B.M. No. 2265

EN BANC 

B.M. No. 2265 

RE: REFORMS IN THE 2011 BAR EXAMINATIONS 

Preliminary Statement 

The Court has found merit in the proposed changes in the conduct of 

the bar examinations that the Chairperson of the 2011 Bar Examinations and 

Philippine Association of Law Schools recommended.   

One recommendation concerns the description of the coverage of the 

annual bar examinations that in the past consisted merely of naming the laws 

that each subject covered.  This description has been regarded as too general 

and provides no specific understanding  of the entry-level legal knowledge 

required of beginning law practitioners. 

A second recommendation addresses the predominantly essay-type of 

bar examinations that the Court conducts.  Because of the enormous growth 

of laws, doctrines, principles, and precedents, it has been noted that such 

examinations are unable to hit a significant cross-section of the subject 

matter.  Further, the huge number of candidates taking the examinations 

annually and the limited time available for correcting the answers make fair 

correction of purely essay-type examinations difficult to attain.  Besides, the 

use of multiple choice questions, properly and carefully constructed, is a 

method of choice for qualifying professionals all over the world because of 

its proven reliability and facility of correction.  

A third recommendation opts for maintaining the essay-type 

examinations but dedicating these to the assessment of the requisite 

communication skills, creativity, and fine intellect that bar candidates need 

for the practice of law.   

Approved Changes 

The Court has previously approved in principle the above 

recommended changes.  It now resolves to approve the following rules that 

shall govern the future conduct of the bar examinations: 

1. The coverage of the bar examinations shall be drawn up by 

topics and sub-topics rather than by just stating the covered laws.  The test 

for including a topic or sub-topic in the coverage of the examinations is 

whether it covers laws, doctrines, principles and rulings that a new lawyer B.M. No. 2265   2

needs to know to begin a reasonably  prudent and competent law practice.  

The coverage shall be approved by the Chairperson of the Bar Examination 

in consultation with the academe, subject to annual review and re-approval 

by subsequent Chairpersons.  

2. The bar examinations shall measure the candidate’s knowledge 

of the law and its applications through multiple-choice-questions (MCQs) 

that are to be so constructed as to specifically: 

2.1. Measure the candidate’s knowledge of and ability 

to recall the laws, doctrines, and principles that every new 

lawyer needs in his practice;  

2.2. Assess the candidate’s understanding of the 

meaning and significance of those same laws, doctrines, and 

principles as they apply to specific situations; and  

2.3. Measure his ability to analyze legal problems, 

apply the correct law or principle to such problems, and provide 

solutions to them.  

   

3. The results of the MCQ examinations shall, if feasible, be 

corrected electronically. 

4. The results of the MCQ examinations in each bar subject shall 

be given the following weights: 

Political Law   -- 15% 

Labor Law   -- 10% 

Civil Law   -- 15% 

Taxation   -- 10% 

Mercantile Law  -- 15% 

Criminal Law  -- 10% 

Remedial Law  -- 20% 

Legal Ethics/Forms  --   5% 

   

5.  Part of the bar examinations shall be of the essay-type, dedicated to 

measuring the candidate’s skills in  writing in English, sorting out the 

relevant facts in a legal dispute, identifying the issue or issues involved, 

organizing his thoughts, constructing his arguments, and persuading his 

readers to his point of view.  The essays will not be bar subject specific. 

5.1. One such essay examination shall require the 

candidate to prepare a trial memorandum or a decision based on 

a documented legal dispute.  (60% of essays) 

5.2 Another essay shall require him to prepare a 

written opinion sought by a client concerning a potential legal 

dispute facing him.  (40% of essays)   B.M. No. 2265   3

6. The essays shall not be graded for technically right or wrong 

answers, but for the quality of the candidate’s legal advocacy.  The passing 

standard for correction shall be work  expected of a beginning practitioner, 

not a seasoned lawyer.  

7. The examiners in all eight  bar subjects shall, apart from 

preparing the MCQs for their respective subjects, be divided into two panels 

of four members each.  One panel will grade the memorandum or decision 

essay while the other will grade the legal opinion essay.  Each member shall 

read and grade the examination answer of a bar candidate independently of 

the other members in his panel.  The  final grade of a candidate for each 

essay shall be the average of the grades given by the four members of the 

panel for that essay. 

8. The results of the a) MCQ and b) essay-type examinations shall 

be given weights of 60% and 40%, respectively, in the computation of the 

candidate’s final grade.   

9. For want of historical data  needed for computing the passing 

grade in MCQ kind of examinations, the Chairperson of the 2011 Bar 

Examinations shall, with the assistance of experts in computing MCQ 

examination grades, recommend to the Court the appropriate conversion 

table or standard that it might adopt for arriving at a reasonable passing 

grade for MCQs in bar examinations.     

10. In the interest of establishing needed data, the answers of all 

candidates in the essay-type examinations in the year 2011 shall be corrected 

irrespective of the results of their MCQ examinations, which are sooner 

known because they are electronically corrected.  In future bar examinations, 

however, the Bar Chairperson shall recommend to the Court the 

disqualification of those whose grades in the MCQ are so low that it would 

serve no useful purpose to correct their answers in the essay-type 

examinations. 

11. Using the data and experience obtained from the 2011 Bar 

Examinations, future Chairpersons of Bar Examination are directed to study 

the feasibility of: 

11.1. Holding in the interest of convenience and 

economy bar examinations simultaneously in Luzon, the 

Visayas, and Mindanao; and 

11.2. Allowing those who pass the MCQ examinations 

but fail the essay-type examinations to take removal 

examinations in the immediately following year. B.M. No. 2265   4

12. All existing rules, regulations, and instructions that are 

inconsistent with the above are repealed. 

This Bar Matter shall take effect immediately, and shall be published 

in two newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines. 

January 18, 2011.   Source: Sc.gov.ph