P.R. Laws tit. 4, § 721
From the date of the approval of this act, there shall be admitted to practice as lawyers in the Courts of Justice of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, in addition to those already admitted, only those who fulfill the requirements enumerated below:
(1) To be of legal age, of irreproachable moral conduct and reputation and worthy of being admitted to the practice of law. The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico shall determine by regulation the manner of investigating, evaluating and determining whether the candidate meets this requirement.
(2) To have resided in Puerto Rico during at least the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the date on which the application for admission is filed, it being understood that those persons domiciled in Puerto Rico who, during the year preceding the date of their application, were studying law outside of Puerto Rico shall be exempt from this requirement.
(3) To have been received as a lawyer in a university approved by the American Bar Association and by the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico; Provided, however, That when the applicant has been graduated as a lawyer from a foreign university, the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico is empowered to determine, in its discretion, whether said university complies with the equivalent of the requirements demanded by the universities approved by the American Bar Association, the only case in which the diploma so received shall be considered sufficient; Provided, further, That for the purposes of this subsection the College of Law of the University of Puerto Rico shall be considered as approved by the American Bar Association.
(4) To submit to an examination before the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico or before an examining board designated by said court, on the date, in the manner, and to the extent that the Supreme Court may establish.
The Supreme Court shall establish, in the rules it is authorized to enact by § 726 of this title, the number of members who shall constitute the examining board and the requirements they must meet.
The members of the examining board, other than legislators, officials or employees of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or any of its agencies, instrumentalities, public corporations or political subdivisions, shall be entitled to a per diem for each day in which they render services as members of the board. The Supreme Court shall fix the amount of said per diem in its rules.
All members of the board shall be entitled to be reimbursed for travelling expenses actually incurred in the performance of their official duties as members thereof.
History —June 10, 1939, No. 17, p. 50, § 1; June 19, 1961, No. 72, p. 145, § 1; June 13, 1966, No. 31, p. 156, § 1; June 22, 1975, No. 46, p. 108, § 1; July 12, 1979, No. 101, p. 243, § 1.