From October 21 to 22, 2023, the School of Juris Master organized the International Conference of Legal Ethics Teaching, with a view to implementing the guiding principle of combining moral education with law training, as emphasized by General Secretary Xi Jinping during his visit to China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL). More than 120 participants attended the conference, including experts and scholars from prestigious domestic and foreign universities, representatives from legal practice entities and student delegates. The conference, held both online and offline, took Chinese and English as the working languages.

Prof. XU Shenjian, Dean of the School of Juris Master in CUPL, presided over the opening ceremony, and WANG Liyan, Vice Chair of the University Council and Professor of CUPL delivered a speech at the ceremony.

At the outset, WANG, on behalf of the university, extended a warm welcome and expressed gratitude to the distinguished guests. She pointed out that legal education is a fundamental and pioneering undertaking in promoting the rule of law, and legal ethics education holds a crucial position in cultivating legal talents. The Ministry of Education has introduced a series of important measures regarding moral education in cultivating legal talents, so as to implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s speech on “combining moral education with law training and cultivating a large number of high-calibre legal talents”. The significance of legal ethics education in the overall governance strategy has become increasingly prominent. WANG said that this conference is highly necessary, and she expressed her expectations for foreign and domestic experts and scholars to share their insights and valuable experiences and learn from each other to improve legal ethics education and fulfil the fundamental task of combining moral education with law training. Besides, she acknowledged that the School of Juris has made outstanding achievements in teaching, research, talents cultivation, domestic and international cooperation, and has developed a unique approach to legal ethics teaching. She also wished the conference to be successful and fruitful.

The conference featured forums on such topics as “Legal Ethics Teaching”, “Cultivation of Foreign-related Legal Talents” and “Student Forum”. Participants shared their viewpoints on topics related to legal ethics teaching, foreign-related talents cultivation, etc.

The first forum revolving around legal ethics teaching consisted of two sessions. The first session was chaired by Prof. HAN Wensheng, Chair of the Council of the School of Juris Master in CUPL. Prof. Judith A. McMorrow from Boston College Law School, Emeritus Prof. Adrian Evans from Monash University, Emeritus Prof. Yasutomo Morigiwa from Nagoya University and Associate Prof. LIU Xuebin from Jilin University School of Law delivered keynote speeches on topics like “Disciplinary Education for Lawyers Challenging the 2020 Presidential Election by the American Bar Association”, “Climate Law Ethics Education”, “Three Principles of Legal Ethics Teaching”, and “Reflection and Prospects on Legal Ethics Teaching Methods: Considerations Based on the Nature of the Discipline”. Prof. LIU Xiaobing from the School of Juris Master in CUPL and Prof. LIU Kunlun, Deputy Director of the Centre for Law Education Research and Evaluation of CUPL and Office Director of the National Training Base for Law Teachers, made comments following these speeches.

The second session was presided over by Associate Prof. YIN Chao from the School of Juris Master in CUPL. Prof. W. Bradley Wendel from Cornell Law School, Prof. Angelo Dondi from the Law Department of the University of Genoa, Prof. LI Xueyao from KoGuan School of Law, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Prof. XU Shenjian, Dean of the School of Juris, CUPL, Associate Prof. HU Huisheng from the Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong and Prof. XIAO Jinming, Vice President of Shandong University (Weihai) and Secretary of the Party Committee of the Law School (Weihai), delivered keynote speeches on such topics as “Advantages and Effects of Legal Ethics”, “Legal Ethics in the Ever-changing Legal Education and World”, “Technological Development in the Legal Field and the Transformation of Legal Ethics”, “Status Quo, Challenges and Prospects of Legal Ethics Teaching in China”, “An Empirical Study on the Well-being of Hong Kong Students Majoring in Law: Impacts of Legal Professionalism and Educational Development”, and “Enriching the Content of Legal Ethics Teaching”. Prof. YIN Bo from the Criminal Justice College at CUPL made comments on these speeches.

