In  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  Republic  Act  (Rep.  Act.)  No.  7662, entitled the “Legal Education  Reform Act of 1993,” and pursuant  to Resolution No. 2018-205 adopted during the 80th  En Banc meeting of the Legal Education Board on February 13, 2018, these policies and regulations in offering elective subjects are hereby adopted:

1)   General  policy  - In  the  exercise  of  academic  freedom  enjoyed  by  higher education institutions, law schools shall choose the elective subjects to offer for the basic law degree, subject, however, to the parameters prescribed in this memorandum order.

2)   Recommended  elective  subjects  - Without  need of prior approval  from the Legal  Education  Board  (LEB),  law  schools  may  offer  any  of  the recommended elective subjects enumerated in LEB Memorandum Order (LEBMO) No. 1, Series of 2011.

3)   LEB  approval  -  A  law  school  may  design  and  develop  its  own  elective subject  or  subjects  involving  the  study  of  substantive  and/or  procedural law(s), and/or legal skill needed by a law practitioner. However, such elective subjects shall not be offered and no credit shall be recognized  unless it is first approved by the LEB.

4)   Application period - Applications for permit to offer elective subjects shall be filed with the LEB not later than April 15 preceding the start of the academic year when the elective subjects are intended to be offered for the first time. No further permit shall be necessary for the subsequent offering of elective subjects previously approved by the LEB. At the discretion of the LEB, applications  filed  beyond  the  prescribed  date  may  be  denied  outright,  or imposed the appropriate fine.

5)   Application  form  and  contents  - The  application  shall  be  filed  in triplicate copies under the signature of the Dean, counter-signed by the Registrar, and noted by the President  of the higher education  institution  to which the law school forms part of, using the form prescribed by the Chairman of the LEB. The application shall contain the –

a)   Title of the proposed elective subject,
b)   Academic weight in units,
c)   Teaching method to be employed,
d)   Pre-requisite subjects, if any, and
e)   Course description.

The syllabus for the proposed elective subject shall also be attached with the application.

6)   Incomplete  application  - Applications  received  with  incomplete  information and/or attachment, or not signed by all the required signatories, or not using the prescribed form shall not be deemed filed and will not be processed.

7)   Penalty clause - The following violations of this Memorandum Order shall be imposed the indicated penalty:

a)   The  filing  of an  application  after  the  prescribed  deadline  in Section  7 above shall be imposed a fine of P100 per day of delay; and

b)   The offering of elective subjects without the prior permission or approval of  the  LEB  shall  be  considered  an  unlawful  act  of  a  law  school  and imposed the penalty provided in Section 32 of LEB Memorandum  Order No. 2, and/or a fine of not less than P5,000 but not more than P50,000.

8)   Effectivity - This Memorandum Order shall become effective fifteen (15) days after its publication  in a newspaper  of general  circulation  and deposit of a copy   in  the  National   Administrative   Register   of  the  University   of  the Philippines Law Center.

Issued under the seal of the Legal Education Board this March 15, 2018 in Quezon City, Philippines.