(Eagle News) — The Supreme Court has rescheduled anew the conduct of the 2020/2021 bar examinations.
2020/2021 bar chair Associate Justice Marvic Leonen said the exams, which were supposed to take place on Jan. 23 and 25, were moved to Feb. 4 and 6 instead following results of an SC survey that showed 16.8 percent of the 8,546 bar examinees who responded to the SC email were either positive for COVID-19, living with someone positive for COVID-19, or under quarantine due to “direct contact.”
The bar chair also noted that 16 of the 31 teams to be deployed to the bar venues would be understaffed if the Jan. 23 and 25 bar exams would push through, given the “current infection rate and quarantine situation” of bar personnel.
“Considering these numbers, as well as the projections of the Court’s expert consultants on the progress of this current COVID-19 surge, the Supreme Court en banc has ‘unanimously decided’ that the bar examinations be rescheduled..,” he said.
All examinees, he said, are advised to strictly undergo quarantine starting Jan. 20.
“All existing instructions in previous bar bulletins not affected by this decision remain effective,” he said.