On February 1, 2009, the Philippine Supreme Court issued the new RULE ON MANDATORY LEGAL AID SERVICE FOR PRACTICING LAWYERS, docketed as BM No. 2012, which will take effect on July 1, 2009.
This is its first experiment on the matter.
I feel that the Rule, which is still at its infancy, would benefit from improvements in its style and content.
The Rule needs widespread consultations with the voluntary Bar nationwide.
I wonder how widespread the consultations were prior to the adoption of the new rule by the Supreme Court. The Las Pinas City Bar Association was not consulted by the Supreme Court or the IBP head office on the proposed Rule.
As a rule, it is not advisable for the Supreme Court to consult only the mandatory Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP).
In most cases, the local voluntary bar associations in the various cities and provinces of the country are much more active, dedicated, zealous, industrious, organized, mature, intelligent, and forward-looking than local IBP chapters, most of whom are alive only during chapter elections every two years or when they hold routine MCLE seminars and bench/bar dialogs.
At any rate, I wish to digest its salient parts for the information of legal researchers visiting this blog. Thus:
The Rule governs the “mandatory requirement for practicing lawyers to render free legal aid services in all cases (whether, civil, criminal or administrative) involving indigent and pauper litigants where the assistance of a lawyer is needed”. It speaks of the duty of the legal profession to support the legal aid program of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP).
The term “practicing lawyers” refers to members of the Philippine Bar who appear for and in behalf of parties in courts of law and quasi-judicial agencies, including but not limited to the National Labor Relations Commission, National Conciliation and Mediation Board, Department of Labor and Employment Regional Offices, Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board and National Commission for Indigenous Peoples.
It excludes Government employees and incumbent elective officials not allowed by law to practice; lawyers who by law are not allowed to appear in court; supervising lawyers of students enrolled in law student practice in duly accredited legal clinics of law schools and lawyers of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and peoples’ organizations (POs) like the Free Legal Assistance Group who by the nature of their work already render free legal aid to indigent and pauper litigants; and lawyers who are employed in the private sector but do not appear for and in behalf of parties in courts of law and quasi-judicial agencies.
The term “indigent and pauper litigants” refers to those defined under Rule 141, Section 19 of the Rules of Court and Algura v. The Local Government Unit of the City of Naga (G.R. No. 150135, 30 October 2006, 506 SCRA 81).
The term “legal aid cases” refers are those actions, disputes, and controversies that are criminal, civil and administrative in nature in whatever stage wherein indigent and pauper litigants need legal representation.
The term “free legal aid services” refers to appearance in court or quasi-judicial body for and in behalf of an indigent or pauper litigant and the preparation of pleadings or motions. It shall also cover assistance by a practicing lawyer to indigent or poor litigants in court-annexed mediation and in other modes of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Services rendered when a practicing lawyer is appointed counsel de oficio are also be considered as free legal aid services and credited as compliance under this Rule.
The Rule requires the following of practicing Filipino lawyers:
(a) Every practicing lawyer is required to render a minimum of sixty (60) hours of free legal aid services to indigent litigants in a year. Said 60 hours shall be spread within a period of twelve (12) months, with a minimum of five (5) hours of free legal aid services each month. However, where it is necessary for the practicing lawyer to render legal aid service for more than five (5) hours in one month, the excess hours may be credited to the said lawyer for the succeeding periods.
For this purpose, a practicing lawyer shall coordinate with the Clerk of Court for cases where he may render free legal aid service. He may also coordinate with the IBP Legal Aid Chairperson of the IBP Chapter to inquire about cases where he may render free legal aid service.
The practicing lawyer shall report compliance with the requirement within ten (10) days of the last month of each quarter of the year.
(b) A practicing lawyer shall be required to secure and obtain a certificate from the Clerk of Court attesting to the number of hours spent rendering free legal aid services in a case. The certificate shall contain the following information:
(i) The case or cases where the legal aid service was rendered, the party or parties in the said case(s) for whom the service was rendered, the docket number of the said case(s) and the date(s) the service was rendered.
(ii) The number of hours actually spent attending a hearing or conducting trial on a particular case in the court or quasi-judicial body.
(iii) The number of hours actually spent attending mediation, conciliation or any other mode of ADR on a particular case.
(iv) A motion (except a motion for extension of time to file a pleading or for postponement of hearing or conference) or pleading filed on a particular case shall be considered as one (1) hour of service.
(c) The compliance report shall be submitted to the Legal Aid Chairperson of the IBP Chapter within the court’s jurisdiction for verification of the contents of the certificate.
(d) The IBP Chapter shall, after verification, issue a compliance certificate to the concerned lawyer. The IBP Chapter shall also submit the compliance reports to the IBP’s NCLA for recording and documentation.
(e) Practicing lawyers shall indicate in all pleadings filed before the courts or quasi-judicial bodies the number and date of issue of their certificate of compliance for the immediately preceding compliance period. Failure to disclose the required information would cause the dismissal of the case and the expunction of the pleadings from the records.
