| Medium of instruction: | English | ||||||||||||||||||
| How and when to apply: | Applications for 2024 intake will be invited around September of this year. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Admission requirements: | All applicants must fulfill the General Admission Requirements and the English Language Proficiency Requirement prescribed by the University’s
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| Duration: | Full-time: one year (normative study period) – two years (maximum study period). Part-time: two years (normative study period) – three years (maximum study period). | ||||||||||||||||||
| Campus: | The CUHK Graduate Law Centre, 2/F, Bank of America Tower, Central. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Programme requirements: | 24 units: including 12 units of required courses and 12 units of elective courses. Students should pass all the assessments with a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 in order to be recommended
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| Delivery mode: | A 3-unit course will usually have three teaching hours per week.
Classes are held during daytime and evenings of weekdays and daytime |
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| Study options: | Students may take elective courses offered in other LLM Programmes and the JD Programme offered by CUHK LAW subject to availability |
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| Additional learning & development opportunities: | The Sir TL |
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| Tuition fees: | HK$6,060 per unit* for a total of 24 units within the normative |
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| Further study options: | Master of Philosophy in Law (MPhil) or Doctor of Philosophy in Laws (PhD) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Student housing: | There is a shortage of on campus student accommodation for non-local postgraduate students. When relocating to Hong Kong students are advised they will need to rely on (readily-available) private off-campus accommodation during |
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Master of Laws (LLM) in Common Law
The common law is a dynamic and exciting legal system which unites millions of people across the world, in such varied cultures as Hong Kong, Singapore, England, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India, and across the United States. This course will furnish students with substantive knowledge of Hong Kong law in some core common law subjects, and further develop the skills necessary to engage with the common law tradition more widely. Through the electives, students are given an opportunity to deepen their knowledge of the common law, or complement it with the study of new subjects.
The common law originated in England, but it now comprises the legal systems of a third of the world’s population. Meanwhile, it also exerts a major influence over law as it is practiced among the other two thirds of humanity.
Lawyers, judges, and legal officials of all kinds throughout the world today are called upon to implement rules and procedures that have origins in common law precedents. This legal tradition spawned global trends such as the spread of privacy rights, principles of fairness in contract, freedoms of speech and association, judicial constitutionalism, the use of juries, and much more. Meanwhile, among common law jurisdictions themselves, there is a huge range of diversity. Extending from India to Canada, from much of Africa to the United States, and, of course, Hong Kong itself, the common law is a shared legal language expressed in different judicial dialects.
As a global financial and economic center as well as a common law jurisdiction that is within a civil law state, Hong Kong is a particularly fascinating and important place to study this subject.
Students in the LLM in Common Law Programme will gain expertise in the institutions, procedures, substantive law and ongoing developments of the common law world. They will be able to call upon these skills and knowledge whether they intend to continue to work and study in common law jurisdictions or to diversify their resumés and professional profiles for global careers.
We look forward to welcoming you to Hong Kong!
Yours sincerely,
Professor Ryan MITCHELL
Deputy Programme Director (LLM Common Law)
Required Courses:
Students may select the above LLM in Common Law Elective Courses or any other approved courses offered under the JD or LLM Programmes. Students who would like to undertake an independent research project in an area of significant personal interest may choose Independent Research or Independent Research Dissertation. The offering of an elective course in any term will depend on teacher availability and sufficient student interest.
- Common Law: Origins and Development
- This foundational course introduces students to the history and background of the common law, as well its core concepts, institutions, and practices. It is intended to provide an overall framework that can prepare students for the more detailed study of specific areas of law.
- Principles of Contract
- This course introduces students to the concepts and key precedents of contract law in common law jurisdictions. It will aid in understanding and making use of the unique jurisprudence of contract that structures legal regulation of business and commercial activity across the common law world.
- Principles of Criminal Law
- This course provides an overview of the criminal law and criminal procedure norms that have emerged from the common law tradition. The definitions of crimes and criminal conduct, and the rights of criminal suspects, will be explained in detail. Students will become familiar with the functioning of criminal justice institutions in common law jurisdictions.
- Principles of Tort
- The Principles of Tort course explores the important and highly unique approach to civil liability actions in common law jurisdictions, providing students with an overview of this important area of law. Students will be introduced to the practical and contextual dimensions of tort doctrine, as well as the factors that have contributed to its growth and development over time.
- Common Law: Globalization and Convergence
- In this course, students will explore how Common Law has been carried into many parts of the world, and learn how in the modern state, legislated and administrative rules have greatly displaced judicially crafted solutions for the majority of legal problems. Students will learn how colonial rules interacted with native Chinese law in Hong Kong, the difficulties of transplanting rules from one culture into another, and some aspects of the second-generation review of transplanted rules currently taking place. The course should particularly assist students in understanding and evaluating the policy thinking behind the transplanting of foreign models or laws into China, Hong Kong or another jurisdiction. It should also give students some insight into the legal history of Hong Kong.
- Comparative Constitutional Law
- This course will provide a methodological framework for comparing constitutional architectures and to provide an understanding of the basic concepts of constitutional law; introduce the various types of political regimes by studying their principal institutions and their functioning; analyze the various forms of relationship between the executive authority, the legislative power and the judiciary and how they affect the nature of the political regime and protection of human rights.
- Comparative Legal Traditions
- This course is designed to give credit to the growing practical significance of comparative legal work. Through interactive teaching methods students will acquire specialised knowledge in the area of comparative law. Special emphasis is placed on the critical analysis of traditional concepts and the development of new perspectives in this area. Topics covered include: the concepts of comparative law and its significance in practice; the methods of comparative law; the history of comparative law; the (traditional) euro-centric approach of comparative law; the (traditional) private law-centred approach of comparative law; the legal family concept; mixed and harmonised legal systems; private law concepts; constitutional and administrative law concepts; and criminal law legal concepts.
- Colonial Governance and the Rule of Law
- This course will explore the evolution of modern legal orders, with a focus on the connections between contemporary law, empire, European colonization and the development of modern states. Alongside the lectures and discussions, students will develop independent research projects, which they will have a chance to present and share in the latter part of the course.
- Copyright, Digital Subject Matter and Information Technology
- This course will survey copyright issues pertaining to digital subject matter, including multi media works, computer software, intranet and internet communications, from a global comparative perspective. Whether there is copyright subsistence and in what, whether infringement occurs and where, by whom (facilitator or browser, ‘down loader’ or ‘up loader’) what jurisdiction’s (or jurisdictions’) law governs, and the scope of implied licences are all considered. The US Digital Millennium Copyright Act 1998 and similar legislation in various jurisdictions, are considered as are the file sharing (P2P) cases, safe harbour legislation and procedures and other defences.
- Crime and the Sanctioning Process
- The purpose of this course is to educate students to think critically about the operation of the criminal justice system. Major aspects of the criminal process will be studied, and the focus throughout will be to contrast the theory of criminal law/criminal process with law in practice. The divergence between theory and practice will provide the springboard to encourage students to explore the nature of legal rules, the culture of criminal justice organisations, and how the socio-political context in which criminal law operates influences the treatment of various groups within the criminal process. Areas of study will include criminal statistics, police powers of arrest, search, detention and interrogation, the structure, organisation and work practices of prosecutors and defence lawyers, plea bargaining, the operation of prisons, and the effectiveness of non-custodial punishments.
- Cyberlaw and Intellectual Property: Principles and Practice
- This course of Cyberlaw (or Internet law) covers the legal issues related to use of the Internet. It will begin by considering the origins and development of information technology in the booming Internet economy, moving on to consider, through the key issue of cyber property, both how the law has responded to the challenges of information technologies, and the extent to which legal issues have shaped the development of information society policy. Finally, this course provides a strong practical training by devoting lectures to the dispute settlement of internet domain disputes with focus on the Hong Kong practice.
