Bulletin Spring‧Summer 2007

The New School of Law Contributions to the Mainland Prof. McConville believes that Hong Kong can provide an excellent example of a legal system based upon the rule of law to the motherland. The school regards it as crucial to have a positive dialogue with mainland China and to be actively involved in its social and legal transition in every way. This is done by means of initiatives aimed at improving the mainland’s capacity to tackle the challenges faced by its legal system. For example, this summer, a number of first-year LLB students will be spending time at Tsinghua University on a sponsored study tour. There is also traffic the other way. Many students from the mainland are enrolling on the school’s programmes. Through its master’s programmes and JD, the school seeks to train future lawyers for working in the mainland. It also works closely with mainland academics on the major issues confronting China’s legal system. ‘We see ourselves as being the natural bridge to the mainland. And China recognizes that CUHK is an institution which is eager to be constructively aligned with its future development. We are disposed to help an orderly translation from the past to a future which will give much more centrality to law.’