2006 National Law Master Professional Degree Graduate Entrance Examination Syllabus

Author: Ministry of Education, Department of Higher Education
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-06-01
Features: With the further development, improvement, and comprehensive progress of China's market economy system, the construction of democracy and the rule of law in China has entered a new development period. Particularly with the full implementation of the basic strategy of "governing the country according to law, strengthening the socialist legal system, and building a socialist rule-of-law state" as determined by the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the Constitution, all aspects of China's undertakings will be brought under the rule of law. To this end, the judicial and political departments, as well as other social sectors, urgently need a large number of high-level applied and interdisciplinary legal talents. The Master of Laws (LL.M.) professional degree is a specialized degree with a specific legal professional background, primarily aimed at cultivating high-level applied and interdisciplinary legal professionals for legislative, judicial, administrative enforcement, legal services, and legal supervision departments, as well as for economic management, administrative management, and social public management departments. To achieve this training goal, in June 1999, the Office of the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council and the Department of Legal Education of the Ministry of Justice jointly forwarded the revised "Guiding Training Program for Master of Laws (LL.M.) Postgraduate Students" organized and revised by the Secretariat of the National Advisory Committee on Master of Laws (LL.M.) Professional Degree Education. According to the training program, the cultivation objective of the Master of Laws (LL.M.) professional degree is determined based on the first-level discipline of law and the basic requirements of legal professions. The curriculum covers the main content of the second-level disciplines of law, and the curriculum structure strives to reflect the requirements of knowledge and ability structures for cultivating applied and interdisciplinary legal talents. The training work is not only connected with undergraduate legal education but also linked with other postgraduate education programs and professional degree education. Additionally, an important characteristic of the Master of Laws (LL.M.) professional degree training is that the entire process must embody the legal philosophy required by legal professions for their practitioners, including legal awareness and values, the logic and methods of legal thinking, legal professional ethics and responsibilities, and the professional qualities and abilities of legal practitioners. In summary, the purpose of the training program is to cultivate a large number of high-level, broad-based applied and interdisciplinary legal talents who not only master their own professional knowledge but also possess legal professional knowledge, abilities, and qualities. It aims to scientifically regulate the enrollment, training, and cultivation process of the Master of Laws (LL.M.) professional degree, further improve the training structure and degree system for high-level legal talents in China, and enable legal postgraduate education to meet the diverse urgent needs of high-level legal talents in various fields of legal practice, political life, economic life, and social life. The enrollment and examination work serves the training objectives. Talent selection is the prerequisite and foundation for talent cultivation. The examination syllabus is the basic scope for the joint examination question-setting. Strengthening the assessment of relevant abilities and development potential for legal work is a prominent feature and fundamental working approach of the joint examination. While legal knowledge is undoubtedly an important component of the assessment, in line with the special requirements of the Master of Laws (LL.M.) professional degree training, greater emphasis should be placed on assessing candidates' abilities to apply basic knowledge and principles of related disciplines, accurate language skills, and legal thinking abilities such as logical analysis, reasoning, and argumentation. We sincerely welcome non-law graduates who are passionate about engaging in legal work and dedicated to the great cause of building a socialist rule-of-law state to apply for the Master of Laws (LL.M.) professional degree program.