Legal Education in China

Reforms and Requirements

Bibliographic Data

ID3793163
AuthorsWeidong Ji (0000-0003-1110-5900)
Year2016
Volume3
Issue2
Pages237-246
Publication date2016-11-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAsian Journal of Law and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2052-9015 • E-ISSN: 2052-9023
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/als.2016.34
OpenAlexW2501419821
LanguageEN
Citations received3

This article argues that two types of pressure, specifically pressure from international competition and pressure resulting from the low employment rate of law graduates, are the major motivations for the new wave of legal education reforms in China. The direction of the reforms is from a single model into more diversified models. However, there is tension between "the universities' pursuit of academic freedom and featured education" and "the government's focal investment associated with deliberation and calculation." In recent years, Chinese legal education reform has placed more and more emphasis on practical skills training, and Chinese law schools are now required to open legal practice courses that must make up no less than 15% of the curricula. The author thinks this developmental trend is correct, but points to a potential problem: the costs of practical skills training, historically borne by mostly courts, procuratorates, and law firms, are now being transferred to law schools. Therefore, reform of the legal education sector in China should be adopted together with reforms in the tuition and fees system, as well as the bar exam, so that planned changes can be applied outside of the academic sector

Academic freedom · China · Competition (biology · Curriculum · Deliberation · Government (linguistics · Higher education · Legal Education · Political science · Artificial Intelligence in Law · Comparative and International Law Studies · Legal Education and Practice Innovations · Law

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub