LAWYERS WHO HAVE BEEN DISBARRED

- A disbarred lawyer may be reinstated upon determination whether he has

satisfiedand convinced the Court by positive evidence that the effort to
rehabilitate his character is successful and he is entitled to be readmitted to
the profession.

through positive evidence, proofs of honesty, integrity, and good moral

character, through written testimonials of credible institutions and
personalities.

CRITERTIA TO BE CONSIDERED IN REINSTATING

a. character and standing prior to disbarment;

b. nature and character of misconduct for which he was disbarred;
c. conduct subsequent to disbarment;
d. efficient government service;
e. time elasped from disbarment to application of reinstatement and attending
circumstances;
f. applicant’s appreciation of significance of his dereliction and assurance that
he possesses the requisite of probity and integrity;
g. favorable indorsement of IBP and pleas of his loved ones.

CONDITIONS TO BE COMPLIED WITH

a. SC can impose other special conditions other than this rehabilitation;

b. take lawyer’s oath, sign the roll of attorneys and pay the requisite fee;

EFFECTS OF READMISSION

- recognition of moral rehabilitation and mental fitness to practice law;

- he shall be subject to the same law, rules, and regulations as these
applicable to any other lawyer;
- comply with the conditions imposed on his readmission.
EFFECT OF EXECUTIVE PARDON TO A LAWYER’S DISBARMENT:

after disbarment - file for reinstatement. He shall not be automatically

reinstated.

before disbarment - it shall bar any proceeding for the disbarment of the
attorney.

LAWYERS WHO HAVE BEEN REPATRIATED

* The practice of ALL professions in the Philippines (PH) shall be limited to

Filipino citizens. Hence, the loss of PH citizenship ipso jure terminates the
privilege to practice law in the PH.

Pursuant to RA 9225: Citizenship Retention and Reacquisition Act of 2003, a

Filipino lawyer who becomes a citizen of another country is deemed never to
have lost PH citizenship if he reacquires the same under RA 9225.
Nevetheless, his right to practice law does not automatically accrues. He
must first secure authority from the SC upon compliance of certain
conditions.

CONDITIONS:

1. update and full payment of annual membership dues in IBP;

2. payment of professional tax;
3. completion of at least 36 credit hours of MCLE;
4. retaking of lawyer’s oath.

MANDATORY CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION (MCLE)

*the purpose of MCLE is to ensure that throughout their career they keep
abreast with law and jurisprudence, maintain the ethics of profession and
enhance the standards of practice of law.

*Member of the IBP unless exempted under Rule 7, shall complete every 3
years at least 36 hours of continuing legal education activities.
*Each member shall secure from the MCLE Committee a Compliance Card
before the end of each compliance period. He shall complete the card by
attesting under oath that he has complied with the education requiremennt or
that he is exempt in specifying the nature of exemption. The compliance card
must be returned not later than the day after the member’s compliance period.

A record of compliance or exemption shall be kept by the member copy

furnishing the MCLE committee.

NON-COMPLIANCE WITH MCLE:

- failure to complete education requirement;

- failure to provide attestation of compliance or exemption;
- failure to provide satisfactory evidence of compliance;
- failure to satisfy education requirement and furnish evidence of such
compliance within 60 days from notice;
- failure to pay non-compliance fee within the prescribed period;
- and other analogous acts to the foregoing.

EXEMPTED FROM MCLE:

a. Pres, VP, Sec. and Undersecretaries of executive department;

b. Senators and members of the House of Rep;
c. CJ, Associate Justice of the SC, incumbent and retired justices of the
judiciary, incumbent members of the Judicial and Bar Council. incumbent
lawyers covered by the Philippine Judicial Academy Program of Continuing
Legal Education;
d. The Chief State Counsel, Chief State Prosecutor, and Assistant Secretaries
of the DOJ;
e. The Sol Gen and Asst. Sol Gen;
f. Gov’t Corporate Counsel, deputy, and asst gov’t corporate counsel;
g. Chairman and members of Cons. Commission;
h. Ombudsman, overall deputy ombudsman, deputy ombudsman and the
Special Prosecutor of the Office of the Ombudsman;
i. Heads of gov’t agencies exercising quasi-judicial functions;
j. Incumbent deans, bar reviewers and professors of law who have been
teaching for at least 10 years in accredited law schools;
k. Chancellor, Vice chancellor, and members of the Corps of Professional
Lectures of Phil. Judicial Academy, and;
l. Governors and Mayors.

likewise exempt:

- not in practice of law, private or public;

- retired in the practice of law with the approval of the IBP.

