Unauthorized Practice
Unauthorized Practice
Unauthorized Practice
“Section 7 of R.A. No. 6713 generally provides for the prohibited acts and
transactions of public officials and employees. Subsection (b)(2) prohibits
them from engaging in the private practice of their profession during
their incumbency. As an exception, a public official or employee can
engage in the practice of his or her profession under the following
conditions: first, the private practice is authorized by the Constitution or by
the law; and second, the practice will not conflict, or tend to conflict, with his
or her official functions.”
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(b) Outside employment and other activities related thereto. – Public officials
and employees during their incumbency shall not:
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We also find that Atty. Buffe also failed to live up to her lawyer’s oath and
thereby violated Canon 7 of the Code of Professional Responsibility when she
blatantly and unlawfully practiced law within the prohibited period by
appearing before the RTC Branch she had just left. Canon 7 states:
By her open disregard of R.A. No. 6713, she thereby followed the footsteps
of the models she cited and wanted to replicate – the former court officials
who immediately waded into practice in the very same court they came
from. She, like they, disgraced the dignity of the legal profession by openly
disobeying and disrespecting the law. By her irresponsible conduct, she also
eroded public confidence in the law and in lawyers. Her offense is not in any
way mitigated by her transparent attempt to cover up her transgressions by
writing the Court a letter-query, which she followed up with unmeritorious
petitions for declaratory relief, all of them dealing with the same Section 7
(b)(2) issue, in the hope perhaps that at some point she would find a ruling
favorable to her cause. These are acts whose implications do not promote
public confidence in the integrity of the legal profession.
“Time and again, this Court has stressed that notarization is not an empty,
meaningless and routine act. It is invested with substantive public interest
that only those who are qualified or authorized may act as notaries public. It
must be emphasized that the act of notarization by a notary public converts
a private document into a public document making that document
admissible in evidence without further proof of authenticity. A notarial
document is by law entitled to full faith and credit upon its face, and for this
reason, notaries public must observe with utmost care the basic
requirements in the performance of their duties.”