- Global Issues in Law
- This course provides an opportunity for students to study select global issues in law. Topics vary according to the area of expertise of the course leader and the interests of the class. The aim of the course is to encourage students to think like global lawyers. Upon completion of the course, students should be able to deal with different legal systems and legal traditions.
- History, Culture, and the Law
- This course examines the links between law, history, and culture. Topics covered include: the Confucianist and anti-legalist traditions in China; the Greek/Roman law beginnings of the Western civil and common law traditions; the subsequent development of systems of law and government in both China and the West; and an introduction to jurisprudential, sociological, and political science theories in relation to these. The course situates itself squarely within the history and culture of Hong Kong society so that students gain a broader understanding of history, culture, and law in Hong Kong’s Chinese context.
- Issues in Contract
- This course builds upon LAWS6021 Principles of Contract. By incorporating a more extended range of mandatory readings than undergraduate courses of similar length and a more research-focused assessment regime, this course is designed specifically for students at the postgraduate level who, apart from LAWS6021, have not previously studied the law of contracts as it applies in a common law jurisdiction. Throughout the course students will be expected to continue evaluating and discussing the part played by contracts in facilitating economic and social co-ordination in a free community with particular reference to Hong Kong’s context at a level appropriate for postgraduate studies.
- Issues in Criminal Law
- This course builds upon LAWS6022 Principles of Criminal Law. Drawing on a more extended range of compulsory readings than undergraduate courses of similar length and a more research-focused assessment regime, this course is designed specifically for students at the postgraduate level who, apart from LAWS6022, have not previously studied criminal law as it applies in a common law jurisdiction. Throughout the course students will be expected to deepen their understanding of the role of criminal law in society and the techniques used by the Common Law to resolve new fact situations and problems. The course involves a more extensive and in-depth exploration of the following topics: murder and manslaughter; offences of strict liability; corporate crime; fraud; blackmail; kidnapping; rape; and cyber crime. Special regard will be paid to areas of topical concern.
- Issues in Tort
- This course builds upon LAWS6023 Principles of Tort. Throughout the course students will be expected to continue evaluating and discussing the part played by torts in maintaining and promoting (i) social and economic order; and (ii) responsible and respectful conduct, based on the community’s own customs, traditions, and expectations. Students will: extend and deepen their understanding of several areas of tort law while being further introduced to the common law’s methods, techniques, and core values; and develop their problem-solving, research, writing, and advocacy skills to a level appropriate for postgraduate study. This course involves a more extensive and in-depth exploration of the following topics: defamation; breach of statutory duty; nuisance; trespass (to persons, to land, and to goods); detinue; conversion; defences to intentional torts; and remedies for intentional torts.
- Principles of Art, Antiquities, Cultural Heritage and the Law
- In recent years the term “cultural heritage” has been used in many domestic laws, international agreements, conventions and treaties, and academic works to refer indiscriminately to art and antiquities. This course considers the meaning of the terms “art”, “antiquities” and “cultural heritage” and the legal frameworks which affect them in Hong Kong and internationally. The course will consider issues affecting the ownership, transfer and protection of art, antiquities and cultural heritage in Hong Kong and the development of international measures intended to protect art, antiquities and cultural heritage.
- Principles of Intellectual Property
- This course examines the principles underlying the group of causes of action which has become known as intellectual property. By incorporating a more extended range of mandatory readings than undergraduate courses of similar length and a more research-focused assessment regime, this course is designed specifically for students at the postgraduate level who have not previously studied Hong Kong intellectual property law. Topics covered include: major international treaties such as World Trade Organisation (WTO) Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) Agreement; Paris, Berne and other major conventions; and the causes of action as listed above. The course will take a contextual approach placing the study of intellectual property within the history and culture of Hong Kong society so that students gain a broader understanding of the role of intellectual property in Hong Kong’s Common Law in a Chinese context.
