CONSTITUTION OF THE ASSOCIATION OF LAW STUDENTS
OF THE PHILIPPINES

PREAMBLE

We, the members of the Association of the Law Students of the Philippines (ALSP), imploring the aid of Almighty God, committing ourselves to the ideals of legal scholarship and social responsibility, recognizing our duty to promote the development of a popular, accessible and mass-oriented Philippine legal system, and desiring to bring ourselves together for the achievement of these goals, do ordain and promulgate this Constitution.

ARTICLE I
Name

Section 1:       This organization shall be known as the ASSOCIATION OF LAW STUDENTS OF THE PHILIPPINES (ALSP). For purposes, however, of international representations, ALSP shall be known as the Asian Law Students’ Association – Philippines (ALSA - Philippines).

ARTICLE II
Objectives

Section 1: The Association shall contribute to the improvement of legal education in the Philippines by providing venues for academic cooperation and coordination among law students in the country. It shall also promote a continuing program of legal research in substantive and adjective law.

Section 2:       The Association shall instill a sense of awareness and public responsibility among its members particularly in advocacy of social justice and human rights.

Section 3:       The Association shall cultivate a spirit of cordiality and camaraderie among its members and contribute to their intellectual, social, physical and moral development.

Section 4:       The Association shall promote better understanding, goodwill and cooperation with law students from other countries on matters of mutual concern and benefit.

ARTICLE III
Membership

Section 1:       Membership in the Association shall be composed of all students of recognized law schools in the Philippines and duly accepted by ALSP. The principle of one law school-one delegation head shall be followed.

Section 2:       The National Assembly has the sole power to admit members. No new member shall be admitted without the concurrence of at least two-thirds of the members of the National Assembly present and voting.

Section 3:       A member in good standing shall have the right to participate in all meetings and activities of the Association, and vote during the deliberation. A member to be in good standing must not be under any disciplinary action in the form of suspension or expulsion.

Section 4:       The right of the member to choose its representatives to the standing committees shall not be impaired.

Section 5:       It shall be the duty of every member to help promote and attain the goals of the organization. Every member is expected to attend regularly meetings of the Association and to participate in all of its activities.

Section 6:       Where the annual membership fee is not paid by any member school, the membership of that school shall be deemed suspended. Such school will be deprived of all its benefits and privileges of membership for that year. However, if the suspended member school pays its unpaid membership fees within fifteen (15) days after having been given due notice, the suspension shall be lifted automatically.

Section 7:       Where the annual membership fee remains unpaid by any member for three (3) consecutive years, the member so in default shall be automatically expelled from the Association.

Where any member shall by its acts willfully and consistently prejudice, negate, or defeat any of the provisions in the Constitution, the Regional Executive Committee of the region to which such member belongs may recommend the suspension of such errant member. The National Board after proper notice and hearing shall by two-thirds vote of the members present, expel an errant member only after due and formal notice has been made to all members as regards the proposed expulsion.

Section 8:       In cases of admission, readmission, suspension and the lifting or cancellation thereof as provided under Section 6, and expulsion under Section 7 hereof, the rules of procedure and/or guidelines to be promulgated by a committee created by the National Assembly shall apply.

ARTICLE IV
The National Assembly

Section 1:       The National Assembly shall be the highest policy-making body of the Association. It shall determine the national policy of the Association. It shall have the sole power to amend or revise the Constitution.

Section 2:       The National Assembly is composed of all members of the Association present during the National Convention. Each member school shall have one official representative in the Assembly, duly certified by their respective Dean or any official authorized by the school.

Section 3:       The principle of one member - one vote shall be followed in all deliberations of the National Assembly.

Section 4:       The National Assembly shall be convened every last week of May which shall be decided in the National Constitution with the Regional Assemblies of the Association. It shall be presided over by the National President who shall set the agenda of the Assembly in the consultation with the National Board.

