The School of Law at City University in Hong Kong (CityU) has announced the inauguration of a Master of Laws program for 30 Chinese judges in Hong Kong.
Organised by China’s legal authorities, the program highlights the government’s strategies to advance judiciary reform by widening the exposure of China’s judiciary to international legal knowledge.
The program is specially designed under a tripartite arrangement by CityU, the National Judges College of the Supreme People’s Court of the PRC and Columbia Law School.
As part of the one-year programme under the tripartite arrangement, the judges will study for one month at the Columbia Law School, from where they will take a study tour to Washington DC, visiting the US Congress, the Supreme Court and the Department of Justice.
“I consider this tripartite arrangement a watershed moment in the further education of judges in China. This partnership will have major significance for the legal fraternity in China, Hong Kong and the US,” said Wan Exiang, vice-president of the Supreme People’s Court of China, at the inauguration.
“As China’s international stature grows, our legal system must grow with it, complete with the higher competence of our judges. Upon their completion of studies at CityU, I am confident they will make important contributions to the betterment of the legal system in China,” continued Wan.
The program is fully sponsored by the Fu Tak Iam Foundation, which has donated HK$4.4m to cover tuition fees, study tour travels and living expenses for all Chinese judges undertaking the LLM degree.
It is also the first time that China’s legal authorities have organised for Chinese judges to further their legal studies at postgraduate level outside the mainland.