- Principles of Unjust Enrichment
- First officially recognized in 1990, this is a new cause of action to stand alongside contract and tort in the law of obligations. This is a new and interesting area of contemporary legal development. The following topics will be covered during this course: the place of unjust enrichment in the law of obligations; remedies; subrogation; what counts as an enrichment; how the enrichment must be at the expense of the plaintiff; unjust factors such as mistake, duress, undue influence, exploitation of weakness, failure of consideration, legal compulsion, public authority ultra vires activity, ignorance, and necessity; defences; and controversies such as the nature of tracing, the availability of proprietary remedies, and the question of leapfrogging.
- Transnational Law After Empire
- In this course, the connections between law, empire, and decolonisation / self-determination will be examined. The course has three basic parts. In Part I, we will establish an understanding of the basic concepts involved in the relationship between law and colonial systems. The historical background of colonial legal systems and their current and former international legal status will also be examined. In Part II, the course will look in more detail at the specific legal standards that developed under the conditions of colonialism, e.g. those related to slavery, restricted definitions of citizenship, capacity for territorial acquisition and native title, and others. Related academic theories and detailed historical studies will also be introduced. Part III, finally, will address the various forms that “decolonisation” has taken at the domestic and international levels, and ask students to develop their own arguments regarding the best approach for legal systems transitioning towards self-determination.
Professor Ryan Mitchell is an Assistant Professor and the Deputy Director of the LLM in Common Law Programme. His areas of expertise include the history and theory of international law, Chinese law, legal history, and comparative public law. His current research focuses on the development and transformation of conceptions of sovereignty in modern legal thought, particularly in the context of the transmission of public law concepts across continental European and East Asian jurisdictions. He holds a Ph.D. in law awarded with distinction from Yale University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, and has been member of the State Bar of California since 2013.
Professor Roberts is an Assistant Professor and the Deputy Director of the LLB Programme at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Professor Roberts’ academic interests include comparative approaches to human rights, procedural issues before human rights tribunals, the relationship between international sanctions regimes and public international law, and approaches to systemic and structural harms within national and international law. His current research focuses on the historical evolution of public order legality in nineteenth and early twentieth century Britain and the British Empire.
In addition to his academic work, Professor Roberts has worked as an expert legal consultant addressing issues such as constitutional and legal reform, the rule of law and human rights standards with intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, the International Federation for Human Rights, Avocats Sans Frontières, the International Service for Human Rights, the International Refugee Assistance Project, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, the Arab Center for the Promotion of Human Rights, Transparency Maldives, and many others. Professor Roberts is currently serving as a senior adviser to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association.
Dr. Bryan Druzin is Associate Professor of law at the Chinese University of Hong Kong where he teaches analytical jurisprudence and legal philosophy. He has held teaching positions at King’s College London and Brunel University London. He holds a B.A., LL.B., and LL.M. from the University of British Columbia and a PhD in law from King’s College London. Dr. Druzin is an internationally recognized legal theorist whose work focuses on the bottom-up, decentralized emergence of law and governance. He has published widely with leading U.S. law schools (Harvard, Cornell, Columbia, Duke, Georgetown, UPenn, etc.), top international peer-reviewed journals, and has contributed to several edited volumes published by Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press.
Professor Abeyratne’s primary research area is comparative constitutionalism. He is a co-editor of Towering Judges: A Comparative Study of Constitutional Judges (Cambridge University Press 2021) and of two other forthcoming books. He serves on the editorial board of the Asian Journal of Comparative Law. His published works have appeared (or will soon appear) in the International Journal of Constitutional Law (I-CON), Yale Journal of International Law, Global Constitutionalism, Asian Journal of Comparative Law, Texas International Law Journal, Minnesota Journal of International Law, Nebraska Law Review, Brooklyn Journal of International Law, and George Washington International Law Review, as well as in edited volumes published by Edward Elgar, Hart, Cambridge University Press, and Oxford University Press.