The second forum, themed “Foreign-related Legal Talents Cultivation”, consisted of two sessions, with the first session chaired by Prof. LIU Zhihui, Associate Dean of the School of Juris Master in CUPL. Prof. ZHANG Liang, Dean of the School of Law and President of the Institute of International Rule of Law at Sun Yat-sen University, Prof. ZHAO Jun, Associate Dean of the Guanghua Law School at Zhejiang University, Prof. LIU Fei, Chinese Co-Dean of the China-EU School of Law at CUPL, and Prof. CHEN Yunliang, Dean of the School of Law (Guangdong Foreign-related Lawyers School) at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, delivered speeches on topics such as “Discussions on Several Issues in Foreign-related Legal Talents Cultivation in Universities”, “Reflection on Strategies and Methods in Foreign-related Legal Talents Cultivation”, “Basic Characteristics of the Dual Master’s Degree Program at the China-EU School of Law” and “Diversification of Models for Foreign-related Legal Talents Cultivation”.

The second session was chaired by Researcher LIANG Min, Associate Dean of the School of Juris Master in CUPL. Associate Prof. GONG Hongliu, Associate Dean of the School of Law at the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), Associate Prof. ZHANG Wenliang from the Law School at Renmin University of China, Associate Prof. YANG Limin from the Law School at Donghua University, and Prof. LIU Zhihui, Associate Dean of the School of Juris Master in CUPL, delivered speeches on topics such as “Preserving Tradition and Pursuing Innovating in Legal Talents Cultivation in Foreign-related Economic and Trade Law: A Case Study of UIBE”, “Path Exploration and Targets of the Cultivation of Foreign-related Legal Talents”, “The Development of China’s Legal Profession amid the Construction of Foreign-related Law and the Path of ‘Going Global’”, and “Practical Challenges and Countermeasures in the Foreign-related Legal Talents Cultivation”. Following these speeches in both sessions, Prof. LI Juqian, Director of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchange at CUPL, and Prof. XU Shenjian, Dean of the School of Juris Master in CUPL, made comments.

The “Student Forum” was presided over by Dr. LI Lin from the School of Juris Master, CUPL. Participants included WANG Zhongyu, a master student from the Law School at Renmin University of China, CHENG Yixiang, a doctoral student from the Law School at Jilin University, HE Rui, a doctoral student from the Law School at Beihang University, REN Zhiyi, a master student from the Law School at Peking University, LI Yifan, a master student from the Law School at Capital University of Economics and Business, as well as master students from the School of Juris Master in CUPL, including YANG Qian, ZHANG Congqi, XIN Kezhuang, HU Yiyun and LIU Ying, delivered speeches on the following topics: “Three Dimensions of Foreign-related Legal Talents Cultivation: A Case Study of the Foreign-related Legal Program of the Law School at Renmin University of China”, “Participation Experience of Foreign-related Legal Talent Development Programs: A Case Study of Social Practice Project by People’s Court in Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin”, “Learning for Practicing: Promoting the Interaction between Legal Theory and Practice”, “Conducting Ideological and Political Education among Students Based on Deep Understanding”, “Clever Integration of Ideological and Political Education into the Classes”, “Challenges and Reflections on Foreign-related Legal Talents Cultivation”, “Developing Practical Legal Skills in Foreign-related Mediation”, “The Role of Legal Ethics Teaching”, “Causes for and Solutions to Conflicts between Criminal Defense Lawyers’ Professional Ethics and Public Ethics”, and “Learning Legal Ethics to Become Legal Professionals in the New Era”. Associate Prof. YIN Chao and Associate Prof. SU Yu, Secretary of the Youth League Committee of the School of Juris Master in CUPL, made comments on these speeches respectively.

At the conclusion of all forums, Associate Dean LIANG Min, Researcher of the School of Juris Master, presided over the closing ceremony. She said that the two-day forum is fruitful and has great guiding significance for legal talents cultivation, and also provides an opportunity for all participants to learn from each other for common progress.

Prof. XU Shenjian, Dean of the School of Juris Master in CUPL, delivered the closing speech. He reviewed the brilliant viewpoints, discussions and reflections at all forums. XU pointed out that this is the original aspiration of legal practitioners, as well as the mission and responsibility of law teachers. Therefore, law schools should actively explore the regularities in legal talents cultivation and ensure that these regularities are observed in legal education. He concluded by congratulating on the success of the conference and expressing gratitude to the domestic and foreign guests as well as the conference team.

Amidst the warm applause, the International Conference of Legal Ethics Teaching came to a successful close.

Photo Source: ZHANG Xuanqi, WU Yao, SUN Shichao, LU Yunkai

Text Provider: XI Weijing, GUO Tianze

Editor: HU Tianyi

Initial Reviewer: WU Di

Final Reviewer: LIANG Min