Enhancing The Rule Of Law In China

Our Mission

China has embarked on an ambitious program to rebuild its legal system. It has adopted new laws addressing a wide range of modern issues. If the rule of law is to take hold in China, an essential next step is the development of more experiential learning to facilitate the practical application of such newly adopted legal provisions.

This U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) project will assist China in the creation of skills-based legal education programs that focus on the application of law in practice. A partnership of American and Chinese law schools will endeavor to enhance the capacity of Chinese law schools to provide training in advocacy skills and clinical legal services.

Funded by a $1.4 million USAID grant, as part of USAID’s Rule of Law in China Initiative, the five-school consortium will unite University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law with American University’s Washington College of Law, in collaboration with the Zhejiang Gongshang University College of Law ( Hangzhou), the South China University of Technology ( Guangzhou), and the China University of Political Science and Law ( Beijing).  

Training will take place in Sacramento, California, Washington, D.C. and China, and will include summer workshops, joint U.S.-China research projects, scholarly conferences, faculty exchanges, and evaluation by a joint advisory committee and an outside consultant. We invite and encourage other American law schools and law faculty to participate in this 28-month project, which commenced in December 2006.