Prof. Hargreaves joined the Faculty in 2013 following the completion of his doctorate in law at the University of Toronto, where his thesis considered the privacy and legal implications of new mapping technologies that record public space for commercial purposes. It was supported by a major grant from the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Prof. Hargreaves also holds a BCL from Oxford University, where his dissertation considered the interaction between proposed privacy standards in APEC and EU laws regulating the outward flow of personal data to non-European states. He also holds a JD from Osgoode Hall Law School and a BA in politics & sociology from McGill University.
Prior to joining CUHK, Prof. Hargreaves taught at Osgoode Hall Law School, worked as a policy advisor to the Canadian Internet Policy & Public Interest Clinic, and practiced law for the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General in the constitutional law & policy branch. His areas of research and teaching reflect this background, with a dual focus on information & privacy law and constitutional law & legal theory.
Professor David DONALD (Emeritus)
David Donald has been a Professor in the Faculty of Law at The Chinese University of Hong Kong since 2008. In 2010, he founded the CUHK Centre for Financial Regulation and Economic Development and served as its executive director until 2013, and again from 2016. In 2014 he founded the CUHK New Ventures Legal Team (NVLT), a clinical support group for the University’s Pre-Incubation Centre for startup companies. In 2017 NVLT was turned into the New Ventures Legal Clinic in conjunction with the CUHK Entrepreneurship Initiative. He has served in many administrative capacities, including as a member of the University Senate Committee on Student Discipline and director of the Faculty of Law’s PhD and MPhil Programmes.
From 2003 until 2008, David taught at the Institute for Law and Finance of the Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany. For the decade preceding that he worked as a commercial, corporate and securities lawyer in Washington, Milan, Rome and Frankfurt, serving the investment, acquisition and financing activities of multinational enterprises and as a member of the legal team that created the first international funds transfer system for the Euro.
- Towering Judges in Comparative Perspective by Prof. Rehan Abeyratne
- Practising in Common Law Countries: Reflections on common law fair trial rights in times of change and the advantages of working across common law jurisdictions by Rudi Cohrssen
- “Out of Africa: How Yash Ghai Came to Think About Human Rights in Hong Kong” by Dr. Coel Kirkby
- ‘And the Laws are Rude, Crude, and Uncertain’: Extraterritoriality and the Emergence of Territorialised Statehood in Siam by Dr. Ntina Tzouvala
One of the benefits of studying the common law in Hong Kong is close proximity to many sites and institutions that offer a first-hand look at the legal system in operation, past and present. The LLM in Common Law Programme organizes various visits to significant and related sites. While the schedule varies year by year, potential site visits may include:
- Visit to the Court of Final Appeal / Attendance at Appeal Hearings
- Visit to the Independent Commission Against Corruption
- Visit to the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre
- Visit to the Hong Kong Museum of Correctional Services
- Visit to a Police Station / the Hong Kong Police Museum
For newly admitted students/applicants
For current students
The below four courses are CEF reimbursable courses under the LLM in Common Law (LCL) Programme. LCL students may claim reimbursement for taking the below courses commencing between 14 December 2021 and 13 December 2025, subject to the fulfilment of the requirements prescribed by Government’s Labour and Welfare Bureau.
- Common Law: Origins and Development
- Principles of Contract
- Principles of Criminal Law
- Principles of Tort
Click here for more courses
APPLICANTS
Yes. However, you can only study one programme at a time. Therefore, if more than one of your applications are successful you must choose only
No. The application fee once paid is
Yes. Any application received without the payment of the application fee will not be processed until the application fee
Yes. Students may apply for admission before completion of a Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) provided that they are in the final year of study. In this situation any offer will be made subject to the condition that all requirements for graduation in the Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) and for admission to the LLM programme are satisfied prior to commencing the
Yes. You can apply for admission to join a LLM programme before fulfilling the English Language Proficiency Requirement, but you must fulfill the Requirement and provide documentary proof prior to commencing the LLM programme. Any admission offer will be made conditional on you fulfilling the English Language
No. The Hong Kong Immigration Department has advised that in general it is unlikely that they will issue student visas to non-local applicants who intend to study part-time in Hong Kong. Therefore non-local students are strongly advised to study full-time in order to facilitate their student
Your official university transcript and confidential recommendations should be sent directly from your university and referees to CUHK LAW in
CUHK LAW selects applicants on the basis of academic merit. CUHK LAW welcomes applications from applicants around the world based upon the philosophy that diversity enriches the
No. However, applicants who do not possess a Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) obtained in Hong Kong or in an English-speaking country are required to fulfill the English Language Proficiency Requirement of the
SUCCESSFUL APPLICANTS AND NEWLY-ADMITTED STUDENTS
No. On receipt of formal offers students will need to make their own arrangements for the payment of the deposit should they wish
Meanwhile, eligible local applicants may apply for financial support under Non-means-tested Loan Scheme from
Overseas students may check with organizations, government authorities etc, of their home countries if there is any financial
For information on other scholarships, please click here.
