FEU LAW Legal Rights Center

In keeping with the University's vision and mission of producing lawyers equipped with globally relevant, real world skills, Far Eastern University created the Legal Rights Center. The Legal Rights Center is designed to train students to be client focused but at the same time mindful of their social responsibilities to the community and their ethical duties towards the administration of justice.

The principal purpose of the Legal Rights Center is to prepare and train qualified law students to practice law ethically and competently through supervised appearances in courts and administrative bodies. Specifically, the program was established for the purpose of providing:

(a) law students with clinical legal education by the proper exposure to actual legal problem situations and practical work experience in their involvement with the program, conformably with existing limitations and conditions provided under Rule 138-A of the Rules of Court;

(b) free legal aid services to indigent and impoverished members of the community; and

(c) venue for harnessing the wealth of experience and expertise of the University’s law alumni and professors by seeking their participation and involvement in the implementation of the program as supervisors to the student practitioners.

Legal Aid Director. The Legal Aid Director is in charge of the operation of the legal aid. She has the authority to approve requests for legal assistance to the Legal Rights Center. She also assigns the workloads of legal interns and the supervising attorneys for each legal intern team.

Supervising Attorneys. Supervising Attorneys are members of the faculty of the Institute of Law who volunteered their services to supervise and assist legal interns in the handling legal aid cases.

Legal Interns. Legal interns are law students who have completed their third year law curriculum and enrolled in the legal clinic program of the University. They provide direct services to walk-in clients and those referred to by courts and quasi-judicial bodies to the Legal Rights Center.

Paralegal Volunteers. Paralegal volunteers are law students who have completed their second year law curriculum and volunteered to work with and assist legal interns in giving judicial and non-judicial services to the clients of the Legal Rights Center. They provide the necessary research and leg works to legal interns in the handling of court and quasi-judicial cases.

The Legal and Litigation services involved the giving of judicial and non-judicial services to qualified clients.

Judicial services include the handling of cases in court and quasi-judicial bodies such as the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) and the Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board (DARAB). Necessarily, the handling of cases involves the drafting of pleadings, position papers, memoranda and other legal documents necessary for the prosecution and defense of causes referred to the Legal Rights Center.

Non-judicial services include the drafting of affidavits and other legal documents and legal advice to walk-in clients.

As part of the activities of legal interns, the Legal Rights Center also conducts legal outreach or consultation and paralegal seminars to communities upon request. These legal outreach and paralegal seminars are designed to help communities build up their legal resources and make the Legal Rights Center relevant to the day to day life of the poor. The Legal Rights Center provides short paralegal courses on Katarungang Pambarangay, paralegalism, child-focused and women-focused advocacy to partner communities in Metropolitan Manila Area.

The Legal Rights Center also conducts research related to its activities and programs. Right now, the Center is making a study on the revitalization of the different pillars of the Criminal Justice System. It focuses also on researches regarding consumer rights and the right to ecology as a starting point of its policy reform advocacy program.

The Capability Training Program is intended for the interns and volunteers of the Legal Rights Center. This includes trainings on all aspects of litigation such as: (a) gathering evidence through interviews (b) formulation of theories of the case, (c) legal counseling, (d) negotiations and conciliation including pre-trial techniques, (e) preparation for trial and method for presenting testimonial, documentary and real evidence, (f) court demeanor, (h) presentation of rebuttal evidence, (I) trial technique and (j) preparation of memorandum.

Likewise, interns and members are given opportunity to attend seminars and other fora to widen their horizon and expose them to the various concerns of the legal profession.

The Legal Rights Center provides legal services to indigent clients who passed the following criteria:

(a) Merit Criteria. Only cases that are meritorious may be handled by the Office of the Legal Rights Center, except when the court appointed the Center as counsel de officio. An evaluation of the cases referred to the Legal Rights Center shall be made before they are entered into the docket of the Center for assignment to legal interns.

(b) Indigency Criteria. If the cases referred to appear to be meritorious, the client shall be subjected to indigency test. For this purpose, a client having a monthly family income of not more than P14, 000.00 shall be considered indigent.

(c) Property Criteria. The Legal Rights Center may also take into consideration whether the client owns real properties whose aggregate values will be inconsistent to the concept of free legal aid.

FEU Core Values

FORTITUDE
A Tamaraw is characterized by fortitude. Moral courage and strength of character allow Tamaraws to persevere and achieve more than is expected of them. FEU provides the academic, social and cultural environment to help develop in its students the strength of mind and spirit in the midst of internal and external pressures.

EXCELLENCE
A Tamaraw is characterized by excellence. Students, faculty and staff perform competently to their fullest potential, thus rewarding the FEU community with countless achievements in all fields of endeavor. The FEU community cultivates a campus environment committed to a culture of excellence in academics and beyond -- in the more important journey of life.

UPRIGHTNESS
A Tamaraw is characterized by uprightness. Full development of morality and integrity is among the primary purposes of FEU as an educational institution. Thus, FEU steadfastly adheres to a set of principles and a code of conduct which are integrated into the curriculum and academic and management policies and instilled in all members of the FEU community. This way, FEU aims to contribute to the moral advancement of Philippine society.

University Hymn

Far Eastern, onward, beloved Alma Mater!
Onward, oh lead us, the Green and Gold in view.
In thy happy halls, our young hearts saw the light;
Command thy sons and daughters to battle for the right.
Though far from home our feet may roam,
Our love will still be true.
Our voices shall unite
To praise thy name anew.
We'll treasure within our hearts the FEU!
We'll treasure within our hearts the FEU!

FEU PRAYER

Direct, O God, we beseech You.
All our actions by Your holy inspiration
and help them on by Your gracious assistance
so that every prayer and work of ours
may begin in You
and by You be happily ended.
Amen.

PLEDGE OF LOYALTY

In grateful recognition of all that my Alma Mater has doen for me, I have pledge to her my loyalty and solemly promise to live according to her ideals, work unceasingly to preserve the heritage of our glorious race, elevate the dignity of man and promote the unity of mankind and the glory of Almighty God.