2023 Bar exam: SC sets early application beginning January 8

FILE PHOTO: The Supreme Court building on Padre Faura Street in Manila. CATHY MIRANDA / INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court will begin accepting applications for the next Bar examination as early as January 8, 2023.

Associate Justice Ramon Paul Hernando, chairman of the 2023 Bar examination, issued Bar Bulletin No. 2, saying the application period for new applicants will begin January 8, 2023, to April 30, 2023.

Meanwhile, for previous takers and refreshers, the application period is from May 1, 2023 to July 8, 2023. Refreshers will be taking the Bar exam for the fourth time or more.

Furthermore, Hernando said all applicants are required to submit through the online application platform — Bar Applicant Registration Information System and Tech Assistance or BARISTA — and through courier service the supporting documentary requirements “beginning August 1, 2023, but not later than October 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.

“These periods and deadlines shall be strictly observed to enforce efficiency in administrative processes,” it added.

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.

SC said the examination fee is non-refundable.

Meanwhile, examinees who previously applied for the 2022 examination but deferred due to tropical storm “Paeng” ” still pay the application fee and instead request a refund of the 2022 Bar fee in writing. Specific refund mechanics shall be addressed in a separate notice from the OBC (Office of the Bar Confidant).”

The bar examination is set on a much earlier date–September 17, 20, and 24. With already four examiners per subject, the SC hopes to expedite the release of the Bar result.

“The rationale is both practical and societal: an earlier conduct of examinations means an earlier release of examination results; successful Bar examinees can commence their practice of law as early as December 2023; and new lawyers may begin contributing to their families and to the society as members of the Bar in the same year they graduated from law school,” read Bar Bulletin No. 1.

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Supreme Court sets earlier date for 2023 Bar exams 

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