EDITORIAL - Pro bono

Medical school graduates are required to render free service to indigent patients. Now the Supreme Court has required new lawyers to provide pro bono service to the needy. The SC order is commendable, even if the requirement is for new lawyers to render only 120 hours of free legal service within one year after passing the Bar examinations.

Perhaps some of the new lawyers will be inspired to continue providing pro bono work at least part-time even after the 120 hours of “community legal aid” have been served. Being immersed in impoverished communities may also emphasize the senselessness of violent initiation rites conducted by law school fraternities. Poverty engenders various forms of violence.

Apart from requiring pro bono work, the Supreme Court can emphasize to new lawyers their role in speeding up the administration of justice. The Philippine justice system is notorious for inefficiency, corruption and snail-paced adjudication, with cases dragging on for decades before final resolution. The system is designed to be slow and inefficient. Lawyers get paid for every court appearance, and the so-called hoodlums in robes get paid for every temporary restraining order. As in bureaucratic red tape, court delays encourage the payment of grease money to speed up adjudication.

Among those who are profiting from the system, there is little incentive to change the status quo. The losers are the parties involved in lawsuits and the public in general. Justice delayed is justice denied, and the nation continues to suffer from great injustice.

Even with the new requirement for lawyers to provide pro bono work, justice will likely remain inaccessible for millions of poor Filipinos. Seeking justice, even with free legal aid, is just too much trouble for people whose principal concern is day-to-day survival. The prospect of litigation for at least 10 years is enough for aggrieved poor individuals to just leave justice to the heavens and get on with their lives. Some turn to insurgency and extremist violence for swift justice.

Other countries have efficient, credible justice systems, so judicial reform is not impossible. Change often starts with the youth. New lawyers can lead the way in improving the justice system.