The School of Law (SLW) of City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has received a donation of HK$1.2 million from JSM on 27 March. The donation will be used to support the Advanced Programme for Chinese Senior Judges provided by SLW.

This unprecedented programme for top-level mainland judges will commence in May. Thirty-five Chinese senior judicial executives will arrive at CityU for a four-week programme to get a comprehensive picture of Hong Kong’s common law system. SLW will be entrusted with the task of training senior mainland judges and enhancing their professional capabilities.

An official cheque presentation held today was attended by Ms Elaine Y M Lo, Chairman of the Asia Board and Senior Partner of JSM; Dr Dennis Sun Tai-lun, Chairman of the Community Relations Committee of the CityU Council; Professor Way Kuo, University President; Professor Richard Ho Yan-ki, Provost; Professor Wang Guiguo, Dean of SLW; Dr Simon Ip Sik-on, Co-Chairman of SLW’s International Advisory Board (IAB) and Mr Philip Dykes SC, Member of IAB.

In her remarks on behalf of JSM, Ms Lo said, “We look forward to working with CityU on this programme, which will help the Chinese senior judges gain an in-depth understanding of western common law system and international perspectives that, in turn, will help bolster China's international status.”

Professor Kuo expressed gratitude to JSM for their generous support to SLW. He said, “This generous donation by JSM is a great encouragement to members of the School of Law. This programme will be hailed as one of the most constructive initiatives launched for the advancement of law and justice on the Chinese mainland.”

"Since its establishment, SLW has nurtured many outstanding lawyers in Hong Kong,” said Dr Ip. “This major donation will launch a unique programme to expose senior judges from the mainland to the common law system and help China’s judicial system develop in step with its economic growth.”

Professor Wang thanked JSM for their kind support of SLW, pointing out that the donation is particularly constructive to judicial development in China. “We hope that through this programme, the Chinese senior judges will have a better understanding of the common law system, interaction of common law and civil law in the global setting and function of the Hong Kong judiciary. It is our firm belief that the programme will have a far reaching and lasting effect on the judicial system of the mainland,” said Professor Wang.

The programme is based on the agreement “Advanced Legal Education for Mainland Senior Judges” signed by SLW and National Judges College of the Supreme People’s Court of China in February 2008. In accordance with the agreement, SLW will organise the programme twice a year and each programme will last one month. The National Judges College of the Supreme People’s Court of China will select 30-35 members among the presidents and deputy presidents of High People’s Courts, Intermediate People’s Courts and other senior judges to participate in the programme.

JSM operates in association with Mayer Brown LLP and Mayer Brown International LLP. Mayer Brown is a leading global legal services provider with offices in major cities across Asia, the Americas and Europe. In Asia, they are known as Mayer Brown JSM. They have approximately 300 lawyers in Asia, 1,000 in the Americas and 500 in Europe. Their presence in the world’s leading markets enables them to offer clients access to local market knowledge on a global basis.