The Supreme Court (SC) has approved the Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability (CPRA) – a set of rules on the ethical conduct and accountability of lawyers in the practice of law.
The CPRA was approved in a unanimous vote by SC justices during their April 11 summer session in Baguio City. It amended the 34 -year-old Code of Professional Responsibility (CPR) of lawyers.
The new rules will be launched officially on Thursday, April 13, during a program set by the SC at the Manila Hotel starting at 8 a.m.
The launching of the CPRA will gather over 250 members of the judiciary and lawyers, prosecutors, and other members of the legal profession and the academe.
It is the culmination of the five-leg Ethics Caravan -- a series of consultative discussions -- held in the cities of Cebu, Davao, Naga, Baguio, and Manila.
Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo, during the Cebu City leg of the caravan, emphasized the addition of “accountability” in the tile of the code “as a significant change reinforcing ethical commitment among lawyers.”
“It is time to change not just the Code itself, but the people’s attitude towards it. We must convince everyone that ethics is a way of life,” Gesmundo said.
During the Davao City caravan, Gesmundo rallied the members of the legal community “to give dignity and nobility to the profession so as to regain the trust of the people in lawyers and in the entire justice system.”
At the Manila Hotel launching of the CPRA, Chief Justice Gesmundo will deliver the keynote speech while Senior Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen will deliver the inspirational message.
Justice Amy C. Lazaro-Javier, chairperson of the sub-committee for the revision of the CPR will give the opening remarks while Justice Maria Filomena D. Singh, vice-chairperson of the sub-committee, will give the closing remarks.
Justice Samuel H. Gaerlan, also vice chairperson of the sub-committee, will deliver a message of gratitude.
The SC’s public information office (PIO) said that messages of support will be delivered by H.E. Luc Veron, Ambassador of the European Union to the Philippines; Mr. Alexander O’Hara, Embassy Second Secretary for Politics, Australian Embassy in the Philippines; Mr. Sam Chittick, Country Representative, The Asia Foundation, and Mr. OlivierGeorges Lermet, Senior Resident Policy Advisor, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
The PIO said there will also be a signing of the Manifesto of Commitment to Ethical Responsibility.
It said the launching of the CPRA is organized by the SC in cooperation with the Integrated Bar of the Philippines and the Philippine Association of Law Schools; with support from the European Union through the Governance in Justice Programme II (GOJUST II) and the Australian Government through The Asia Foundation and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.