In re: Cunanan (Bar flunkers act)

Syllabus Topic: Lawyers – Code of Professional Responsibility/Admission to the practice of law

Facts: In 1953, the Congress passed Republic Act No. 972, known as “Bar Flunkers Act of 1953. Under
the Rules of Court governing admission to the bar, a candidate is deemed passed if he obtains a general
average of 75% in all subjects without falling below 50% in any subject. Nevertheless, considering the
varying difficulties of the different bar examinations held since 1946 and the varying degree of strictness
with which the examination papers were graded, this court passed and admitted to the bar those
candidates who had obtained an average of only 72 per cent in 1946, 69 per cent in 1947, 70 per cent in
1948, and 74 per cent in 1949. In 1950 to 1953, the 74 per cent was raised to 75 per cent.
Unsuccessful candidates who obtained averages of a few percentages lower than those admitted
to the Bar complained in Congress for, and secured in 1951 the passage of Senate Bill No. 12 which,
among others, reduced the passing general average in bar examinations to 70 percent effective since 1946.
The president vetoed Senate Bill No. 12 but approved Senate Bill No. 371, which substantially embodied
the vetoed bill. The title of the law was, “An Act to Fix the Passing Marks for Bar Examinations from
1946 up to and including 1955.” Section 1 provided the following passing marks:
1946-1951 70%
1952 71%
1953 72%
1954 73%
1955 74%
Provided however, that the examinee shall have no grade lower than 50%. Section 2 of the Act provided
that “A bar candidate who obtained a grade of 75% in any subject shall be deemed to have already passed
that subject and the grade/grades shall be included in the computation of the general average in
subsequent bar examinations.”
Issue: Whether or not RA 972 is constitutional?
Ratio/Held: The court held that RA 972 is unconstitutional.
1. There was a manifest encroachment on the constitutional responsibility of the Supreme
Court
The judiciary is in charge of admitting, suspending, disbarring, and reinstating attorneys at law in
the practice of the profession. It is concededly a judicial function. The congress has exceeded its
power to repeal, alter, and supplement the rules on admission to the bar since the rules made by
congress must elevate the profession, and those rules promulgated are considered the bare minimum.
The Constitution has not conferred on Congress and the S.C. equal responsibilities concerning the
admission to the practice of law. The primary power and responsibility which the constitution
recognizes continue to reside in the court.
2. The law is a judgment revoking the resolution of the court.
In decreeing the bar candidates who obtained in the bar examinations of 1946 to 1952, a general
average of 70 per cent without falling below 50 per cent in any subject, be admitted in mass to the
practice of law, the disputed law is not a legislation, it is in effect a judgment revoking the resolution
of the court, and only the S.C. may revise or alter them. In attempting to do so, R.A. 972 violated the
Constitution.
 3. It is a class legislation
Section 5 provides that any applicant who has obtained a general average of 70 per cent in all
subjects without failing below 50 per cent in any subject in any examination held after the 4th day of
July, 1946, shall be allowed to take and subscribed the corresponding oath of office. This provision
constitutes class legislation, benefiting as it does specifically one group of persons, namely, the
unsuccessful candidates in the 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949 and 1950 bar examinations.
Definition:
1. Class legislation - such legislation which denies rights to one which are accorded to others, or
inflicts upon one individual a more severe penalty than is imposed upon another in like case
offending.