School of Law – City University of Hong Kong – Information for JUPAS Programme Selection: LLB programme

To editors and reporters from local news / education / law desks

 

Information for JUPAS Programme Selection:

LLB First to provide Three Specialised Streams

 

To enhance Hong Kong’s role as an international legal service center

Presenter: Mr. Norris H.C. YANG, Dr Fozia Lone, Ms KWAN, Wan-chee Alisa

[Hong Kong, 7 Feburary 2013] As underlined in the 2013 Policy Address, the Secretary for Justice is committed to promoting local arbitration and mediation legal service and enhancing Hong Kong’s role as an international legal service centre. Besides, according to the《Robert Walters Asia Job Index, Q3 2012》, there is an increasing demand for legal talents, especially in the field of international business. Therefore, to keep up with the strong development in these sectors, the School of Law (SLW) at City University of Hong Kong has provided a Bachelor of Laws with Honours (LLB, JUPAS Code: JS1061) programme with streaming options for the first time in the 2012/13 academic year, which aims to offer specialized legal knowledge among undergraduates and develop their career as legal practitioners.

 

Specialised legal education to enhance students’ competiveness

The LLB programme is of a four-academic-year structure since 2004. From 2012/13 onwards, SLW begins to provide 3 streaming options for LLB students, namely: 1) Commercial Law stream; 2) Dispute Resolution stream; and 3) Chinese and Comparative Law stream. In the  LLB structure, students are able to choose one of the above streaming options and take not less than 15 credits in related courses since their second year of study.

 

Dr Fozia Lone, LLB Programme Leader, said, “the LLB programme provides students with both international horizon and practical training. Through the selection of over 10 courses in the 3 streaming options, their reasoning and analysing skills can be enhanced based on the extensive specialized knowledge foundation. Graduates may apply specific legal knowledge to different legal issues.”

 

The 3 streaming options of the LLB programme are unique of its kind. For instance, Sea  Carriage Law in the Commercial Law stream, International Mooting and Advocacy in the Dispute Resolution stream and the Animal Law with a Comparative Element in the Chinese and Comparative Law stream, are offered to equip students with innovative ways of thinking.

 

To establish comprehensive learning experience and promote global education

Ms Alisa Kwan, LLB Associate Programme Leader, added, “CityU places a great deal of emphasis on personal growth and specialized training of students. We aim at nurturing legal professionals who are familiar with the judicial systems in both China and Hong Kong, together with global vision and practical experience. The Global Legal Education and Awareness Project (G-LEAP) is one of the measures taken to promote global education. The School of Law has established links with the Faculty of Law, Monash University; University College, Oxford; and Columbia Law School, U.S. under the G-LEAP. Besides, SLW encourages students to take part in international mooting competitions to sharpen their thinking and advocacy skills.”

 

SLW emphasizes the nurturing of excellent students. In the 2008-2009 academic year, SLW launched the LLB Admission Scholarship to reward Year 1 LLB students who have outstanding academic results and proven track-records in extra-curricular activities.

 

Candidates for the scholarship include applicants to the LLB programme under the Joint University Programmes Admissions Systems (JUPAS) or non-JUPAS, and must be nominated by their secondary school principals. Successful candidates are granted a scholarship up to  a maximum of HK$50,000 from SLW in their first year of study.

 

For other features of LLB programme offered by the SLW at CityU, please refer to the “Note to editors”.

 

LLB information

Programme name (JUPAS)：School of Law (Bachelor of Laws)

JUPAS Code                                   ：JS1061

LLB full credits                                 ：126 credits

Programme website                       ：http://www.cityu.edu.hk/slw

Hotline                                              ：3442 8008

SLW initiatives, to enhance global horizon and provide LLB students with cross-cultural understanding, are listed below:

 

Initiative

Highlight

Global Legal Education and Awareness Project

(G-LEAP)

Students will take a 1-month legal course at overseas law institutes such as: University College, Oxford, UK, Monash University, Australia and Columbia Law School, US.

 

Credit-bearing Legal Placement

 

SLW offers a credit-bearing legal placement component in which students are able to take their placements with local or multi-national law firms, legal publications, multi-national corporations and NGOs.

 

Students can opt to take their placement at the Local People’s Court in the PRC.

 

These placements broaden and enrich students’ practical experience in the legal field.

 

International Mooting Competitions

 

To enhance their analytical and logical thinking skills, SLW encourages and trains students to participate in a number of international mooting competitions and has launched a credit-bearing course in International Mooting and Advocacy.

 

Initiative

Highlight

City University of Hong Kong Law Review

‘City University of Hong Kong Law Review’ is edited by SLW students under the guidance of faculty professors and eminent legal scholars. The scholars are from University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Columbia Law School and University of Sydney etc.

 

Through reviewing articles with legal scholars from around the world, students are able to enhance their knowledge in different legal issues and also sharpen their analytical/critical thinking and writing skills.

 

Class by distinguished international scholars

SLW often invites distinguished international scholars to deliver seminars  either on campus or via video-conferencing, facilitating live global relays of the seminars conducted by world-class professors.