The establishment of the College of Law traces back to the year 1964 when the graduate school of law was developed followed by the department of law two years later in 1966. In 1977, two respective undergraduate degree programs of study, Jurisprudence and the Economic and Financial Law, were established. Jurisprudence program focuses on the study of criminal and civil law; while the Economic and Financial Law concentrates on economic and commercial law.
Since 2002, higher-level courses for undergraduate third, senior year, and graduate school students have been taking place at DaXin campus located in downtown Taipei.
Since 2004, the number of admitted students in the Jurisprudence undergraduate program has been grown to 180 (grouped into three separate classes); 120 students (2 classes) in the Economic and Financial Law program.
Starting from the fall, 2020, a newly developed program Corporate Finance legal system focusing on cultivating the knowledge in cross disciplines of financial legal system and corporate compliance will admit a class of 45 students. The number of students admitted to the
Jurisprudence program will be down to 120 students with the number in the Economic and Financial Law program remaining the same. Currently, the number of enrolled undergraduate students is about 1,200.
All the lower-level courses are hosted and delivered at DaXian Building on the main campus located in Yang-Ming Mountain near the National Yang-Ming Park with beautiful surroundings. Both the legal service center and offices of student-run clubs are situated in the building. As for the higher-level courses, they are hosted at DaXin Building, one of the downtown campuses, that is in the vicinity of the BoAi District where the Ministry of Justice and prosecutor’s offices of high and district courts are located.
Stemming from the belief of course diversification and Integration of learning and practices, the College of Law is working towards cultivating comprehensive legal professionals. There are three undergraduate programs of study, Jurisprudence, the Economic and Financial law, and Corporate Finance Legal System.
Besides the compulsory core courses for the undergraduate law programs, each program has developed its own focus of study. The main focus of teaching for the Jurisprudence program is in jurisprudence and comparative law while the core study of the Economic and Financial law focuses on the study of Financial laws and intellectual property rights regulations. Corporate Finance Legal System program aims at cultivating professionals in the interdisciplinary fields of business administration, finance and international trade legal practices.
Graduate degree program centers on foundational theories and comparative law. No compulsory courses are required. In addition, in-service graduate program where all the courses are scheduled in the evenings and weekends is also available for working professionals.
Doctoral degree program aspires to the study and research in the cross-strait legal systems. The research explores three areas, Legal system of international and cross-strait economic and trade agreements, International and Cross-Strait Financial Law, and International and cross-strait dispute settlement legal system.
Faculty
The College of Law is led by a group of exceptional faculty including 31 full-time professors, 2 visiting chair professors, 2 visiting professors from China, and 70 adjunct professors, some of which are practicing lawyers, judges, and prosecutors. Built on five research centers, five learning groups are developed, and a broad range of courses are designed. With the coordination of required and elective course modules, an objective is set to cultivate professionals in various specializations.
A. Jurisprudence—Focus field in Fundamental legal study and comparative law
Courses to study include International Law, Private International Law, Law of Bills & Notes, Maritime Law, Civil Compulsory Execution Law, Jurisprudence, Legal Ethics, and Non-Contentious Matter Law.
B. The Economic and Financial Law—focus field in financial and intellectual property rights law
Courses to study include Trademark Law, patent Law, Copyright Law, Law in Taxation and Public Finance, Law of Bills & Notes, Civil Compulsory Execution Law, and Labor Law.
C. Corporate Finance legal system—focus field in financial legal system and corporate law
Courses to study include Financial Legal system and corporate legal compliance, Banking Law, Money Laundering Control Act, Trade Secret Law, Finance Holding Company Act and Business Merger and Acquisition Law, Financial investment and risk analysis, Corporate risk management (internal audit and control), and Financial Market practices.
Features of the programs
A. Coaching system is initiated to reinforce the understanding of the fundamental subjects, to elucidate important concept, and to improve students’ capabilities for passing national examinations.
B. The law programs advocate clinical and experiential learning by closely integrating theories with practices. Not only do students in the programs get connected with the industry, they are able to develop a spirit for supporting legal aid, and to accumulate legal practice experiences. Programs such as internship, legal clinic, and legal service center are available for students to attend.
C. Study abroad trips are organized for students to experience cross-nation cultures, to get inspired, and to broaden their world views by learning different legal systems. The trips have been taken to countries such as the U.S.A., Japan, Australia, China, and South Korea.
D. Student exchange programs with partner universities including Kagawa University, Japan, Renmin University of China, and Bond University in Australia allow students to participate in different learning environments, and to meet and learn about other legal systems.
E. Joint degree programs established with Bond University introduces another opportunity for students to study in Australia. Students enrolling in the graduate law program, after successfully completing 22 credit coursework, and satisfying the English language proficiency requirements, are eligible to enter the law programs at Bond University and earn an LLM degree in one semester (4 months), or a Juris Doctor in 5 semesters.
