good afternoon everyone first allow me to introduce myself i am raul bautista deputy court administrator of the supreme court well i used to be a an rtc judge in las pinas city i serve in the bench for more than seven years before joining the office of the court administrator which is considered as a promotion in terms of rank because pretty low my rank is that of an associate justice of the supreme court anyway i'm here because of the invitation by the legal education board particularly by a commissioner sorera t who sent me a letter regarding
this modular clinical legal education training program that the legal education board is holding in connection with the implementation of the revised rule 138a of the rules of court among others so uh it is my distinct honor and pleasure to actually be one of the lecturers for this particular modular training program so before i do that i hope you don't mind it's really difficult to give a lecture online as far as well based on my experience considering the fact that you just you know a lecturer just keeps on talking and talking and of course not even
knowing uh you know how the uh participants are actually uh reacting or more or less if they are draining not from what is being shared to all of them but i do hope that well uh considering that my topic is a very simple one i trust that this will be a session which will just give you some ideas knowing how law student practitioners should be treated when they appear before courts of course it might not cover as many situations as we would want to but hopefully at least uh by giving this uh lecture you would
be able to at least help out no uh our law student practitioners and of course our law student practitioners would also be aware of more or less at the limitations restrictions and of course the uh the extent of the authority that's being given to them i am recording this particular lecture in my office so i hope one way or the other what i i will be presenting to all of you is something uh that uh will be useful and at the same time with uh will be clear uh and uh of course uh you would
be able to follow what i will be uh sharing with all of you so it's judicial attitude towards law student practitioners i would expect that there would be lecturers uh who would be uh discussing in detail uh what the law student practice rule is all about uh particularly at the revised rule 138a of the rules of court so i will not go into the details uh uh in so far as the provisions know of this a particular rule is concerned i would just like to zero in of course just by way of reminder uh what
are the certifications that will be issued in connection in order to allow our law students to practice not before our courts or before other tribunals or bodies our in the you know their legal skills or knowledge may be required first is the level one certification uh which briefly know is uh issued for law students have completed their first year low courses so that means it's only being issued to a second year law students based on our amended rules right now it is the rtc executive judge where the law school which has a jurisdiction over the
law school where it is located so if for example in my case there is a law school in batangas batangas state university then the itc executive judge of batanga city will be the one who will issue that level one certification uh the level two certification is uh being issued for those students who have already finished uh their third year law studies particularly up to their first uh center year law studies so this means this can only be issued uh during the second semester of a third year loss to them and uh take note that uh
the rtc executive judge will not be the one who will be approving such level two certification but actually it's the office of the court administrator and in in the case of uh law schools located from in regions one to five that will be my office not as a deputy court administrator for luzon so that is what i would just like to more or less remind you of because this level uh one and level two uh certifications actually uh are not just issued to our law students simply because they would want to but they have to
qualify in so far as these certifications are concerned but uh what i would just like to emphasize that with respect to a level one certifications the uh the uh validity uh is uh only with respect to uh courts quasi-judicial and administrative bodies within the judicial region where the law school is based so meaning the law student who is given a level one certification can only appear in our courts or assist any uh litigant under their clinical legal education program in in courts uh within uh for example in the case of batangas within the fourth judicial
region so take note so it's limited only to those uh courts in those uh uh those located in a region four with respect to uh level two certifications they can be valid before all courts quasi judicial and administrative bodies even outside the judicial region where the law school is always so that means uh the law student who has given a lot a level two a certification can actually appear before courts outside of region four so they can go to a region five uh if there's a case that they need to attend to uh or they
can even go to region three or even in the national capital region so long as it's a level two certification and uh uh how does a level one certification look like uh portrayed no or as shown [Music] supreme court resolution so that's the format a level one a certification so the name of the student is indicated and of course the name of the law school and the certification number is indicated i already showed you the level 2 certification which this is an actual one that i issued so it involves a law student of the batanga
state university located in batangas city batangas so uh more or less you can see that aside from the name it also mentions the the law school and of course uh the approval is based on our office's evaluation of the endorsement uh and the supporting documents submitted by the executive judge of the regional trial court of batanga city uh who happens to be a judge maria cecilia austria so that is how it looks like so this particular law student like i mentioned can actually appear not only in batangas but only in quezon which is in region
