To celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL), to pass on the vibrant culture and spirit of CUPL, and to highlight the characteristics of training international legal talents, the China-EU School of Law (CESL) launched the ‘CESL Featured Courses Series’, an introduction to some featured courses from CESL.
CESL: the "reservoir" of international legal talents
The China-EU School of Law (CESL) at the China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL) is the first law school which was approved by the Ministry of Education (MOE) of the People's Republic of China under the "Sino-foreign Schools Agreement." Former Premier Wen Jiabao expressed his hope that "CESL will educate a great cohort of talented legal professionals equipped with knowledge spanning both Chinese and Western law". The ceremony took place at CUPL's Changping campus in the presence of Jose Manuel Barroso, then President of the European Commission, and Li Keqiang, then Vice Premier of the State Council and member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of China's Communist Party on 23 October 2008.
CESL educates the next generation of China-EU legal experts, facilitates cross-border research and trains practitioners. Since 2008, 1,743 young people have been enrolled as students at the China-EU School of Law. They come from 26 different nations around the globe, including 1567 Chinese students and 176 international students. 1177 Chinese master and Phd students have graduated and worked as legal professionals.
The three-year Double Master programme
The three-year Double Master aims to educate well-rounded legal professionals who have a thorough knowledge of both Chinese and European law and are able to work in Chinese and English. It combines a Master of Chinese Law (LL.M./J.M.) taught in Chinese and English conferred by the China University of Political Science and Law with the English-language Master of European and International Law (LL.M.) awarded by the University of Hamburg (UHH). There are seven majors currently offered in the Master of Chinese Law: Constitutional Law and Administrative Law, Criminal Law, Civil and Commercial Law, Procedure Law, Economic Law, Comparative Law and International Law. During the first year students take courses from the Master of Chinese Law，in the second year, students begin their comprehensive studies in European and international law and finish their first master thesis in European and international law. Students spend year three completing an internship and writing a Chinse law master's thesis. CESL focuses on international thinking, international legal ability, and intercultural skills in the training of international legal talents.
Curriculum spanning both Chinese and Western law
China needs more Chinese legal talents trained in foreign law, to work in international businesses, organizations, top law firms, and in government. This programme prepares students for a wide variety of international careers in a world in which an understanding of European, international, and Chinese legal concepts as well as intercultural skills and high proficiency in English are highly sought after. Globalisation and China’s rise to an economic world power are increasing the demand for legal professionals who combine a high command of Chinese, European and international law, both in China and Europe. With a strong focus on legal training in a Chinese-European environment, the master’s programme boosts students’ ability to analyse legal problems from an international perspective. The master of Chinese law applies the MOE and CUPL rules while the master of European and International Law follows the UHH rules and the European Credit Transfer System.
Professor Susan-Gale Wintermuth and Professor Xie Libing with CESL students in 2018.
Diverse International Faculty
Students are taught by professors and lecturers from top universities and educational institutions. The Chinese faculty come from CUPL mainly, and the international faculty come from 13 partner universities, including University of Hamburg, KU Leuven, University of Manchester, etc. Prof. Peter Van den Bossche，the former Appellate Body member of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body and Prof. Ignacio Tirado, Senior Legal Consultant at the World Bank taught at CESL. Since 2008, 837 European Faculty members from 12 countries taught at CESL.
Professor Bernard Tilleman, Dean of KU Leuven Law Faculty taught at CESL in 2018.
Internationalisation and cross-border legal education
The China-EU School of Law is supported by 16 long-term partner universities in China and Europe. Students are trained across many campuses in both China and Europe. CESL contributes as a platform for legal exchange between Chinese and foreign students, providing international exchange opportunities. At CESL, Chinese and international students create a learning environment which inspires the exchange of perspectives and allows students to practice language skills. Students benefit from the teaching mode of high integration of Chinese and international students.
CESL believes that the training of international legal talents is achieved through a systematic training of international legal ability, and practical skills are a key point. CESL offers a compulsory course of "Legal Research and Writing" to enhance students’ core skills of legal research, critical thinking, and legal writings. In addition, "Legal Reasoning and Argumentation" and "Negotiating and Drafting International Contracts" have been added to the first year curriculum together with the original "Foreign-related Lawyer Practice" course. All these courses are aimed to cultivating students' international legal practical ability. Teachers of practical courses have extensive knowledge and experience with foreign legal practice. For example, the lecturers of the "Foreign-related Lawyer Practice" course are basically the partners of famous law firms. Many of them are selected into the “Nation’s Top 1000 International Lawyers” Talent Pool from the Ministry of Justice of the PRC.
In addition, teaching methods such as moot courts have been widely popularized at CESL. Every double master student needs to participate in two moot courts, one for constitutional litigation and one for international commercial arbitration. CESL encourages students to participate in international moot court competitions where the rules of international law are applied, to enhance students' comprehensive ability and broaden their international vision. Through the international moot competition, students can deepen their understanding of international legal practice. It also provides a practical platform for the growth of international legal talents. CESL organized student teams to participate in the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Competition and FDI Moot Shenzhen to encourage students to improve their foreign-related advocacy ability.
Winning team: the award was presented to the CESL 2021 FDI Moot Team
In addition to the course, CESL has also invited famous scholars and foreign legal practitioners to interact with students in the form of lectures, seminars, and moot courts to enhance their international vision. Since 2013, 14 international legal profession lectures have been held, achieving the training goal of "Chinese and Western legal talents with international vision". The lecture series have been accounted for credit to promote the diversification of curriculum and teaching modes. The invited guests are all elite foreign legal professional with many years of international work experience. By sharing their work experience in the government foreign affairs departments, international organizations, international law firms and multinational corporations, the lecturers expand the students' international vision and broaden their employment channels.
Sino-foreign cooperation in running schools has become an important part of higher education and an important focal point of education opening in the new era. CESL will continue to effectively contribute towards introducing high-quality overseas educational resources, integrate Chinese and foreign abilitiesto cultivate talents, continue to improve the curriculum system, strive to improve the quality and efficiency, and constantly promote the advancement of talent training.
By MA Anna
