EU Supporting Muslim Lawyers in Philippines
One of the challenges ahead of BARMM and the central government in the Philippines is the issue of national laws and laws of Sharia. The central government stresses the need to preserve the integrity of national rules, however, has let courts of Muslim regions decide on issues such as marriage and heritage according to Islamic Sharia.
Accordingly, a training program dubbed “The European Union’s Support to Bangsamoro Transition (SUBATRA)” kicked off on November 9 in an online format to discuss the conduct of Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE).
The course runs until December 15 and consists of a 36-hour training.
The course seeks to make sure that regional lawyers are kept abreast with law and jurisprudence while preserving the profession’s ethics and improving the standards of the practice.
The MCLE ensures that the regional government’s lawyers are kept abreast with law and jurisprudence with the goal of maintaining the profession’s ethics and enhancing the standards of the practice of law.
According to the Iranian cultural office in the Philippines, the program seeks to strengthen the capacities of institutions to establish an enabling democratic governance environment during the transition period which can be an influential factor in establishing peace and sustainable development in the region.
Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba, BARMM’s attorney general, says since 2001, the Supreme Court has required members of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines to undergo a 36-hour MCLE every three years, according to Bangsamoro’s official website.
“MCLE is a condition precedent for maintaining the bona fide status of a lawyer. Without the certification of MCLE, BARMM lawyers cannot continue to engage in the practice of law,” she added.
MCLE includes topics such as legal ethics, trial, and pre-trial skills, alternative dispute resolution, updates on substantive and procedural laws and jurisprudence, legal writing and oral advocacy, and international law and international conventions.
