during the period the member is on inactive status.
These credit hours may not be counted toward meeting the current compliance period requirement. Credit hours
attained during the period of non-compliance in excess of the number needed to satisfy the prior compliance period
requirement may be counted toward meeting the current compliance period requirement. lawphil.net
The termination of listing as a delinquent member is administrative in nature but it shall be made with notice and
hearing by the MCLE Committee.
RULE 15
MANDATORY CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE
Section 1. Composition
The MCLE Committee shall be composed of five (5) members, namely: a retired Justice of the Supreme Court, as
Chair, and four (4) members, respectively, nominated by the IBP, the Philippine Judicial Academy, a law center
designated by the Supreme Court and associations of law schools and/or law professors.
The members of the Committee shall be of proven probity and integrity. They shall be appointed by the Supreme
Court for a term of three (3) years and shall receive such compensation as may be determined by the Court.
The MCLE Committee shall administer and adopt such implementing rules as may be necessary subject to the
approval by the Supreme Court. It shall, in consultation with the IBP Board of Governors, prescribe a schedule of
MCLE fees with the approval of the Supreme Court.
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The IBP shall employ such staff as may be necessary to perform the record-keeping, auditing, reporting, approval
and other necessary functions.
The IBP shall submit to the Supreme Court an annual budget for a subsidy to establish, operate and maintain the
MCLE Program.
This resolution shall take effect in October 2000, following its publication in two (2) newspaper of general circulation
in the Philippines.
Davide, Jr., C.J., Bellosillo, Melo, Puno, Vitug, Kapunan, Mendoza, Panganiban, Quisumbing, Purisima, Pardo,
Buena, Gonzaga-Reyes, Ynares-Santiago and De Leon, Jr., JJ.,concur.
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