THE Supreme Court en banc has ruled that examination scores of individual Bar takers cannot be disclosed without the prior consent of the examinee as these are considered sensitive personal information under the Data Privacy Act.
The SC yesterday made public its decision dated August 20, 2024 approving Bar Matter No. 4968, or the Guidelines on Requests for Disclosure of a Law School’s Bar Examination Performance, ahead of the release this Friday of this year’s Bar exams results.
Under the approved guidelines, law schools are required to get prior SC approval before making public the Bar exams results of its students provided that “the scores are aggregated, averaged, or anonymized and do not identify any individual Bar exam taker.”
In a statement, the SC also said law schools are only allowed to disclose the number or percentage of their graduates categorized by type (new examinees, previous takers, refreshers); the number or percentage of graduates within specific score ranges; the average score of all graduates in each Bar subject; and the overall average general weighted average for law schools with multiple examinees.
It said anonymized scores of each Bar taker, with all identifiers removed, are also allowed for public disclosure.
The SC pointed out that the information that are allowed to be posted or disclosed publicly are not considered personal information under RA 10173, or the Data Privacy Act of 2012.
The SC said requests for public disclosure from law schools should be signed by the dean or an equivalent official. The requests should state a legitimate purpose for the disclosure, such as reviewing and improving law degree programs and performance on future Bar exams.
The requests shall be reviewed and acted upon by the Office of the Bar Confidant.
Results of the 2024 Bar examinations are scheduled to be released on December 13.
The names of successful Bar examinees will be posted on the High Court’s website and will be shown on LED walls in the SC courtyard.
The names will likewise be uploaded on the SC’s official social media accounts, including X, Threads, Facebook, and Instagram.
Those who wish to view the results in persons will be allowed entry to the SC courtyard from 12 noon to 6 p.m..
The oath taking and roll signing ceremonies for the new lawyers will be held on January 24, 2025.
A total of 10,483 law school graduates took this year’s Bar exams in various testing centers in the country, including University of Sto. Tomas and San Beda University.
Of the number, 5,234 were new takers; 4,060 were previous examinees; and 1,189 were refreshers.
There were 155 senior citizens who took the exams, and 313 with special needs. The youngest examinee was 23 years old while the oldest was 78 years old.
