Legal basis and adoption
- The order is adopted in accordance with Republic Act No. 7662 (Legal Education Reform Act of 1993).
- The order is pursuant to LEB Resolution No. 2018-207, adopted during the 80th En Banc meeting of the Legal Education Board on February 13, 2018.
Policy and purpose for law schools
- The academic law library is declared to be an integral and indispensable part of law schools.
- The academic law library is required to directly support the law school’s instruction, research, and extension components.
- To maintain accreditation, a law school must be provisioned with an academic law library sufficient to meet the needs of students, law faculty members, and researchers.
Coverage: law schools and minimum standards
- The policies, standards, and guidelines apply to academic law libraries of law schools.
- Requirements apply to all academic law libraries in maintaining a basic collection and meeting minimum physical and operational standards.
- Additional requirements apply when the law school’s student population exceeds 200 students.
Location and physical requirements
- The academic law library must be maintained separately from the main or other libraries of the higher education institution as far as practicable.
- The academic law library must be situated within or adjacent to the school building used by the law school.
- When the academic law library is incorporated into the main or other libraries, an enclosed area must be designated for the law collection with its own reading area for principal use of law students and members of the law school faculty.
- The academic law library’s size and dimension must adequately contain the entire law collection and seat comfortably fifteen percent (15%) of the entire student population at any given time.
- The academic law library must be furnished with appropriate and functional furniture, including carrels, chairs, desks, book shelves, and a transaction counter.
Space for law faculty reading
- A section of the academic law library must be specially designated as the exclusive reading area for faculty members.
Operating hours standards
- The academic law library must have daily operating hours of not less than 6 hours during regular class days.
- If the law student population exceeds 200 students, the academic law library must operate for at least 8 hours per day.
- The library must open at least two (2) hours before the start of the first class of the day.
- The library must open at least two (2) hours before the first class, unless it opens before 8 o’clock in the morning.
Staffing, librarian qualifications, and training
- At least one (1) full time licensed librarian must be designated as the law librarian to attend to the academic law library during its operating hours.
- If the law librarian is also the librarian for the main or other libraries of the higher education institution, a full-time library support staff with appropriate academic training must be employed to attend to the academic law library during its operating hours.
- If the law librarian does not possess a basic law degree, the law librarian must possess training in legal bibliography, legal research, and law library management conducted by a professional association of law librarians.
- The law librarian must keep abreast of developments and trends by maintaining membership in at least one professional association of law librarians.
- The law librarian must regularly attend relevant trainings.
Required library collection
All academic law libraries must maintain the following titles of books and law materials as part of their basic collection:
General law reference books ( 1 title each ):
- Law dictionary
- Law thesaurus
- Legal encyclopedia
- Legal forms
- Legal maxims
- Manual of legal citations
Sources of statutes and administrative regulations:
- Primary sources (as published in the Official Gazette and/or National Administrative Register, and publication of regulations and/or rulings by government agencies such as, but not limited to, the Supreme Court, Securities and Exchange Commission, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Commission on Elections, and the Civil Service Commission)
- Secondary sources (2 titles/sets within 5 years from copyright dates) of all published codal books and compilation of related laws, including the Family Code, Labor Code, National Internal Revenue Code, New Civil Code, Revised Penal Code, Rules of Court, Commercial Laws, and Land Laws
Court/case reporter:
- 1 complete set of case/court reporter for decisions of the Philippine Supreme Court from 1901 to the present
Textbooks:
- 2 titles of books within 5 years from copyright dates for every subject in the law curriculum
Review books:
- 2 titles of bar review books/materials within 5 years from copyright dates for every subject area covered in the bar examinations
Law journals:
- Current subscriptions or exchange agreements to at least 2 locally-published law journals of law schools, bar and professional organizations, and commercial publishers
Copies, additions, and online resources
Except for the books and other law materials covered in Sub-sections 9.a, 9.c, and 9.f, academic law libraries must maintain at least 2 copies for every title of the required printed books and law materials.
The law materials listed in Sub-section 9.b.1 may be supplied in either printed or electronic format, or via online and digital resources.
For law schools with student population exceeding 200 students, the school must add:
- 1 copy per required title of books and law materials covered by Sub-sections 9.a, 9.d, and 9.e for every ONE HUNDRED (100) additional students or fraction thereof
- 1 title within 5 years from the copyright date of law books and materials for every TWO HUNDRED (200) additional students or fraction thereof
For law schools with student population exceeding 200 in a semester, the academic law library must be furnished with:
- Subscription to an online or digital case reporter, and sources of statutes at the ratio of 1 for every 50 students
- Subscription to online foreign-published law journals at the ratio of 1 title for every 100 students, and a printed copy of the international journal may be substituted for an online subscription
Internet access, cataloging, and indexing
- Academic law libraries must be provisioned with a reliable internet connection with a downloading speed of at least one (1) mbps and at least 2 internet workstations.
- Where wireless internet connection is not available to students, the number of internet workstations must be increased to such number equivalent to the ratio of 1 for every 50 students.
- Books and resources must be classified using an accepted standard such as the Library of Congress, the Dewey Decimal Classification System, or the Los Angeles Classification System.
- An Online-Public-Access (OPAC) system must be provided for use in research.
- Journals, periodicals, and other documents must be indexed for better access to law materials.
Intellectual property and discipline
- Academic law libraries must adopt and implement appropriate regulations and measures to effectively enforce observance of intellectual property rights of authors, publishers, and other individuals in published articles, books and other legal materials.
- The law librarian must coordinate with the dean of the law school in formulating disciplinary regulations against infringement of intellectual property rights by students and faculty members alike.
Compliance timeline and consequences
- Non-compliant law schools must be given three (3) months to meet the requirements of the memorandum order.
- Law schools needing more time may be given by the LEB an extension of up to six (6) months, provided a gradual compliance plan acceptable to the LEB is submitted before the expiration of the initial 3-months period.
- In highly meritorious cases only, the LEB may allow an additional extension of up to another 6 months.
- Failure to comply with any provision constitutes non-compliance with the prescribed minimum standards for the law program and shall be subject to appropriate administrative sanctions pursuant to LEBMO Nos. 1 and 2.
Separability
- If any portion of the memorandum order is held invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining provisions remain valid and effective.