4 not only in laguna or in cabite but also outside of the fourth judicial region because it is a level 2 certification so let me now go to the mid of my presentation which is actually to just uh give you an idea on how this uh law student practitioner should be treated not only by our judges but also by our uh lawyers or members of the buyers so first they have to respect the certification so lisa take note that if you do not respect the certifications you disregard or uh you do not recognize these certifications
then one way or the other to my mind uh you are not uh you know providing uh what our law students need and that is a little mentoring in so far as you know recognizing uh what is uh what should be respected in so far as uh practicing before our courts or quasi judicial bodies are concerned level uh certifications levels one and two certifications uh should be respected uh because that's where uh everything starts now because the moment that they appear actually the law student uh will appear uh and of course the basis of his
appearance is the certification so uh among others aside from of course being uh recognized uh as a law student who is part of a clinical legal education a program of a particular law school so important so please take note that what of course i hope that there should be no issue regarding the authenticity of any uh level one or level two certification but in the event not that the lawyer the opposing counsel would want to uh just make sure that these are valid and authentic certifications then they cannot know they can ask no for for
such a confirmation of course from the issuing uh regional trial court if that is uh what they want or even our office please take note that far as the certifications issued by the executive judges we do not have files on this but we have files with respect to the level 2 certifications that we are required to issue so you can always get in touch with us if i have any uh a query i with respect to certif level two certifications coming from uh regions one to five for regions one to five so uh uh just
for the record uh i can uh you can you can get in touch uh uh with our office uh my office is uh the landline number is eight five two four five nine eight one so uh eight five two four five nine eight one and giving these numbers just so that if you want to just check on this uh on the authenticity and the validity of this uh level two certifications coming from my office then that's the number that you can call next is that you know when you respect the certifications you also have to
recognize now that these law students are officers of the court so the judge should treat a law student as an officer of the court and of course the uh lawyer not the opposing counsel should likewise do the same what is the reason uh the reason is so that everyone everyone should know should understand that an officer of the court has responsibilities not only to be court not only to the lawyer not a fellow lawyer but also to the i mean to society and of course to uh to the client know that this uh law student
practitioner is representing so that's very important uh that together with this certification giving being given to our law student practitioners is of course the responsibility being an officer of the court so it cuts both ways so hindi padding recognized national officer of the court i uh you know uh he can just do about anything no that is not correct in fact now we can consider them as bound not by our code of professional responsibility although to a limited extent because they're not yet members of the buyer likewise uh we ask everyone especially our judges not
only our practitioners that they should be patient no uh in so far as our law student practitioners are concerned why because obviously they do not have yet a mastery of the law even the rules and jurisprudence of course we expect them to always be prepared not these law students are practitioners every time they appear before our courts but in the event that uh to a certain extent that they fail to exhibit their mastery of these rules and jurisprudence especially now because we have so many rules that have been uh you know amended for example the
rules on civil procedure which became effective only last summer may 1 last year no may 1 2020 even the rules on evidence uh also effective uh lasa may 1 2020 so uh and of course there are other rules that are being implemented even with respect to video conferencing we now have uh the proposed guidelines not for the conduct of video conferencing hearings so they might they might not be able to uh you know fully grasp all of these particular rules so be a little patient and understanding with respect to any deficiency that they may be
exhibiting so patience is a virtues having anila so uh but of course being patient doesn't mean that you have to coach or you haven't you even have to you know keep on uh you know uh trying to not to a baby not these law student practitioners the point is just there might be some oversight uh you know that you can just point out uh without uh making them have i mean making them pay you know because of these technicalities so uh i hope especially when they're appearing before our courts patience is something that we all
must have in abundance not so to speak in so far as our law student practitioners are concerned likewise uh do not bully them no i'm sure sometimes when we see a young lawyer practicing we have this tendency to you know belittle their ability uh and more so with the law student uh sort of bullying them you know uh into submission so please do not do that uh you know your your the judges and even the uh lawyers are there uh to to uh help them know help them understand better uh you know how we conduct
