Graduation Ceremony for 6th LLM Programme for Chinese Judges

-- Polly Kwok
15 Jan 2015

Professor WANG Guiguo in his welcoming remark, mentioned that a lot of people, in particular young people thought they were not living in the right time and the world was not as good as they wished. But Prof Wang believed all of us were living in a great time of history; a great time of history in China; a great time of history in the world. It was especially a great time for judges to be in China. He was sure that the things they have learnt even though not much will be very useful as long as they paid attention to the changes of the world and made contributions to the changes. Gradually, they would realize that they have become more important and more useful than what they thought. And the world would be much nicer. He concluded his speech with his anticipation for the graduates, that when he saw the graduates next time, no matter what their status would be, they had made contributions to China and to the world.

Mr Herman HU Shao-ming pointed out that to fully understand the legal system in a region, he believed that you must stay in the region for some time. He hoped the Chinese judges obtained valuable experience about the legal system in Hong Kong through their stay here in the past year. They could gain new insights and enhance their view towards legal system and most importantly, apply to their working place. Finally, he encouraged all graduates to be always loyal to the rule of law, and to try their best to maintain social justice. He also took this opportunity to wish all the Chinese judge students a bright future and great contribution to the legal system in China.

Professor Way KUO mentioned that no judges could always make perfect judgment. It may happen that a good person judged with guilty and a bad person judged innocent. A good judge should try his best to minimize these kinds of errors. Either too lenient or too strict was not desirable, therefore it required wisdom to deal with this human mistakes.

Professor Huang Yongwei believed the teaching methods and management of the City U Law School was very successful so the students could develop independent observation and thinking. He believed the total 168 graduates of LLM Programme for Chinese Judges would play an important role in China's judicial system. The 6th cohort graduates were from different schools, different regions, and different courts, so they had different experiences, knowledge and insights. By studying in CityU for one year, with professional training including visits, essay writing, as well as the communication among them, they certainly would generate new ideas and the impact would be influential in the long run.

The Hon Andrew LIAO Cheung-sing mentioned that he attended the welcoming ceremony for 6th LLM Programme last year. In his speech in that ceremony, he mentioned that the reform of judicial system in China will bring big changes and challenges, and he believed that the LLM students would find these experience during their stay in Hong Kong for one year. Today, he hoped that the students could already find this experience after their stay in Hong Kong for one year. He also mentioned that one of the major tasks for judges was to improve the judicial credibility, and every effort should be made to ensure justice was served in very cases coming before the courts.

Professor Geraint HOWELLS mentioned that we are so fortunate to have successfully run the LLM Programme for Chinese Judges that attracts young talented judges working in the Mainland judicial system for six years. He congratulated to all the graduates and he though thier performance was very impressive.   He also mentioned that the Programme was very intensive, within the tight study schedule, the judges not only have managed to meet the requirements of all the courses, but also attended short-term courses held in Emory University and Korea University. They also have exchanged viewpoints with legal experts in both academia and professional practice.

Professor Nohyoung PARK said that he and Korea University were very proud to join the LLM Programme for Chinese Judges in the past five year. These Chinese judges who sat here were very serious and eager to meet and discuss with the Korea judges and took a look at the Korea legal system and society under limited time frame. Their integrity and fluency in English among them left great impression in Korea. He felt confident that China will develop further with credibility based on the rule of Law. Those Chinese judges in the LLM programme would greatly contribute to the development of Chinese legal system by understanding the rule of law and thus eventually to develop the legal system.

Mr Thomas SO Shiu Tsung mentioned that LLM programme provided a channel for the legal professional to exchange and update their knowledge, skill and experience, and to serve the even increasing and demand on legal sectors and communities. The development of the mainland and Hong Kong closer economic partnership arrangement highlighted the need for legal professional not only to keep updating the skills and knowledge, but to ensure our capability in handling legal issue with an increasing transactional region.

Judge ZHANG Li, student representative of the 6th LLM Programme for Chinese Judges,  expressed her appreciation to National Judges College and City U. The wonderful organization, hard work, dedication, and support enabled them to achieve their dream and goal. In City U, they were provided ideal environment for learning. She was also grateful for their professors who encouraged them to bring the best out of themselves, and thanked the professors for sharing wisdom, experience and knowledge with them. She believed the program broadened their horizon and helped them to have a deeper understanding of the different of legal system and legal culture between Mainland China and other regions.  She also became more confident and mature because of the one year study.

In his Vote of Thanks, Professor GU Minkang expressed that the success of the LLM programme really relies on the generous support of a number of organizations. To Supreme People’s Court of China, National Judges College, City U leaders, Dean of School of Law, The China Liaison Office, Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the HKSAR, the local legal institutions, and the IAB members, he would like to express his heartfelt appreciation to all of above. Because of their generous support, generous donation and the hard work of the team here at City U, he believed that the graduates from LLM programme would be able to contribute in the reform of mainland China as well as facilitate the global trade in the future. He were therefore very proud to provide the programme for six consecutive years for the Chinese judges.  He wished every one of them could apply what they have learnt from the programme on their judicial career.