Law students at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) are set to benefit from new pedagogic agreements signed between CityU’s School of Law and two highly prestigious laws schools in Europe and the US.

The Faculty of Law at the University of Vienna has participated in a new postgraduate exchange programme, while the Columbia Law School at the University of Columbia in New York will join CityU’s Global Legal Education and Awareness Project (G-LEAP).

The signing ceremony at CityU on 30 November was attended by Professor Heinz Mayer, Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Vienna; Professor Brian Gibson, Dean, International and Comparative Programs, School of Law, Columbia University; Brother Steve Hogan, Principal, La Salle College; Professor Way Kuo, President of CityU; Professor Arthur Ellis, Provost of CityU; and Professor Wang Guiguo, Dean, School of Law, CityU.

Under the postgraduate exchange programme signed between CityU’s School of Law and the Faculty of Law at the University of Vienna, students from each institution will undertake one full term at the home university and the other at the host university. The courses that the students complete will be accredited by both universities, and the degrees will be awarded by both universities, too.

In Vienna, the CityU students will gain an indepth understanding of the civil law tradition, the latest developments in comparative legal discourse, and current trends in legal theory and jurisprudence, all within the context of European law.

CityU’s G-LEAP allows students studying law at CityU to spend one month at one of the partner institutions. Under the collaboration with Columbia Law School, 30 students each semester on the Bachelor of Laws and Juris Doctor programmes will take a tailor-made course at the Columbia Law School. Tuition fees and accommodation costs will be subsidised by CityU and its School of Law.

Columbia Law School joins the Faculty of Law at Monash University and University College, Oxford as members of the programme. CityU’s School of Law is the only one in Hong Kong to have signed an institution-level agreement with Columbia Law School.