Cayetano v.

Monsod (1991)

Summary Cases:

● Renato L. Cayetano vs. Christian Monsod 201 SCRA 210

Subject:

Commission on Elections, Practice of Law, Qualifications of an Appointive Official

Facts:

President Corazon Aquino nominated Atty. Christian Monsod to the position of Chairman of the
Commission on Elections (COMELEC).

This petition for Certiorari and Prohibition filed by Cayetano prays that the Commission on Election’s
confirmation and subsequent appointment of Monsod be declared null and void because the latter fails to
meet the constitutional requirement of having been engaged in the practice of law for at least 10 years.

Held:

Modern Definition of the Practice of Law

1. The practice of lawmeans any activity, in or out of court, which requires the application of law, legal
procedure, knowledge, training and experience.

2. In Philippine Lawyers Association v. Agrava, it was stated:

“The practice of law is not limited to the conduct of cases or litigation in court; it embraces the
preparation of pleadings and other papers incident to actions and special proceedings, the management
of such actions and proceedings on behalf of clients before judges and courts, and in addition, conveying.
In general, all advice to clients, and all action taken for them in matters connected with the law
incorporation services, assessment and condemnation services contemplating an appearance before a
judicial body, the foreclosure of a mortgage, enforcement of a creditor's claim in bankruptcy and
insolvency proceedings, and conducting proceedings in attachment, and in matters of estate and
guardianship have been held to constitute law practice, as do the preparation and drafting of legal
| Page 1 of 2
instruments, where the work done involves the determination by the trained legal mind of the legal effect
of facts and conditions”

3. To engage in the practice of law is to perform those acts which are characteristics of the profession.
Generally, to practice law is to give notice or render any kind of service, which device or service requires
the use in any degree of legal knowledge or skill.”

4. Atty. Monsod has been a member of the Philippine Bar since 1960, and has been a member of the
Integrated Bar of the Philippines since its inception in 1972. He has also been paying his professional
fees as a lawyer for more than ten years.

5. Atty. Monsod’s past work as a lawyer-economist, lawyer-manager, lawyer-entrepreneur,

lawyer-negotiator of contracts, and lawyer-legislator of both the rich and the poor more than satisfy the
constitutional requirement that he has been engaged in the practice of law for at least ten years.

Judicial review of judgments rendered by the Commission on Appointments.

6. The judgment rendered by the Commission in the exercise of such an acknowledged power is beyond
judicial interference except only upon a clear showing of a grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or
excess of jurisdiction. (Art. VIII, Sec. 1 Constitution).

7. The Commission on the basis of evidence submitted during the public hearings on Monsod’s
confirmation, implicitly determined that he possessed the necessary qualifications as required by law.
This no occasion for the exercise of the Court’s corrective power, since no abuse has been shown.

| Page 2 of 2