2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FOUR Appendices - Rules of Court (§§ 1 — 1-54) › XVII-A - Rules for the Committee on Character of Applicants Seeking Admission to the Practice of Law (§§ 1 — 7) › Rule 2 - Proceedings

(a) Record before the Committee. —
(1) After every bar examination, the Executive Director of the Board of Bar Examiners shall submit to the Committee a copy of the following documents for every applicant who passed the bar examination:
(A) Those mentioned in Rule 11, subsection (b)(6) of the Rules of the Supreme Court adopted on May 23, 1975, App. I-A of this title;
(B) any information or document submitted by the applicant as part of his bar examination application that is relevant to the evaluation to be made by the Committee;
(C) any other information or document that, in the Board’s opinion, may help the Committee in the performance of its duty.
(2) After receiving said documents, the Committee shall carry out the evaluation. It will not interview all applicants. Interviews shall be conducted only in the following cases:
(A) When the Committee deems it convenient;
(B) at the request of the Supreme Court or of the Board of Bar Examiners;
(C) upon receipt of an adverse communication regarding an applicant’s moral character;
(D) at the applicant’s request.
(3) The Committee may ask the applicant to furnish any additional information, whether oral or written, it deems necessary to duly comply with its function, and may request that it be given under oath.
(b) Certification on character and reputation. —
(1) After the evaluation is completed, within the 30-day period after the Committee receives from the Executive Director of the Board of Bar Examiners the documents mentioned in subsection (a)(1) of this rule, it shall issue individual certificates signed by its Chairperson and its Secretary, attesting to the good character and reputation of the applicants in question. Should the Committee need more time to complete an investigation or to carry out any further steps related to the character and reputation of a particular applicant, it shall inform the Executive Director of the Board of Bar Examiners, who will inform the court and the affected applicant. The Committee shall have then an additional 60-day term to issue the corresponding certificate. This term may only be extended by the court for good cause and upon request.
(2) When the Committee intends to certify that in its opinion an applicant does not have the character and reputation needed for admission to the practice of law, it shall first notify the applicant in question that it intends to make said certification to the Board of Bar Examiners, unless the applicant requests a hearing within ten days after said notice.
(c) Hearings. —
(1) If the applicant requests a hearing under subsection (b)(2) of this rule, the Secretary of the Committee shall inform the applicant of the following:
(A) Date, time, and place of the hearing;
(B) matters adverse to the applicant that came up as part of the investigation carried out by the Committee on his character and reputation;
(C) if said matters were partially or totally based on adverse statements of other persons, the names of said persons; and
(D) the applicant’s right to be represented by counsel, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, to introduce evidence relevant to the adverse matters and to his moral qualifications and general capacity to practice law and, for said purpose, to subpoena witnesses.
(2) Hearings before the Committee shall be private, unless the applicant asks that they be public, and they shall be formal.
(3) The applicant shall have the burden of proving that he is possessed of good character and reputation, as well as of moral qualifications to practice law. The Rules of Evidence shall not be inflexibly applied, and in the exercise of its discretion, the Committee may receive evidence other than oral, and may rely on the records or other documents the applicant or other persons may furnish in answer to the Committee’s requests. It may also decide that a witness’ testimony not be taken at the hearing, but rather at an oral or written deposition, but all oral evidence shall be taken under oath.
(4) All proceedings at the hearing shall be recorded. The applicant may get a transcript of said proceedings by filing a wellgrounded petition before the Supreme Court and paying the corresponding fee.
(d) Certification or resolution. — After the hearing is held, the Committee shall issue the corresponding certification within a term of thirty (30) days, stating that the applicant is possessed of good character and reputation that make him fit to practice law. If, on the contrary, the Committee determines that the applicant is not possessed of the good character and reputation necessary to practice law, it shall issue a resolution containing the findings of fact and conclusions of law that support its decision, and notify it immediately to the applicant and to the Board of Bar Examiners. Together with the notice to the Board, the Committee shall send the applicant’s record to the Executive Director, who shall file and keep it at the Board’s offices.
History —Apr. 21, 1983, eff. May 2, 1983.