Juris Doctor (JD)
Programme Structure
Basic Structure
Suggested Sequence of Study
Basic Structure
The JD programme can usually be finished in two years. There are three semesters in each academic year: the first semester, which lasts from September to December; the second semester, which lasts from January to May; and the one-month June semester.
In order to complete the programme, students are required to take courses worth a total of 144 credits. A one-semester course in the JD programme is usually worth 6 credits, and a full-year course 12 credits. 84 of the required 144 credits comprise core courses, which are listed below. Students are also required to complete a 6-credit dissertation. The remaining 54 credits are devoted to electives. Students who wish to apply for the PCLL must take the following 6-credit courses: Company Law, Evidence, Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure, and Land Law III.
Core courses:
Contracts I & II
Torts I & II
Equity & Trusts I & II
Land Law I & II
Criminal Law I & II
Constitutional Law
Commercial Law
Legal System
Legal Research & Methods
Dissertation
In the first year, students will take three one-year courses in Contracts, Torts, and Criminal Law respectively. They will also take a one-semester course in Constitutional Law in the first semester, an elective course in the second semester, Commercial Law and Dissertation seminars in the June semester, and Legal System and Legal Research & Methods over the academic year.
Legal System and Legal Research & Methods, which introduce students to the basics of legal study and prepare students for the substantive courses, will commence earlier than other courses. They will start in the Induction Period, which takes place in the last two weeks of August. Legal Research & Methods will continue until the end of Sepember, while Legal System will conclude at the end of the first semester.
The second-year curriculum is primarily devoted to electives to allow students to explore their academic interests and to develop an area of focus. The only core courses remaining are the full-year Equity & Trusts and Land Law courses. The Faculty of Law offers electives in a wide variety of cutting-edge areas of law, such as financial law, international arbitration, environmental law, competition law, intellectual property law, to name but a few. There are no restrictions on the selection of electives, except that students must choose at least one elective from the “International, Comparative and Theoretical Perspectives of Law (“ICT”)” list of courses, and one elective from the “Chinese Law” list of courses. Students are also encouraged to take part in local and international mooting competitions.
Suggested Sequence of Study
Year 1 (72 credits)
Induction Week |
First Semester |
Second Semester |
Summer Semester |
Legal System (6 credits) |
Legal System (6 credits) |
Contracts II (6 credits) |
Commercial Law (6 credits) |
Contract I (6 credits) |
|||
Torts II (6 credits) |
|||
Torts I (6 credits) |
Criminal Law II (6 credits) |
||
Legal Research & Methods (6 credits) |
Criminal Law I (6 credits) |
Dissertation (6 credits) |
|
Constitutional Law (6 credits) |
Elective (6 credits) |
||
Legal Research & Methods |
Year 2 (72 credits)
First Semester
|
Second semester
|
Summer Semester
|
Land Law I (6 credits) |
Land Law II (6 credits) |
Elective (6 credits) |
Equity and Trusts I (6 credits) |
Equity and Trusts II (6 credits) |
|
*Elective (6 credits) |
*Elective (6 credits) |
|
*Elective (6 credits) |
*Elective (6 credits) |
Elective (6 credits) |
*Elective (6 credits) |
Elective (6 credits) |
*Students who intend to proceed to the PCLL must take five elective
courses of PCLL pre-requisites.
