Abbreviation FT / PT
PCLL FT / PT

The HKU PCLL programme is a leading professional legal education programme devoted to the training of students who intend to practice as lawyers in Hong Kong.  The programme is mainly aimed at future solicitors and barristers in Hong Kong who have completed their Bachelor of Laws (LLB) or equivalent legal studies either in Hong Kong or other common law jurisdictions, or have passed the Common Professional Examinations or equivalent.

The HKU PCLL programme instills and strengthens core competences of legal skills required of solicitors and barristers practising in Hong Kong. These skills include legal research and writing, document drafting and analysis, problem-solving and advocacy. Moreover, our students will learn professional ethics and analysis of company accounts. Our curriculum covers certain core subjects and students also choose three elective subjects.

Our student profile is highly international, with students coming from, for example, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Singapore and the People's Republic of China. Most of our students have undertaken their undergraduate legal studies in prestigious law schools from common law jurisdictions around the world. Some of our mature students may be working or have worked in local law firms, others in the government and private sectors. We have a cosmopolitan mix of PCLL students from diverse backgrounds.

Mode of Attendance

Full Time (one year)

Part Time (two years)

Medium of Instruction

English

Programme Entrance Requirements

To be eligible for admission to the PCLL programme at the University of Hong Kong, an applicant:

1. shall at least hold a degree of Bachelor of Laws (LLB), Juris Doctor (JD) or equivalent, or pass the CPE examinations or equivalent, from a university or comparable institution. The law degree must be in Common Law, normally from a Hong Kong or Commonwealth institution; and

2. will have to demonstrate competence in the following nine 'Core' subjects: Contract, Tort, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Land Law, Equity, Evidence, Business Associations, and Commercial Law; and three 'Top-up' subjects: Hong Kong Constitutional Law, Hong Kong Legal System, and Hong Kong Land Law.

Applicants who:

1. hold a law degree from a university other than one of the three universities offering such degrees in Hong Kong, or other recognised law qualification acceptable to the University of Hong Kong, may be able to demonstrate competence in the nine 'Core' Subjects when they have been completed as follows:

(i) as part of their non-Hong Kong common law qualification; and/or

(ii) as a visiting internal student in one of the three universities awarding LLB and/or JD degrees in Hong Kong, and passing the requisite examination; and/or

(iii) by passing the relevant subject in the Hong Kong Conversion Examination for PCLL Admission.

2. have not passed all of the three 'Top-up' subjects at a university LLB/LLB double degree/JD course in Hong Kong must demonstrate competence in such subjects, and can do so in any of the following ways:

(i) as a visiting internal student in one of the three universities awarding LLB and/or JD degrees in Hong Kong, and passing the requisite examination; and/or

(ii) as part of the Graduate Diploma in English and Hong Kong Law taught and awarded in Hong Kong; and/or

(iii) by passing the relevant subject in the Hong Kong Conversion Examination for PCLL Admission.

All applicants, (including native English speakers), must take the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) test (the Academic module) and submit the band score obtained no later than the first Friday of August each year. No other English language test (e.g. TOEFL) will be accepted.

The prescribed minimum IELTS overall band score is 7. This is a requirement of the Hong Kong Standing Committee on Legal Education and Training. No exemptions will be granted. The Department of Professional Legal Education accepts an IELTS test result as valid where it is obtained within three years of the application deadline, i.e. for a 2023 application, the test date shown on the Test Report Form cannot be earlier than April 28, 2020.

Further details are available at: http://www.ple.hku.hk/pcll/

Programme Admissions Advisor(s)

Director of Admissions (PCLL)
Ms Alexandra Norton
Email: anorton@hku.hk

Contacts

Tel: (852) 3917 2817
Email: pcll@hku.hk
Website: http://www.ple.hku.hk/pcll/

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