OFFICE OF THE 2023 BAR CHAIR - BAR BULLETIN No. 1 - SCHEDULE, COVERAGE, AND OTHER PRELIMINARY MATTERS RELATING TO THE 2023 BAR EXAMINATIONS

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Ben

Bar Bulletin No. 1 from the Office of the 2023 Bar Chair outlines the schedule, coverage, and preliminary mechanics for the 2023 Bar Examinations. The examinations will be held in September across three non-consecutive days, using morning and afternoon sessions. Coverage includes six core subjects with specified weights, and selected subjects are coupled. It also explains the multiple-examiner policy, the essay-type question format, sourcing of questions, cut-off rules, and access to verified information through official court channels.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages54

Reading Time2 h 16 min

AccessFree to download

Schedule

Dates and session rationale

Coverage

Core subjects and weights

Coupled subjects and syllabus distribution

Examination mechanics

Question format and grading

Multiple-examiner policy

Information access and rules

Official communication channels

Cut-off dates and inclusion rules

OFFICE OF THE 2023 BAR CHAIR BAR BULLETIN No. 1 Series of 2023 SCHEDULE, COVERAGE, AND OTHER PRELIMINARY MATTERS RELATING TO THE 2023 BAR EXAMINATIONS The Constitution beholds the Supreme Court as the guardian of the legal profession. In its continued pursuit for Bar reforms, the Court binds itself to institutionalize the technological measures already brilliantly introduced in the last two Bar Examinations, and ultimately have the same ensconced as the new norm. The 2023 Bar Examinations shall thus proceed as it is now – digitalized and regionalized, with a further-condensed schedule and carefully-streamlined scope for administrative efficiency. Schedule Operating under the aim of expediting the admission of successful examinees to the legal profession, the 2023 Bar Examinations shall be held in the month of September. Barring any unforeseeable circumstance or fortuitous event that might warrant rescheduling, the 2023 Bar Examinations shall be conducted in three (3) non-consecutive days, in a span of eight (8) days: September 17, Sunday, September 20, Wednesday, and September 24, Sunday. 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. Coverage The 2023 Bar Examinations is divided into six (6) core subjects, distributed over three days of examination. Two (2) subjects are to be taken per examination day, segmented into morning and afternoon periods. The morning periods shall [run from](run from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon)[ 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon](run from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon), and the afternoon periods are to be administered [from](from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m)[ 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m](from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m). The 6 core subjects are allocated the following weights: First Day | Schedule | Subject | Weight | | --- | --- | --- | | AM | Political and Public International Law | 15% | | PM | Commercial and Taxation Laws | 20% | Second Day | Schedule | Subject | Weight | | --- | --- | --- | | AM | Civil Law | 20% | | PM | Labor Law and Social Legislation | 10% | Third Day | Schedule | Subject | Weight | | --- | --- | --- | | AM | Criminal Law | 10% | | PM | Remedial Law, Legal and Judicial Ethics with Practical Exercises | 25% | The above subjects were determined, and some were conjoined, upon a thoughtful review of previous syllabi and due consideration of the latest developments in legal practice. Taxation Law will be coupled with Commercial Law in view of the affinity between these two fields of law in law practice. Remedial Law will be jointly administered with Legal and Judicial Ethics with Practical Exercises, both being complementary tools in the exercise of the profession. On August 8, 2022, the Office of the 2023 Bar Chair circulated the syllabus per Bar subject among the law schools. For convenience, the full 2023 Bar Syllabi is appended to this Bar Bulletin as Annex A and uploaded on the Court’s official website, accessible at [https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/bar-2023/](https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/bar-2023/). All examination questions will be sourced only from laws, rules, issuances, and jurisprudence pertinent to the key topics indicated in the 2023 Bar Syllabi as of the cut-off date of June 30, 2022. Principles of law appearing in the Court’s decisions even after the cut-off date of June 30, 2022 may nonetheless be included in the coverage of the 2023 Bar Examinations. Repealing and amendatory laws already effective on or before the cut-off date of June 30, 2022 are included in the 2023 Bar coverage, regardless of their designation in the syllabi. Multiple-Examiner Policy; Other Mechanics A bar examination is simply a qualifying test, intended to measure a

FAQs

When are the 2023 Bar Examinations scheduled to be held?

The examinations will be held in September across three non-consecutive days: September 17 (Sunday), September 20 (Wednesday), and September 24 (Sunday). Morning runs from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, and afternoon runs from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

What subjects are covered and how are they weighted?

The 2023 Bar Examinations cover six core subjects across three days, with two subjects per day split into morning and afternoon. The weights are: Political and Public International Law 15%, Commercial and Taxation Laws 20%, Civil Law 20%, Labor Law and Social Legislation 10%, Criminal Law 10%, and Remedial Law plus Legal and Judicial Ethics with Practical Exercises 25%.

How will the examinations be formatted and graded, and what is the multiple-examiner policy?

The bar exam consists of a maximum of twenty entry-level essay-type questions. Answers do not require computations and are graded from 0% to 100% or 5% for each question. The exam adopts a multiple-examiner policy of four examiners per subject.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Ben