* A member who fails to comply with the requirements of the 60 day period
shall be listed as deliquent member of the IBP Board of Governors upon the
recommendation of the committee on MCLE.
*see BM 202, Rule on Mandatory Legal Aid Service

NOTARIAL PRACTICE (AM-SC 02-8-13-SC)

NOTARY PUBLIC one appointed by the court whose duty is to 1. attest

to the genuineness of any deed or writing in order to render them available as
evidence of facts stated therein and 2. who is authorized by the statute to
administer various oaths.

QUALIFICATIONS:

must be:

- a citizen of the PH;

- over 21 years of age;
- resident of PH for at least 1 yr and maintains a regular place of work or
business in the city or province where the commission to be issued;
- member of the PH bar in good standing with clearances from the office of
the Bar Confidant of the SC and IBP;
- not have been convicted in the 1st instance of a crime involving moral
turpitude.
*TERM - the notary public may perform notarial acts in any place within the
territorial jurisdiction of the court for a period of 2 years commencing on the
1st day of January of the year in which the commissiong was made unless
earlier revoked or the notary public has resigned according to these Rules and
RC.

POWERS OF A NOTARY PUBLIC

a. empowered to perform the following notarial acts: JOASCA

J urat
O aths and Affirmation
A cknowledgment
S ignature witnessing
C opy certification
A ny other act authorized by these Rules

b. a notary public is authorized to certify the affixing of a signature by thumb

or other mark on an instrument or document presented for notarization if:

1. the thumb/mark is affixed in the presence of the notary public and 2

disinterested/unaffected witnesses to the instrument;
2. both witnesses sign their own names in addition to the thumb or other
mark;
3. notary public writes below the thumb or other mark. thumb or other
mark affixed by (name or signatory by mark) in the presence of (names and
addresses of witnesses) and undersigned notary public. and
4. the notary public notarizes the signature by thumb or other mark
through an acknowledgment, jurat, or signature witnessing.

c. a notary public is authorized to sign on behalf of a person who is

physically unable to sign or make on an instrument or document if:

1. the notary is directed by the person unable to sign or make a mark to

sign on his behalf;
 2. the signature of the notary is affixed in the presence of 2
disinterested/unaffected witnesses to the instrument or document.
3. both witnesses sign in their own behalf;
4. the notary public writes down below his signature “signature affixed
by notary public in the presence of (names and addresses)”
5. the notary public notarizes his signature by acknowledgment or jurat.

NOTARIAL REGISTER refers to permanently bound book with numbered

pages containing a chronological record of notarial acts performed by the
notary public.

JURISDICTION OF NOTARY PUBLIC AND PLACE OF

NOTARIZATION

A notary public shall NOT perform a notarial act outside his jurisdiction and
his regular place of work or business. It is improper for a notary public to
notarize documents in sidewalks since it is now required that a notary public
should maintain a regular place of work or business within city or province
where he is commissioned.

EXCEPTIONS:

A notarial act may be performed at the request of the parties in the

following sites located within his territorial jurisdiction.

a. public offices, convention halls, and similar places where oaths of

office may be administered;
b. function areas in hotels and similar places for the signing of
instruments or documents requiring notarization;
c. hospitals and medical institutions where a party to the
instrument/document is confined for treatment;
d. any place where a party to the instrument/document requiring
notarization is under detention.
REVOCATION OF NOTARIAL COMMISSION

- any ground which an application for commission may be denied by the

Executive Judge;
- SC may revoke such commission in the exercise of its general supervisory
powers over lawyers.

- the executive judge may revoke/impose sanctions upon a notary public who
fails to :

a. keep a notarial register;

b. make the appropriate entry/ies in his notarial register concerning his
notarial acts;
c. send a copy of the entries to the Executive Judge within the first 10 days of
the following month;
d. affix to acknowledgment the date of expiration of his commission;
e. submit his notarial register when filed to the Executive Judge;
f. make his report within a reasonable time to the Executive Judge concerning
the performance of his duties as may be required by the judge;
g. require the principal at the time of the notarial act;
h. identify the principal on the basis of personal knowledge or competent
evidence;
i. executes a false or incomplete certificate under Sec 5 Rule IV;
j. knowingly or fails to perform any other act prohibited or mandated by these
rules;
k. commits any other dereliction or act which in the judgment of the
Executive Judge constitutes good cause for the revocation of the commission
or the imposition of administrative sanction.

Note: The Executive Judge supervises the Notary Public.

