Legal Education Reform By Introducing 3-Year Law School Program To Be Practiced In The Year After Next The Soonest.

The Ministry of Education in Taiwan on November 17, 2005 announced the proposed draft of “White Paper on Legal Education Reform”, which aims to introduce the 3-year program of legal education into the law school of Taiwanese universities.  By maximum enrollment control, the reform project will recruit those with bachelor degree or senior students and then confer on them the master of laws or professional law degree.  This project aims to cultivate qualified professionals of judges and lawyers.

 

This reform project was being discussed in the Human Rights Consultative Commission under the Office of the President on December 9, 2005 and will be enforced in 2007 the soonest.

 

There are 32 universities comprising 90 law-related departments and institutes in Taiwan, while they mainly give teaching of general ideas, theories, instead of practical examples, and in this regard, they are unable to satisfy the social need for legal professionals.

 

Since Japan already introduced the US’ law school in 2004, and Korea will also reform its entire legal education into the law school adopted in the US in 2008.  Representatives of government authorities and experts who participated in the national forum on legal education consider it necessary to reform the legal education in Taiwan; however, they hold different opinions about adoption either of the single track system (to abolish the traditional law departments in universities, or formulate pre-law courses, and the students should participate in the examination for public prosecutors and judges upon their completion of the training given by legal academy) or the dual track system (to maintain the current system so that the non-law majors can be enrolled by legal academy and both law/non-law majors can participate in the examination for public prosecutors and judges).  (2005. 11)

/CCS