our proceedings uh so please you're not supposed to uh lord over them okay next is of course uh you know you can provide tips or suggestions uh it's like mentoring them but uh that's perhaps for our judges more than for our lawyers because the lawyer of course has uh has his own agenda in so far as appearing for his client is concerned and we can understand that i don't have to come up with any suggestions or tips but our judges uh we we want to keep on reminding them that that's something that they need to
do uh when it comes to our loss to their practitioners if they feel that there is something that needs to be shared with them especially when they're appearing without their supervising lawyer although most of the time they're expected to be there but there might be insurances where the supervising lawyer is not around so you know you can always especially our judges should be able to at least provide some useful tips for them okay in order to of course improve their skills as future law practitioners and they i'm sure they will appreciate it more if that
is done rather than you know they are not being told anything at all and then you're you would want them to just find things on their own or find out things on their own which is if you can provide it already right then and there then you should uh i'm referring to our judges now when it comes to those kinds of situations likewise you have to encourage and not discourage them can you imagine these are law student practitioners and then you belittle them instead of encouraging them after that hearing they might end up you know
dropping entirely you know from the course and even stopping uh in uh pursuing further the law studies that is not the intention of you know this law student practice rule the intention really is to encourage our uh law students they should be inspired to uh further know uh finish the forest or so to speak so that they would have that opportunity to become full-pledged members of the buyer so that is something also that uh you know our judges should keep in mind and of course our lawyers should also uh take into account uh when they
are appearing against or with the law student practitioner as the opposing counsel finally of course uh uh you have to remind them of their duties like i said as officers of the court they're bound by uh to a certain extent uh they're bound uh by our uh and covered by our uh code of professional responsibility so it is it pays also to remind them uh of their responsibilities so that's a reason why i included in my presentation uh some of these uh uh of course uh canons know of the code of professional responsibility by way
of a reminder because uh the lawyer you know uh appearing before before our courts uh who may be uh who may have a supposing counsel a law student practitioner should always take into account that uh he should be treated no uh as an officer of the court as a lawyer short of being a lawyer and so much so that we have to make sure that the cannons know of the code of professional responsibility are always you know i mean they always come into play so uh uh i i am i please or included uh you
know at least uh uh some pertinent canons canon 7 which is of course top called the dignity uh integrity of the legal profession canon eight to conduct lawyers and conduct himself as courtesy fairness and kindred over these uh colleagues and of course canon 9 lawyers are not directly indirectly assisting the unauthorized practice of law uh for this particular tunnel and my what i am thinking of is of course we should not uh this situation wherein we take advantage of this law student practitioners so please take note uh they're not there to be taken advantage of
meaning sometimes uh uh there might be a situation where in uh some of our uh uh law firms no maybe uh using you know might have this program a clinical legal uh education program uh which may be accredited or which may be allowed uh even on a limited scale wherein law students may be used uh in order to uh further uh to further you know advance uh uh not in a good way sometimes because no of at the law firm itself so just take note uh again i will not uh go into the details of
this canons uh they're there to just uh remind our lawyers uh that when they appear no they have a law student a practitioner as a like i said and i keep on referring to supposing uh law student a practitioner then they have to uh make sure that the canons are always relevant and so far as this uh you know uh case with respect to the engagement uh is concerned so uh but when it comes to our judges of course i have to remind them uh every time they have to deal with our law student petitioners
that of course they have to exhibit the kind of uh you know judicial conduct that is expected of them in other words the judicial conduct that they should be you know showing to our law student practitioners should not be different with respect to the kind of conduct that full pledge lawyers are supposed to uh witness when it comes to our judges so it should always be the same there should be no discrimination there should be no uh you know uh change in the judicial canda it should always be the same so the independence of the
question should be known to our law student practitioners the integrity of the presiding judge should always be upheld uh in so far as the impersonality this should be evident and seen and felt and known to the uh to the law student practitioners the propriety with which they conduct themselves you know both outs inside and outside of the court especially with respect to their activities outside of the court it should also uh you know this is something important that the law student practitioners should be aware of as well and of course like i said uh we
do not promote discrimination uh oppression uh or favoritism that's why everybody should be treated equally uh you should not favor a lawyer as against a law student practitioner uh simply because of their standing as such that should not be the case and of course uh the judges should not uh be sloppy they should not they should show the to our law student practitioners how diligent they are how competent they are in so far as the judicial work is concerned so uh again there are the cannons are there only uh not not for a detailed discussion