COMPETENT EVIDENCE OF IDENTITY

It refers to the identification of any individual based on at least one
current identification document issued by an official agency bearing the
photograph and signature of the individual.
SANCTIONS OR PROHIBITED ACTS UNDER THE NOTARIAL LAW

The Executive Judge shall cause the prosecution of any person who:

a. knowingly acts or otherwise impersonates a notary public;

b. knowngly obtains, conceals, defaces, or destroys the seal, notarial
register, or official records of a notary public; or
c. knowingly solicits, coerces, or in any way influences a notary public
to commit official misconduct.

DISQUALIFICATION OF JUDGES OR JUSTICES

Under Sec 1, Rule 137 of the RC, no judge or judicial officer shall sit in
case in which 1. he, or his wife or child, is pecuniarily interested as heir,
legatee, creditor, or otherwise, or in which 2. he is related to either party
within 6th degree of consaguinity or affinity, or 3. a counsel within 4th degree
computed according to the rules of Civil Law, or in 4. in which he has been
an executor, administrator, guardian, trustee, or counsel or in which 5. he has
presided in any inferior court when his ruling or decision is subject of review,
without the written consent of all parties in interest, signed by them and
entered upon record.

A judge may in the exercise of his sound discretion disqualify himself

from sitting in a case, for just or valid reasons other than those above.

DISCIPLINE OF MEMBERS OF THE JUDICIARY

Supreme Court members:

there is no specific rule or law which provides for a system of

disciplining an erring member of the SC by the court itself acting en banc.

NOTE: Justice Brion in his separate concurring opinion In the Matter of

Charges of Plagiarism against Associate Justice Mariano Del Castillo, that
the impeachment provisions of the Constitution simply guarantee is the right
to be removed from office only through the process of impeachment and not
by any other means; it does not preclude the imposition of disciplinary
sanctions short of removal on the impeachable official. Impeachment is the
sole means of removal but it is certainly not the sole means of disciplining
the members of the SC or for that matter public officials removable by
impeachment.

*Not all justices are impeachable. Only justices of the Supreme Court are
impeachable. CA Justices may be removed as provided by law but not
impeachment.

HOW IS DISCIPLINE OF JUDGES OF REGULAR COURTS AND

SPECIAL COURTS AND JUSTICES OF CA AND SANDIGANBAYAN
INSTITUTED?

Discipline may be initiated by : (VAM)

a. Motu propio by the SC;

b. Verified complaint with affidavits if persons having personal knowledge of
the facts alleged or substantiating documents;
c. Anonymous complaint with public record of indubitable integrity.

*Complaints against judges and justices are filed with the Supreme Court,
which has exclusive administrative supervision over all courts and the
personnel thereof pursuant to Sec. 6 Art VIII. The Court en banc has the
power to discipline all judges of lower courts including justices of CA.

*If the case is filed with the IBP, the IBP is required to forward to the Court
for appropriate disposition of all complaints for disbarment and discipline
filed with the IBP against all judges and justices, sitting or retired, for
acts/and/or omission committed during their tenure in the judiciary. The
complaint should not be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.

*Justices of the Supreme Court may not be disbarred unless and until they
shall have been first impeached with the Constitution.
GROUNDS FOR DISCIPLINE OF JUDGES

a. Serious misconduct, which implies a malice or wrongful intent, not a mere

error of judgment. For this ground to exist, there must be reliable evidence
showing that the judicial acts complained of were corrupt or inspired by an
intention to violate the law or were in persistent disregard of well-known
rules.

b. Inefficience which implies negligence, incompetence, ignorance and

carelessness. A judge would be inexcusably negligent if he failed to observe
in the performance of his duties that diligence, prudence, and circumspection
which the law requires in the rendition of any public service.

SANCTIONS IMPOSED BY THE SC ON THE ERRING MEMBERS OF

THE JUDICIARY

a. if respondent is guilty of a serious charge (any of the ff.):

1. dismissal from service, forfeiture of all or part of the benefits as the

Court may determine, and disqualification from reinstatement or
appointment to any public office, including GOCCs. Accrued leave credits
not included.

2. suspension from office without salary and other benefits for more
than three months but not exceeding six months;

3. fine of more than P20,000.00 but not exceeding P40,000.00

b. if less serious charge, any of the ff:

1. suspension from the office without salary and other benefits for not
less than one month nor more than three months;

2. fine of more than P10,000 but not exceeding P20,000.00

c. if light charge, the ff may be imposed:

1. fine not less than P1,000.00 but not exceeding P10,000.00

2. censure;
3. reprimand;
4. admonition with warning.