Media

HKU and Peking University to establish cross border double master degree in law

15 Dec 2010

 

The Faculty of Law of The University of Hong Kong (HKU) and the Peking University Law School (PKU) are pleased to announce today that a cross border double master degree in law would be established from the academic year 2011-2012.

Professor Lin Jian Hua, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Registrar of PKU; and Professor Lap-Chee Tsui, Vice-Chancellor and President of HKU attended a Signing Ceremony to announce the programme. Participants of the Ceremony included Professor Zheng Shou Wen, Dean of PKU Law, Professor Johannes Chan, SC (Hon), Dean of Law, HKU and academics from the two universities. Under the newly signed arrangement, postgraduate students from PKU (who are taking Juris Master (JM) and Master of Laws (LLM)) may spend a year within their curriculum with HKU to complete a LLM or a Master of Common Law (MCL). On the other hand, LLM and MCL students from HKU may complete the JM or LLM with PKU in one year, which normally requires two years to complete.

Professor Lap-Chee Tsui, Vice-Chancellor and President of HKU was pleased to see intellectual exchanges among academics between the two top institutions being extended. Since the establishment of the Peking U-HKU Legal Research Centre in 1998, annual conferences were held in Hong Kong or Beijing. He believed that the new programme will further strengthen the interaction between common law and civil law which will in turn help develop the legal system in the Mainland.

The HKU MCL programme was first introduced in 1997. The annual average in-take is about 60. Designed for law graduates from non-Common Law jurisdictions; the programme focuses on the understanding and the analytical process of the Common Law system. Students learn about fundamental concepts and methodology and reasoning of the common law. To date, we have over 400 graduates, coming from a variety of background, among them including Government officials, judges, prosecutors, junior law lecturers and recent graduates from top universities.

Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong

The Faculty of Law of the University of Hong Kong is the oldest law school in Hong Kong and one of the most prestigious law schools internationally. It has been training graduates who are today distinguished legal professionals and leaders of the Hong Kong community. Building upon its unique position as the only common law jurisdiction in China, capitalizing on the "one country, two systems" principle, the Faculty has a unique and irreplaceable role to play in scholarship, research and education on common law and comparative law as well as the development of the rule of law in China and Asia. In 2009, HKU launched its JD programme, which has been attracting top graduates from universities in the U.K., U.S., Canada, Australia and Mainland China.

To read more about HKU Faculty of Law, visit: http://www.hku.hk/law

Peking University Law School

Peking University Law School was officially inaugurated on June 26, 1999. Its precursor was the Law Department of Peking University, which was founded in the year of 1904, and therefore the institution with the longest history of modern legal education in China.

To read more about Peking University Law School, visit: http://www.law.pku.edu.cn
For media enquiries, please contact: Ms Rachel Li (Tel: 2859 2919 / Email: lirachel@hku.hk)