Application materials are disposed of after the end of each admission exercise. New applications will be
Newly admitted students are required to pay the tuition fees on or before the payment due date stated in the debit note in the admission package. Current students will receive a debit note at the beginning of each term, and are required to settle the tuition fees on or before the payment
Students who have not completed the programme requirements within the normative study period may apply to postpone the expected graduation date by submitting the Application Form for Change of Expected Graduation Date to CUHK LAW. The maximum extension is up to one year. The application is subject to the approval of CUHK LAW. The academic status of those students studying outside the normative study period will become “continuing”. Extra tuition fees may be charged for continuing students and the fee level for continuing student is subject to
Applicants should refer to the website of the Immigration Department for details concerning employment
| Tel: | (852) 3943 4310 |
| Fax: | (852) 2994 2505 |
| E-mail: | lawpgadm@cuhk.edu.hk |
| Address: | Faculty of Law 6/F, Lee Shau Kee Building The Chinese University of Hong Kong Shatin, New Territories Hong Kong |
What Our Students Say
"The LLM in Common Law Programme advanced my career in finance by providing me with a solid understanding of the law. I learned the skills of legal analysis, most importantly, how to consider issues from a variety of perspectives. The programme has been a rewarding experience for me. I enjoyed the classes, discussions with my fellow classmates, and attending seminars held by leading global legal professionals. Moreover, the Graduate Law Centre is located in the central business district which I found very convenient for part-time students."
"As a part-time LLM student, I can highly recommend CUHK's Part-time LLM in Common Law to (civil law trained) lawyers and business people looking for a more detailed and fundamental understanding of the (Hong Kong) common law system. The teaching is of a very high standard by excellent - mostly international - professors, and the teaching complex is state-of-art and easy to reach in down-town Hong Kong. Learning outcomes are practically relevant and academically stimulating, and therefore, in my opinion, highly valuable and useful both personally and professionally"
"It was always my greatest ambition to study in Hong Kong and thus I am extremely thankful and feel privileged for having the opportunity to study at one of Asia’s best law schools. Especially enlightening is the teaching style at CUHK, which slightly di ers from the one in German universities. CUHK professors are pressing much harder for personal opinions and value interaction, and it helps to study in small but active groups. This new learning experience in a highly international setting will no doubt help me to broaden my own views and perspectives before I return to Germany to work as a lawyer later this year. My fellow students from all around the world have further contributed to the great time I have had at CUHK - I found it to be a particularly enriching experience. I feel very humbled to be part of this year's executive programme and found CUHK to be the perfect place to study, grow as a person, and to make new life-long friends."
"The LLM in Common Law Programme at CUHK provided me with a wonderful and amazing learning experience that deeply enhanced my legal theoretical as well as practical professional knowledge. I had the opportunity to learn more about the Common Law and the how the Common Law functions in various Common Law jurisdictions, especially in Hong Kong. The programme’s professors are all highly skilled and experienced professionals. The professors are also friendly and very approachable. All the lectures are interactive, making them even more engaging. The faculty of law also holds regularly moot court seminars and invites various legal celebrities. I found that this helped students to enhance their understanding of the law."
