THE LAW CENTER

THE LAW CENTER

Institute of Government and Law Reform (IGLR)
   

The Institute of Government and Law Reform (IGLR) is an academic, research, and training institute mandated to discharge the law codification and revision functions of the now defunct Code Commission, and to perform all the other areas not covered by the five existing Institutes of the UP Law Center.[1] The IGLR fulfills the UP Law Center’s statutory mandate[2] to undertake research initiatives for various aspects of the law as basis for law reform by conducting technical research and studies in law, developing proposals for legislative reform, and providing legal opinions and comments on pending legislation and executive issuances on its own or upon request from various agencies of the government, including the House of Representatives and the Senate. It also carries out its legal duty to enhance the effectiveness and responsiveness of government to the needs of the Filipino people by extending its legal expertise in administrative rule-making to government offices and administrative agencies and by executing projects that help promote and popularize the law through linkages with other institutions for the teaching of elementary knowledge in law.

Brief History. The IGLR, formerly the Division of Research and Law Reform (DRLR),[3] is one of the first offices to discharge the statutory functions of the UP Law Center. The Division of Research and Law Reform was renamed the Institute of Government and Law Reform by virtue of the 1989 Reorganization Plan[4] of the University of the Philippines Law Complex.

During the 1960-1970s, the DRLR took part in national restoration through law reform recommendations, providing consultative services and rendering legal opinions to government agencies, and conducting technical studies and research in Philippine law. One of its important outputs was the UP Law Constitutional Revision Project, which took a year and a half to prepare and produced a draft constitution for the consideration of the 1971 Constitutional Convention. This same draft was used by the 1986 Constitutional Commission in coming up with the 1987 Philippine Constitution. Another notable output during that period was the Permanent and General Statutes, a multi-volume compilation of Philippine laws, containing up-to-date amendments and annotations giving the statutory history of a given law.

Today, the IGLR continues to assist government agencies in policy-making through technical studies and research in various fields of law and in administrative rule-making through the drafting, reviewing, or finalizing of implementing rules and regulations, codification of administrative agency issuances, and other related legal services. It also continues to design and implement extension programs and short courses for law enforcement agencies, national government agencies, local government leaders, and partner-institutions. The Institute also continues to contribute in the UP Law Center’s statutory mandate to advance legal scholarship by publishing legal handbooks, manuals, primers, and other publications consistent with law reform and by translating legal materials into Filipino and other major dialects used in the Philippines.  



[1] Administrative Order No. 8, series of 1990, Implementing the Resolution of the U.P. Board of Regents Reorganizing the University of the Philippines Law Complex, 21 U.P. Gazette 18.

(1) Institute of Government and Law Reform. – This Institute will perform the functions of the Code of Commission, and all areas not covered by existing Institutes, shall conduct studies for legislative reform and develop proposals for legislation and for administrative rule-making in cooperation with pertinent agencies of the government, so as to enhance effectiveness of government and responsiveness to the needs of the people. This Institute shall continue projects of popularizing the law by establishing linkages with other institutions for the teaching of elementary knowledge in law by translating legal materials into the Filipino and the major dialects.
[2] Republic Act No. 3870.
[3] UP Law Center Brochure, p. 6; As referred to in BOR Issuances in the University Gazette before the 1989 Reorganization Plan.
[4] UP Board of Regents Decision Approving the Reorganization Plan, as revised, of the UP Law Complex, in its 1020th Meeting, 25 April 1989.

For more information on the Law Center, download the brochure here.

Contact Information

Phone: (+632) 8 920 5514 loc. 202 or 203
Fax: (+632) 8 927 0368
Email: iglr_law.upd@up.edu.ph