Section 5:       Decisions of the Assembly shall be made by a majority vote of all members present. A majority of the members present during the National Assembly shall constitute a quorum in order to conduct official business.

Section 6:       The Assembly may establish standing committees as it may deem necessary for the performance of its function.

ARTICLE V
National Board

Section 1:       The National Board shall be primarily responsible for the implementation of the policies set in the National Assembly. It shall coordinate the activities of the Association in the National level.
Section 2:       The National Board shall be composed of the National President, four (4) Vice-Presidents, one (1) from each region, namely, NCR, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, Secretary General, Treasurer, Auditor, and Public Relations Officer. There shall be an Executive Vice-President which shall be chosen from among the four (4) Vice-Presidents. The Executive Vice-President shall assume said position in rotation every year from NCR, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. The National Assembly shall elect these officers. The immediate Past National President will automatically sit as an honorary but non-voting member of the National Board.

Section 3:       It shall be the duty of the National President of the Association:

Section 4:       It shall be the duty of the Executive Vice-President:

The Vice-President shall assume the powers and duties of the Executive Vice-President in the absence or disability of the latter. He shall act as the Liaison Officer to his respective region. He may perform such other functions as may be assigned to him by the Executive Vice-President or the National President.

In case of absence or disability of the Executive Vice-President, the remaining Vice-Presidents shall vote among themselves who will assume the office.

Section 5:       It shall be the duty of the Secretary-General:

Section 6:       It shall be the duty of the National Treasurer:

Section 7:       It shall be the duty of Auditor:

The Auditor is to be given full access to all books, records, documents, and properties in relation to the subject matter of the examination.

The Auditor shall:

Section 8:       It shall be the duty of the Public Relations Officer:

ARTICLE VI
The Secretariat

Section 1:       The Secretariat shall be responsible for the administrative needs of the Association. It shall be composed of all volunteer members of duly recognized law schools selected by the Secretary-General.

Section 2:       The Secretary-General shall head the Secretariat. The National Board may avail the services of an office staff that will oversee the day-to-day activities of the Association.

Section 3:       It shall maintain the files of the Association in safe and good condition and ready for inspection by any member of the Association.

Section 4:       It shall be charged of all administrative preparations for the conduct of National Assembly.
ARTICLE VII
Regional Assemblies

Section 1:       Each Regional Unit of the Association shall have the Regional Assembly. Its fundamental function shall be to enact programs within its jurisdiction in consonance with the Constitution of the Association.

Section 2:       It shall be composed of members within the territorial jurisdiction of the regional unit. For that purpose, the Philippines shall be divided into five (5) regional units of the ALSP, to wit;

Section 3:       Each member within the region shall have a representative to the Regional Assembly.

Section 4:       Decisions of the Assembly shall be made by a majority vote of all present.

Section 5:       It shall be convened once a year and shall be presided by the Regional Chairman who shall set its agenda in consultation with the Regional Executive Committee.

Section 6:       Each Regional Assembly may adopt its own by-laws subject to the provisions of this Constitution.

ARTICLE VIII
Standing Committees

Section 1:       There shall be created the following standing committees to be designated by the General Assembly during the National Board:

ARTICLE IX
Regional Board

Section 1:       The Regional Executive Committee shall be responsible for the implementation of the programs set in the Regional Assembly and shall coordinate the activities of the Association at the regional level. It shall also be responsible for submitting semestral reports to the National Board on the activities of the Association in its region.

Section 2:       It shall be composed of the Regional Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, and Auditor who shall be elected and/or appointed by the Regional Assembly during the Regional and National Conference.

ARTICLE X
Elections

Section 1:       The elections of the members of the National Board shall be held during the National Assembly. It shall be presided over by the outgoing President or by any trustee appointed by the Board in case the President is unable to do so.

