Basic Structure
The JD programme can usually be finished in two years. To start off their study in law, newly admitted JD students are required to attend a three-week induction period in August. There are two regular semesters in each academic year: the first semester, which lasts from September to December, and the second semester, which lasts from January to May. There is also a one-month June semester in the second year.
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:
- Administrative Law
- Commercial Law
- Constitutional Law
- Contract Law I & II
- Criminal Law I & II
- Equity & Trusts I & II
- Land Law I & II
- Legal System & Legal Research
- Tort Law I & II
Students are also required to take one of the following courses to fulfill the capstone course requirement:
- Clinical Legal Education
- Public Interest Clinic
- Dissertation
- International Mooting
The remaining 54 credits are devoted to electives. Students who wish to apply for the PCLL must take the following 6-credit PCLL pre-requisite courses as their elective (see Note 1):
- Company Law
- Evidence
Note 1: The Standing Committee on Legal Education and Training has recently resolved that the two procedure courses cease to be PCLL pre-requisites from the academic year of 2021-2022. Therefore, the offering of Civil Procedure and Criminal Procedure as electives will subject to student demand and teaching staff availability.
In the first year of studies, students will begin with a compulsory introductory course, Legal System & Legal Research, offered during the induction period in August. This course commences earlier than others to introduce the fundamentals of legal study and prepare students for substantive courses. Subsequently, students will take three full-year core courses: Contract Law, Tort Law, and Criminal Law. In addition, students will take one core course, Constitutional Law, in the first semester, followed by two core courses, Administrative Law, Commercial Law, and one elective course in the second semester.
In the second year of studies, students will take two full-year core courses, Equity & Trusts and Land Law, as well as the capstone course. The curriculum is otherwise primarily focused on electives, enabling students to explore academic interests and develop an area of specialization. The Faculty of Law offers electives across a wide range of cutting-edge legal fields, including financial law, international arbitration, competition law, and intellectual property law, among others. Elective selection is unrestricted, except that students must fulfill the programme requirements as outlined in the syllabus.
Suggested Sequence of Study
(Effective from the academic year 2023-2024)
* Students who intend to proceed to the PCLL must take two electives of PCLL pre-requisites.