(f) Before the end of a particular year, non-practising lawyers shall fill up a form prepared by the NCLA which states that, during that year, they are employed with the government or are incumbent elective officials not allowed by law to practice or lawyers who by law are not allowed to appear in court. The form shall be sworn to and submitted to the IBP Chapter or IBP National Office together with the payment of an annual contribution of Two Thousand Pesos (P2,000). Said contribution shall accrue to a special fund of the IBP for the support of its legal aid program.
(g) Before the end of a particular year, lawyers who serve in legal clinics or NGOs or POs shall secure certifications from the directors thereof to the effect that, during that year, they have served as supervising lawyers in a legal clinic or actively participated in the NGO’s or PO’s free legal aid activities. The certification shall be submitted to the IBP Chapter or IBP National Office.
(h) The above provisions apply also to non-practising lawyers employed in the private sector. The form shall be sworn to and submitted to the IBP Chapter or IBP National Office together with the payment of an annual contribution of Four Thousand Pesos (P4,000) by way of support for the efforts of practicing lawyers who render mandatory free legal aid services. Said contribution shall accrue to a special fund of the IBP for the support of its legal aid program. Failure to pay the annual contribution shall subject the lawyer to a penalty of Two Thousand Pesos (P2,000) for that year which amount shall also accrue to the special fund for the legal aid program of the IBP.
The IBP’s National Committee on Legal Aid shall act as the national repository of records in compliance with this Rule. It shall hold in trust, manage and utilize the contributions and penalties that will be paid by lawyers pursuant to this Rule to effectively carry out the provisions of the Rule. It shall annually submit an accounting to the IBP Board of Governors. The accounting shall be included by the IBP in its report to the Supreme Court in connection with its request for the release of the subsidy for its legal aid program.
At the end of every calendar year, any practicing lawyer who fails to meet the minimum prescribed 60 hours of legal aid service each year shall be required by the IBP, through the NCLA, to explain why he was unable to render the minimum prescribed number of hours. If no explanation has been given or if the NCLA finds the explanation unsatisfactory, the NCLA shall make a report and recommendation to the IBP Board of Governors that the erring lawyer be declared a member of the IBP who is not in good standing. Upon approval of the NCLA’s recommendation, the IBP Board of Governors shall declare the erring lawyer as a member not in good standing. Notice thereof shall be furnished the erring lawyer and the IBP Chapter which submitted the lawyer’s compliance report or the IBP Chapter where the lawyer is registered, in case he did not submit a compliance report. The notice to the lawyer shall include a directive to pay Four Thousand Pesos (P4,000) penalty which shall accrue to the special fund for the legal aid program of the IBP.
The “not in good standing” declaration shall be effective for a period of three (3) months from the receipt of the erring lawyer of the notice from the IBP Board of Governors. During the said period, the lawyer cannot appear in court or any quasi-judicial body as counsel. Provided, however, that the “not in good standing” status shall subsist even after the lapse of the three-month period until and unless the penalty shall have been paid.
Any lawyer who fails to comply with his duties under this Rule for at least three (3) consecutive years shall be the subject of disciplinary proceedings to be instituted motu proprio by the CBD. The said proceedings shall afford the erring lawyer due process in accordance with the rules of the CBD and Rule 139-B of the Rules of Court. If found administratively liable, the penalty of suspension in the practice of law for one (1) year shall be imposed upon him.
A lawyer who renders mandatory legal aid service for the required number of hours in a year for the three year-period covered by a compliance period under the Rules on MCLE shall be credited the following: two (2) credit units for legal ethics, two (2) credit units for trial and pretrial skills, two (2) credit units for alternative dispute resolution, four (4) credit units for legal writing and oral advocacy, four (4) credit units for substantive and procedural laws and jurisprudence and six (6) credit units for such subjects as may be prescribed by the MCLE Committee under Section 2(g), Rule 2 of the Rules on MCLE.
A lawyer who renders mandatory legal aid service for the required number of hours in a year for at least two consecutive years within the three year-period covered by a compliance period under the Rules on MCLE shall be credited the following: one (1) credit unit for legal ethics, one (1) credit unit for trial and pretrial skills, one (1) credit unit for alternative dispute resolution, two (2) credit units for legal writing and oral advocacy, two (2) credit units for substantive and procedural laws and jurisprudence and three (3) credit units for such subjects as may be prescribed by the MCLE Committee under Section 2(g), Rule 2 of the Rules on MCLE.
The IBP, through the NCLA, shall recommend the implementing regulations in determining who are “practicing lawyers,” what constitute “legal aid cases” and what administrative procedures and financial safeguards which may be necessary and proper in the implementation of this rule may be prescribed. It shall coordinate with the various legal chapters in the crafting of the proposed implementing regulations and, upon approval by the IBP Board of Governors, the said implementing regulations shall be transmitted to the Supreme Court for final approval.
