24/11/2024
The Supreme Court En Banc has approved The Rules on Unified Legal Aid Service (ULAS Rules) which mandates covered lawyers to render at least 60 hours of pro bono legal aid every three years in favor of indigent Filipinos.
Under the ULAS Rules, any person who has no sufficient means to afford adequate legal services, as assessed by a covered lawyer in accordance with guidelines to be issued by the ULAS Board, may be a qualified beneficiary.
The legal service itself will be free for such qualified beneficiary and the necessary expenses for the rendering of the service will be borne by the Court through the ULAS Fund, to be set up for this purpose. Qualified beneficiaries shall be exempt from payment of docket and other fees.
Pro bono legal aid services can come in many forms, such as representation in court, legal counselling, drafting legal documents, developmental legal assistance, and participation in accredited legal outreach programs.
The ULAS Rules is a product of extensive deliberations and studies made over the course of more than a year by the ULAS Rules Technical Working Group (TWG). In drafting the same, the TWG solicited the invaluable inputs of the Court En Banc, as well as the ULAS Rules' stakeholders—its covered lawyers.
Comments and feedback were gathered in the four-leg ULAS Regional Consultations held last April 12 to May 31, 2024 where the TWG, the Court En Banc, and various Court employees visited major cities in the country to consult lawyers in the local regions.
An online feedback form was likewise published throughout the same period so that the public, including the potential beneficiaries of the ULAS Rules, can likewise be heard. All these channels were opened to ensure that the final version of the ULAS Rules is responsive and accessible.
The ULAS Rules takes effect on February 3, 2025, following its complete publication in the Official Gazette or in two newspapers of general circulation.
Read the full text of the press release: https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/sc-approves-the-rules-on-unified-legal-aid-service/
Read the full text of A.M. No. 22-11-01-SC: https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/22-11-01-sc-re-the-rules-of-unified-legal-aid-service/
Read more about ULAS Rules on the Supreme Court website: https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/ulas/
Copying of this content is subject to the SC PIO’s Credit Attribution Policy: https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/credit-attribution-policy/