but just a reminder that the judge when it comes to our law student practitioners should not distinguish these kinds of practitioners is against uh you know in comparison with the uh full-pledged members of the bar because uh what is expected of them is to make sure that no one is treated differently every time there is an appearance maybe for their courts so i come now to a more or less a discussion of some of the cases before i end uh on why uh you know judicial attitude is very important because we have a number of
cases already were in uh the uh the uh the judges no airing judges are actually penalized for misbehavior the first case i would like to discuss is this case anonymous complaint no this anonymous complaint dated february 18 2005 of a court personnel against judge francisco gerdogno jr of itc or mock city in this particular case at the complainant actually alleged that you know the judge keeps on shouting and reprimanding lawyers appearing before him but not only that even the personnel know and the witnesses and litigants so everybody you know he has a short temper and
uses intemperate language and imbalances lawyers and litigants alike and of course he was quoted in that complaint to be using uh you know uh awards like puneta or sometimes referred to uh to one of his stuff was bakla or animal so that's a reason why there was a complaint because a very abusive young judge no the court actually decided in this particular case that insulting and of course insensitive expressions such as ponieta animal bakla and no is a language not defeating a judge obviously not because you're not supposed to do that whether during the conduct
of the trial or even while even while there is no hearing and then you're just outside your staff room no you're just at the staff room the point is uh this is not something that you should be doing not a judge no for that matter likewise uh judges should always be temporary patient and courteous so uh one of the things i ask of course uh the judicial conduct or attitude among our judges is patience no so obviously our judge the respondent judge here was not the patient kind no that's why uh he burst and others
not these kinds of uh intemperate languages or words and the court also said that a judge behavior must be beyond approach no uh being the visible up personification of law and justice meaning whether inside or outside like i mentioned uh you they have to make sure that uh everything they do is measured in a way talagang mahirapagama i should know because i used to be a judge like i said earlier because we need to and to make sure that we're able to live up to the standards the required of us and it's a very high
standard because we have two codes that we need to uh to comply with first because of our professional responsibility because as a judge we're still lawyers no uh first and foremost and then of course second is the code of judicial candida now because we are members of the bar already are members of the banks of red so quiet dignity self-restraint and temporary language are expected of every judge so i hope the judges were part of this particular uh training program would understand that and that would realize not that that is what is expected of them
of course for our lawyers or even the law students who are listening uh hopefully this is something that would remind all of you that uh if we require something uh from you we require also something from our judges and this person so to speak so in this particular case the uh judge who was actually found guilty of conduct and becoming of a judge was fined not the sum of five five thousand pesos next case is juan de la cruz versus judge ruben carretas of itc the gazp city practically the same allegations with some of course
additional ones so this judge is also arrogant and insults through side comments witnesses lawyers and the prosecutors not to come up with comments every time he feels like doing so and then he interferes in the presentation of witnesses and ask more questions as compared to even the the lawyers not so in other words uh showing more practically showing more interest as if perhaps lawyering even for one party over the other no we should not be the case so uh uh in fact because of this uh attitude the office of the provincial prosecution decided uh not
to assign a prosecutor uh in his court so can you imagine uh it went to that point already so the court in so far as this case in concern ruled that for one a judge should possess the virtue of gravitas the court said that it is reprehensible for a judge to accumulate a lawyer so like i said you know this applies even more no to our laws to the practitioners so like i said so our profession so to speak and the dispensation of justice is a joint responsibility of the judge and the lawyer so take
note so while lawyers and even now law student practitioners appeared before us uh you know as part of you know proceedings and to dispense with justice but this is a responsibility of everyone which includes also the law student practitioners so that means that you cannot leave them out no be law student practitioners more importantly when they appear before you because they have they have a duty also in the dispensation of justice because they represent clients you know which are formed part of the renault or came to their uh clinical legal uh uh educational program so
uh and in so far as the other findings of the court is concerned they found that respondent judge unduly intervened in the presentation of evidence so but you know uh our law students uh uh may be lacking in uh experience and skills but it doesn't mean that the judge should just help him out by doing the work for him that's not what we are asking from our judges what we are asking is for them to to guide them without coaching them or without providing them uh you know advice that would end up as being biased
