Shenzhen University (hereinafter referred to as “SZU”) the Faculty of Lawwas founded in 1983 in parallel with the university with the support of Renmin University of China. Gao Mingxuan, “People’s Educator” and recipient of a national honorary title, was the first Dean of the Faculty.In 1997, the Faculty of Law was reorganized as the School of Law.
The law program of SZU is a famous program and the first batch of characteristic program construction site in Guangdong. It has successively been evaluated as the first-class undergraduate program construction sites at the provincial and national levels, possessing the first-level master’s degree and a professional master’s degree program in law. There are currently 1,761 students (1,302 undergraduates and 459 postgraduates) on campus, and the school has sent about 8,000 legal talents to Shenzhen and the country.
As the only university law school in Shenzhen, the SZUSchool of Law plays an irreplaceable role in the supply of legal talents, legal theory research, consultative think-tank services, and business environment legislation.
I. Top-level design for the construction of a high-standard law school
Nowadays, Shenzhen is in urgent needof a high-standard law school capable of independently cultivating high-end legal talents to respond to national strategies such as advancing law-based governance, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, “One country, two systems” Policy, and building Shenzhen as a pilot demonstration area of socialism with Chinese characteristics and model city of the rule of law.
In 2021, the CPC Central Commission clearly stated in the Opinions for Law-based Governanceon Supporting Shenzhen in Building a Model City of the Rule of Law for Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, “Support Shenzhen University in building a high-standard law school.” Subsequently, the Office of the Commission for Law-based Governance Under theCPC Shenzhen Municipal Committeeissued the “Implementation Plan (2021-2025) to Build Shenzhen into a Model Cityofthe Rule of Law for Socialism with Chinese Characteristics”, which requires promoting high-quality educational development, studying and formulating opinions on supporting SZU to build a high-standard law school. The Shenzhen Education Development “14thFive-Year Plan” of 2022 articulates, “Accelerate the construction of high-standard law schools” and “Strengthen the cultivation of high-level legal talents”.
In response, the Office of the Commission for Law-based Governance Under the CPC Shenzhen Municipal Committee, Municipal Justice Bureau and other relevant departments have visited Shenzhen University several times to investigate the construction of the law school. The university has also identified the School of Law as one of the two liberal arts colleges to be built during the 14thFive-Year Plan periodand formulated the “One school, one policy” ImplementationPlan to provide key support. Qin Weizhong, Mayor of Shenzhen, specifically requested that the construction of a high-level law school and medical school as well as the restructuring of the Teachers’College should be included in the priorities in his conversation with President Mao Junfa.
With the support of the policies, various top-level designs are gradually being established. Official documents like the Pilot Program for Comprehensive Reform of the School of Law, the 14thFive-Year Plan for the Development of Law School Disciplines (2021-2025), and the School of Law’s “One school, one policy” Implementation Plan have been issued one after another. Comprehensive reform initiatives are being pushed forward in an orderly manner, aiming at building a high-quality talent cultivation system with distinctive characteristics of its own.
2. Talent Cultivation Reform
In the fourth round of the China Discipline Ranking by the Ministry of Education, the result of the discipline of Law is B-, which is tied for second place in Guangdong and ranked the top among all majors in SZU. In the fifth round, the result is maintained as B-. As an ancient Chinese saying goes, in a boat race, those who row the hardest will win; if not moving forward, you are moving backward. The School of Law is well aware of its responsibilities. A promising future requires laying the foundation, shoring up weak spots as well as characteristically giving full play to the advantages. To this end, the school has made attempts in the following three aspects:
2.1 Building a training base for foreign-related legal talents
2.1.1 SZU has been successfully selected as a construction unit of the LLM degree (International Arbitration) program of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Justice. The school signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Shenzhen International Arbitration Court to carry out collaborative education. The school has completed the enrollment of the first Master of International Arbitration in 2023.
2.1.2 The Shenzhen University Incubation Camp for Foreign-related Legal Talents is advancing smoothly. By signing agreements with five law firms, including JunZeJun Law Offices, the school has set up an incubation camp for foreign-related legal talents to improve the mechanism of collaborative education and promote an experientialmode of cultivating. The first phase of the incubation camp has recruited 36 students and started successfully.
2.1.3 The law school plans to cooperate with SZU College of International Studies and foreign-related practice departments to set up a class of excellence in foreign-related rule of law. The schoolintends to converge the undergraduate with the graduate program through “foreign language + law” interdisciplinary training, “higher education institutions + foreign-related practice units” multi-directional cooperation, and “domestic + overseas” joint training, striving to build a nationally renowned education and research base for foreign-related legal talents.
2.1.4 The internationalization of the legal talent training program progresses orderly. The school actively promotes the implementation of joint programs with the University of Hong Kong, City University of Hong Kong, Soochow University, Fu Jen Catholic University, and Singapore Management University, and has sent 11 graduate students to Hong Kong to study for the LLM degree in the past two years.
2.1.5 SZU has established a long-term cooperative relationship with the People's Court of the Shenzhen Qianhai Cooperation Zone, Shenzhen International Arbitration Court, Benchmark Chambers International & Benchmark International Mediation Center, the Municipal Bureau of Justice as well as relevant law firms and high-tech companies. The school has also participated in the declaration of the Ministry of Education's collaborative innovation base for foreign-related legal talents.
2.2 Building a training basefor the cultivation of practical and versatile legal talents
SZU, China Commercial Law Firm, and W&H Law Firm have collaborated on enrollment training with new conceptsto create an experimental class for exceptional lawyers to form effective talents-cultivating methods that can be replicated in Shenzhen experienceand joint to create a training base that cultivates practical and versatile legal talents.
2.3 Building a community for the development of legal talents
SZU actively promotes cooperation with the Shenzhen Municipal People's Congress and its Standing Committee, the First Circuit Court of the Supreme People's Court, the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court, the Shenzhen Municipal People's Procuratorate, the Shenzhen Municipal Supervisory Commission and their various districts, the nation's first-rate law firms, enterprises such as ZTE, Huawei, Tencent, and other well-known companies. By employing a group of experts, the school has cooperated in-depth and formed a community with legal practice departments for the development of legal talents.