Future Prospects
A. Graduates will be eligible to apply for a variety of career options.
a. Passing Level Three Civil Service Special Examination for Judicial Personnel for the work as following: judge, prosecutors, administrative enforcement Officer, judicial associate officer, prosecutor investigator, public defender, court notary, level three court clerk.
b. Passing Level Four Civil Service Special Examination for Judicial Personnel for the work as following:court clerk, judicial police, bailiff, functionary.
c. Passing Senior Professional and Technical Personnel Examinations for work as following: lawyers, private notary.
d. Passing Civil Service Examination for legal affairs official, and ethics official
e. Assistant to judges, consumer protection officer
f. Legal worker for corporates
g. Work involving corporate law compliance and governance and money laundering prevention
B. Career prospects: In today’s society, professionals are highly sought after in the market. For law-major graduates, job opportunities present themselves in various areas in Taiwan, or overseas when it comes to international or cross-strait legal regulations and practices. Therefore, law graduates have distinct advantages in future careers. Alternatively, they can choose to progress to postgraduate studies.
Scholarships
There are scholarships sponsored by alumni and industries for students satisfying the requirements to apply. In addition to the financial support, there are various tutoring services and emergency funds supported by non-profit charities and foundations.
Eminent Alumni
The alumni of College of Law have outstanding performances in all walks of life. Some well-known public figures are highlighted below:
Tsai Ching-shiang: the Incumbent Minister of Ministry of Justice
Chen, Ming-tang: the Incumbent Deputy Minister of Ministry of Justice
Leu, Weng-jong: the Incumbent Director General, Investigation Bureau, Ministry of Justice
Hsing, Tai-chao: the Chief Prosecutor, Taiwan High Prosecutors Office
Chou, Yen-ping: the Chief Judge, Taiwan HsinChu District Court
Chen, Ying-jin: the Deputy Director-General, Administrative Enforcement Agency
Shen, Ying-nan and Cheng, Shiao-kang: Judge, Supreme Administrative Court
Chou, Chun-chi, Founder of Sinyi Realty
Chen, Yun-mao (Dennis Chen): Group Managing Director, Taiwan District, Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS)
Li, Hung-ming: General Manger, Cathay Real Estate Development
Chen, Han-guo: Director, Legal Affairs Center, Bank of Taiwan
Wu, Wei-chih: Director General, Labor Affairs Bureau of Taichung City
Evelyn Y. T Chen: Commissioner, Central Election Commission
Yao, Si-yuan: CEO, John Tung Foundation
There are hundreds of more alumni serve as legislator, member of the Control Yuan (Investigatory government agency), judge, prosecutor, enforcement officer, public defender, lawyers, etc.
In-Service Master’s Program
Financial Compliance Division
Mission Statement
Financial institutions are key to preventing money laundering. Since 2016, some domestic banks have been penalized for failing to obey the American Anti-Money Laundering laws. The financial industry is also confronted by the ever stricter rules when being reviewed by the government authorities. Therefore, the legal compliance department at every financial institution has been given a greater responsibility to comply with the laws and to establish and follow standard procedures for risk assessment in legal compliance. The governing authorities have officially requested all financial institutes to develop legal compliance and risk management system and to carry out legal compliance risk assessment. In response to a greater market demand for legal compliance professionals, the Financial Compliance Division is established to cultivate talents in the relevant fields.
Features
A commonality found in all the courses is that they conflate theories and practices. In addition to adopting the conventional teaching of laws and regulations, legal case study is integrated into the curriculum so that legal professionals are able to catch on to the latest development and practices in the law.
Teaching Methodologies and Faculty
At the Department of Law, equal emphasis is placed on academic research and real case studies. In addition to full-time and adjunct professors, many practicing legal professionals and scholars are invited to be chair professors or to carry out academic exchange.
Career Prospects
Graduates specializing in financial compliance may avail themselves of related legal compliance management-level positions offered in places such as financial holding company and banking corporation, or at the legal compliance department set up in any given domestic business, information technology, financial security or management unit.
Corporate Legal System Division
Mission
Traditional legal education adopts academic and philosophical perspectives and strives to educate and train those who wish to enter the legal professionals, such as lawyers, judges or prosecutors by passing the senior professional and technical examinations. However, many corporates also rely heavily on legal professionals to meet demand for improving company business operation system to avoid administrative penalties. Another major legal issue concerning most businesses is in drafting up contracts and resolving legal conflicts. Accordingly, the Corporate Legal System division is established to cultivate and prepare legal talents to resolve the common legal problems many corporates encounter.
Features
The curriculum is systematically well-structured based on fundamental law and principles that aims to laying the ground for deep legal thinking. Moreover, advanced research on corporate law, corporate legal system practices in particular, is enhanced in the program to foster corporate legal talents with both knowledge and practical legal skills.
Teaching Methodologies and Faculty
At the Department of Law, equal emphasis is placed on academic research and real case studies. In addition to full-time and adjunct professors, many practicing legal professionals and scholars are invited to be chair professors or to carry out academic exchange.
Career Prospects
Graduates specializing in corporate legal system may work in the following roles: senior executives of corporate legal affairs and companies.