However, the National Presidency shall be on rotation basis, in the following order, NCR, Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, which shall be elected at large by the General Assembly during the National Convention. Provided however, that if there is no candidate by reason of absence or refusal of representatives from the region who shall assume the National Presidency during the General Assembly of the National Convention based on said rotation, the next region in the order shall assume such position.

Section 2:       Any delegate present during the National Convention may run for office; however, only the head of delegation per school is allowed to vote. The certificate of candidacy shall be filed by the candidate to the Secretariat one (1) day prior to the date of election.

Section 3:       A mere plurality of those present and voting is sufficient to elect a candidate for a given position.

Section 4:       In case of a tie, a run-off election shall be held. Should the tie subsist, the winner shall be determined by lot.

Section 5:     The National President, Executive Vice-President, Vice-President for NCR, Vice-President for Luzon, Vice-President for Visayas, Vice-President for Mindanao, Secretary-General, Treasurer, Auditor and Public Relations Officer shall have a term of one year without re-election for the same position. In case of vacancies, person filing the vacancies shall serve only for the unexpired term.

Section 6:       Students who are candidates for graduation within one (1) year term of office are disqualified from holding any position in the National and Regional Boards.

Section 7:       No representative shall hold more than one position in the National and Regional Board.

Section 8:       Voting shall be made by secret ballot.

ARTICLE XI
Impeachment

Section 1:       A member of the National Board shall be removed from office through impeachment on the following grounds:

Section 2:       Impeachment procedures may be initiated by a petition signed by at least one-third of the entire membership of the Association. The official subject of the impeachment proceedings shall automatically be suspended from office upon its filing.

Section 3:       A Special National Assembly composed of one representative from each member school shall be convened thirty (30) days from the filing of the petition for the purpose of deciding on said petition. The President shall preside over the said meeting unless he is the person sought to be impeached. In the latter case, the Vice-President shall act as a presiding officer. In case the President and Vice-President are both the subject of impeachment proceedings, the meeting shall be presided over by a representative chosen by the Special National Assembly.

Section 4:       In case the proceeding prospers, the Special National Assembly shall elect a replacement for the impeached official except when the latter is the President of the Association, in which case the Vice-President assumes the presidency for the duration of the unexpired term.

Section 5:       In the impeachment proceedings, the member of the National Board subject to impeachment shall be given due notice and the opportunity to be heard. If he or she does not use this opportunity, then he or she forfeits his or her right to be heard and the impeachment proceedings shall continue until terminated.

Section 6:       A vote of two-thirds of all members present shall be required for the impeachment of any member of the National Board. Voting shall be done by secret ballot.

ARTICLE XII
Vacancies

Section 1:       A vacancy shall arise by reason of death, resignation, incapacity disability, or disqualification. In case of vacancy in the position of the National President, the Executive Vice-President shall automatically serve as President for the duration of the unexpired term. In case of other vacancies, the National Board shall elect or appoint a successor.

ARTICLE XIII
Amendments or Revisions

Section 1:       This Constitution may be amended or revised by a vote of two-thirds of the members of the National Assembly present during the National Convention.

Section 2:       No amendment nor revision shall be made for the period of two (2) years after the promulgation of this Constitution.

ARTICLE XIV
Transitory Provisions

Section 1:       All founding and present members shall automatically be considered full-fledged members of the Association.

Section 2:       The provision in the second paragraph of Section 1 Article X regarding the order of rotation for the National Presidency shall depend upon the results of the election of the National President in the 19th Association of Law Students of the Philippines National Convention.

Section 3:       A seat for the Vice-President in the National Board shall be provided for upon the organization of the Southern Luzon Region.

ARTICLE XV
Effectivity

Section 1:       This Constitution shall take effect upon ratification by a majority of the members present and voting during 19th Association of Law Students of the Philippines National Convention.

Ratified this 1st day of June, in the year 2008, in the Pelaez Moot Court Room, University of San Carlos, Fr. Ernest Hoerdemann Building, Pelaez Street, Cebu City, Philippines.