Bulletin Spring‧Summer 2007

Need for Another Law School Hong Kong’s newest law school, the School of Law at CUHK, was born out of a need for more, better, and different lawyers. Quantity Prof. McConville explains that surveys undertaken show there are not enough lawyers in Hong Kong, especially in comparison with the provision of lawyers in other jurisdictions on a proportionate basis. In civil law matters, for instance, about 50% of litigants are unrepresented in the courts. A more important reason, he adds, is the need for quality lawyers. The Redmond-Roper Report on Legal Education and Training in Hong Kong, published in 2001, identified a shortage of quality lawyers and recommended that legal education foster a multiplicity of skills within the legal profession to meet the diverse needs of Hong Kong society. And in his annual address, the Chief Justice remarked on the deficit of good quality lawyers in Hong Kong. These were the catalysts for change that led to the expansion of the LLB from three to four years, its departure from a knowledge-based to a skills-based orientation, as well as the recognition that Hong Kong needs another legal education provider. The New School of Law