A total of 853 out of 878 registrants completed the two-day 2024 Shari’ah Bar examinations held at the University of the Philippines in Quezon City and at the Ateneo de Davao University in Davao City.
Results of the examinations will be released in July and the oathtaking of the successful examinees will be held in August, said Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Maria Filomena D. Singh, chairperson of the Shari’ah Bar Examinations Committee.
Justice Singh said that 855 examinees finished the first day of the examinations last April 28 but two of them did not take the tests on the second day on May 2.
Seventeen Shari’ah Bar examinations had been administered by the SC from 1983 to 2022. Out of the total of 3,694 who took the tests during the period, only 1,048 passed the examinations.
The SC lowered the passing percentage from 75 percent to 70 percent during the 2020 and 2022 examinations.
The 2024 examinations were given both online and manual using pen and paper.
The examinations were originally set by the SC last Feb. 25 and 28. However, the SC re-scheduled the examinations “in anticipation of the holy month of Ramadan (March 9 to April 8) and to allow the prospective examinees additional time to review and to prepare the application requirements….”
Subjects covered during the two-day examinations were jurisprudence (Figh) and customary laws (Adat); persons, family relations and property; succession, wills or adjudication and settlement of estates as well as procedure in the Shari’ah Courts.
Shari'ah or Islamic law is implemented in the legal system of the Philippines and applicable only to Muslims. Shari'ah courts set up in the country are under the direct supervision of the SC.