THE Legal Education Board said aspiring law students need no longer have at least 18 units in English in their college degrees before they can enter law schools.
The LEB decided to issue a memorandum circular after receiving numerous queries from law schools on whether applicants to their law programs are still required to comply with the prescribed six units of Mathematics and 18 units of English and Social Science as a prerequisite to admission.
The Supreme Court, in its decision dated September 10, 2019 in the case Oscar Pimentel vs. LEB, declared the prerequisite as “unconstitutional” for “extending the jurisdiction of the LEB to the courses and units taken by the applicant in his or her pre-law course.”
The SC also said the requirement is not found under Section 6, Rule 138 of the Rules of Court.
The High Court later affirmed its decision in a November 2021 resolution junking the motion for reconsideration filed by LEB.
However, the LEB only suspended compliance with the said prerequisite.
The LEB said it only received an official copy of the SC decision on June 7 this year.
“It is in this light and with due deference to the Honorable Court that Section 16 of LEB Memorandum Order 1-2011 is now formally revoked, with retroactive application,” said the LEB memorandum order dated June 17 and signed by its chairperson, Anna Marie Melanie Trinidad.
The LEB said legal education institutions may fully determine their own reasonable admission policies for AY 2022-2023.
The LEB is mandated under Republic Act 7662, or the Legal Education Reform Act of 1993, to administer the legal education system in the country, supervise and set accreditation standards for law schools, and to set minimum standards for law school admission.
