Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T16:22:46.306Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Legal Education in Taiwan: Evolution and Innovation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2016

Chih-Chieh LIN
Affiliation:
National Chiao Tung University School of Law, Taiwan
Mong-Hwa CHIN
Affiliation:
National Chiao Tung University School of Law, Taiwan
Shang-Jyh LIU*
Affiliation:
National Chiao Tung University School of Law, Taiwan
*
Correspondence to Shang-Jyh Liu, 1001 University Road, Hsinchu, Taiwan 300, R.O.C. Email address: [email protected].

Abstract

Taiwanese legal education is undergoing transformation and diversification. While the traditional approach to legal education has produced legal professionals who have led civil rights movements and contributed to the democratization of Taiwan, it has failed to meet the challenges of today’s world. Under globalization, Taiwanese industries and society now require lawyers capable of solving transnational legal disputes and legal issues regarding developments in technology and changes in society. However, these new challenges also provide law schools in Taiwan with an opportunity to apply experimental approaches, to innovate legal education. This essay describes the past and present state of legal education in Taiwan, especially its development since the government’s failed attempt at reform. Furthermore, it introduces the successful example of National Chiao Tung University’s Law School—a new law school that has developed a creative model of “innovation hub” and “social enterprise” that is transforming Taiwan’s legal education.

Type
Legal Education in East Asia
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press and KoGuan Law School, Shanghai Jiao Tong University 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

Associate Dean, Associate Professor, National Chiao Tung University School of Law, Taiwan. S.J.D., Duke University School of Law.

**

Assistant Professor, National Chiao Tung University School of Law, Taiwan. S.J.D., Duke University School of Law.

***

Dean, Professor, National Chiao Tung University School of Law, Taiwan. Ph.D., Texas A& M University. This essay was originally presented at the panel “Innovations in East Asian Law Schools and Collaborative Possibilities for US Law Schools” at the 110th Annual Meeting of Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in New York in January 2016. The authors thank Professor Setsuo Miyazawa, the Chair of the East Asian Legal Education panel at AALS, for his invitation to present this essay. They would also like to thank the attendees of the panel for providing feedback.

References

Chen, Thomas Chih-Hsiung (2012) “Legal Education Reform in Taiwan: Are Japan and Korea the Models.” 62 Journal of Legal Education 3265.Google Scholar
Lo, Chang-Fa (2006) “Driving an Ox Cart to Catch Up with the Space Shuttle: The Need for and Prospects of Legal Education Reform in Taiwan.” 24 Wisconsin International Law Journal 4184.Google Scholar
Pratt, Joseph L. (2001) “The Two Gates of National Taiwan University School of Law.” 19 UCLA Pacific Basin Law Journal 131183.Google Scholar
Silver, Carole (2014) “Globalization and the Monopoly of ABA-Approved Law Schools: Missed Opportunities or Dodged Bullets?82 Fordham Law Review 28692902.Google Scholar
Wang, Tay-Sheng (2002) “The Legal Development of Taiwan in the 20th Century: Toward a Liberal and Democratic Country.” 11 Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal 531559.Google Scholar
Winn, Jane Kaufman, & Yeh, Tang-Chi (1995) “Advocating Democracy: The Role of Lawyers in Taiwan’s Political Transformation.” 20 Law and Social Inquiry 561599.CrossRefGoogle Scholar