and a ground for the judge to inhibit excuse me so uh this particular case uh again the judge was found guilty of becoming a judge and fined 7500 pesos so uh take note twice actually because i violated the code of judicial conduct and then violated the code of professional responsibility again take note that's how difficult the job of a judge is because like i said we have two codes that cover us okay so uh finally this case of attorneys rowena guanzon and pearl monticino rowena guanson is recently the commissioner of comelec so he she used
to appear before judge ruffon of bakolo city rtc bacolod city and that they were handling of course a case involving uh of course women so uh in this particular case uh both attorneys at guanson and montecino charge of course uh judge rufun of violating the rule on gender for language and because in one hearing uh because of the you know the use of foul or obscene and discriminatory language and even discriminated against women litigants women hater and uh yeah woman hater and that thing near judge you know i i got to meet judge ruffon when
i was a judge i know him amigo castilla no nothing no i don't know perhaps because of that he has retired a long time ago but uh like i said no i perhaps his behavior may be brought about by you know those times know when uh you know there was a different attitude perhaps not regarding uh gender sensitivity so in one hearing uh uh judge reform actually uh in the presence of so many people uh referred to one of the parties and told him because uh her no uh that because perhaps it involves uh um
an almond case no uh that next time you see your husband according to uh to a judge reform and based on the allegation in the complaint uh he was quoted as saying that next time and i quote no next time you see your husband open your arms and legs end of code so parabang you know uh to her parabang what has happened uh if you heard the news about this stewardess you know who unfortunately was killed or died no on new year's day morning of a new year of january 1. and there are some quarters
who are saying that you know the reason why it happened is because perhaps uh uh because of uh he allowed it no which is unfair which is really unfair uh anyway so that more or less was the tenor of the charge against judge reform and the court found that of course uh one a judge holds a position in the community that is look up to with honor and privilege so you know you can just utter those kinds of things and think that you can get away with it simply because you are a judge knowing the
number and the court said that we cannot over emphasize that no position is more demanding as regards moral righteousness and uprightness of any individual than a sit in the bench on the bench no for obvious reasons no it's not easy to to to become a member of the uh bands to be to become a judge because you have to go through of course at the judicial and bar council they have to scr uh make a scrutiny of you uh i mean vet you know in other words and uh and when you're shortlisted if you get
shortlisted then you have to go through another screening no from the office of the president and then when you're appointed then that's a time you know that you will come to realize how difficult it is no there are responsibilities that go with the being appointed as a judge and this is something that judge ruffon is being reminded of and of course another finding of the court is uh the court of the artist that the judge no the respondent judge judge rufon cannot utter an open court in temporary and obscene language injurious to the sensitivity and
feelings of complainants for all women so take note uh more or less that statement was found to be so insensitive that it merited you know finding a respondent uh judge rufon guilty of vulgar and not becoming kanda and was fined you know 5 000 pesos for that so i guess that's about it that's uh more or less what i want to share with all of you uh in so far as judicial attitude towards law student practitioners is concerned i hope that one way or the other i was able to share with you things not that
would help as we go along in the you know allowing and authorizing law students to practice before our courts depending on the uh level no of the certifications being issued to them and of course for all the lawyers and all the judges i hope now you realize how important it is for you to see to it that not only are these certifications uh respected and recognized but also you have to take into account that law students law student practitioners need mentoring without being condescending of them but the whole point is to just help them and
inspire them to finish law to be inspired not to uh really pursue no a law degree and become eventually eventually a full pledge members of the empire so uh i guess like i said that's about it thank you again to the legal uh education board uh for uh allowing me no for inviting me uh and allowing me to make this presentation uh for all of you in connection with you know the implementation of the revised rule 138a of the rules of court so with that and how i wish i could uh you know uh entertain
some questions or even some comments from all of you but like i said this is really different not the kind of thing that we have to uh you know adapt to right now we have to do a lot of things online so it's not something personal nowadays no so but uh please if there's a if you wish to ask anything i can give you my cell phone number uh zero nine zero eight eight six seven four six nine eight you can just text me if uh uh uh for anything uh that you might be of
inter for anything that might be of interest to you know in connection with my uh presentation so i'm ramming salamat uh to the asia foundation which is uh of course supporting this particular program of the legal education board and to the u.s department of state international narcotics and law enforcement affairs and of course to the philippine association of law schools i congratulate all of you for this program and i hope that you uh be successful in so far as a providing and much needed uh you know uh information uh needed by our law students and
those who will be allowed not to engage in law student practice so again lahar
