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Programme Highlights:
Expected Duration
1 year
Fees
Government-funded:
Local: HK$44,500
Non-local: HK$198,000
Self-funded:
HK$232,000*A ‘non-local’ student is a person entering Hong Kong for the purpose of education with a student visa/entry permit issued by the Director of Immigration.
Local: HK$44,500
Non-local: HK$198,000
Self-funded:
HK$232,000*A ‘non-local’ student is a person entering Hong Kong for the purpose of education with a student visa/entry permit issued by the Director of Immigration.
Expected Programme Start Date
To be updated
Application Deadline
Main Round:
12:00 noon (GMT +8), April 30, 2025
12:00 noon (GMT +8), April 30, 2025
Description
Full Time (one year)
Expected Duration
2 years
Fees
Self-funded:
HK$232,000
HK$232,000
Expected Programme Start Date
To be updated
Application Deadline
Main Round:
12:00 noon (GMT +8), April 30, 2025
12:00 noon (GMT +8), April 30, 2025
Description
Part Time (two years)
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Overview
The HKU PCLL programme is a leading professional legal education programme devoted to training students who intend to practice as lawyers in Hong Kong. The programme is mainly aimed at future trainee solicitors and pupil barristers in Hong Kong who have completed their Bachelor of Laws (LLB) or Juris Doctor (JD) or equivalent legal studies either in Hong Kong or other common law jurisdictions or have passed the Common Professional Examinations or equivalent.
The programme instils and strengthens core competencies of legal skills required of trainee solicitors and pupil 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 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 undergraduate legal studies in prestigious law schools from common law jurisdictions worldwide. Some of our mature students may work 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.
The programme instils and strengthens core competencies of legal skills required of trainee solicitors and pupil 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 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 undergraduate legal studies in prestigious law schools from common law jurisdictions worldwide. Some of our mature students may work 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.
Entrance Requirements
*For 2025-2026 Intake Applications: To be advised.
To be eligible for admission to the courses leading to the Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (PCLL), a candidate:
(a) shall comply with the General Regulations and the Regulations for Taught Postgraduate Curricula; and
(b) shall either:
(i) hold a degree with at least a second-class honours degree or equivalent in law1 from a university or comparable institution accepted for this purpose; or
(ii) pass the Common Professional Examination or its equivalent of Hong Kong or of England and Wales and satisfy this University as to the candidate's competence in the required law subjects1 provided that the candidate has also obtained a degree with at least a second-class honours or equivalent in a discipline; and
(c) if applying on the basis of a degree in law of a university or comparable institution other than this University, the City University of Hong Kong and The Chinese University of Hong Kong under (b)(i) above, shall produce evidence of sufficient academic attainment and may be required to pass a qualifying examination; and
(d) shall, notwithstanding General Regulation G2(b), achieve a band score in the International English Language Testing System (IELTS): (i) within a specified period before application for admission2; and (ii) at the level that may be prescribed from time to time by the Board of the Faculty of Law.
1 A candidate's degree must be in common law and will normally be from a Hong Kong or Commonwealth institution. A candidate must demonstrate competence in the following required law subjects or subject areas (or subjects recognised as their equivalent): Constitutional Law, Contract, Criminal Law, Land Law, Tort, Equity and Trusts, Evidence, Business Associations, Commercial Law, Hong Kong Constitutional Law, Hong Kong Legal System and Hong Kong Land Law.
2 An IELTS band score is valid for three years from the application deadline.
To be eligible for admission to the courses leading to the Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (PCLL), a candidate:
(a) shall comply with the General Regulations and the Regulations for Taught Postgraduate Curricula; and
(b) shall either:
(i) hold a degree with at least a second-class honours degree or equivalent in law1 from a university or comparable institution accepted for this purpose; or
(ii) pass the Common Professional Examination or its equivalent of Hong Kong or of England and Wales and satisfy this University as to the candidate's competence in the required law subjects1 provided that the candidate has also obtained a degree with at least a second-class honours or equivalent in a discipline; and
(c) if applying on the basis of a degree in law of a university or comparable institution other than this University, the City University of Hong Kong and The Chinese University of Hong Kong under (b)(i) above, shall produce evidence of sufficient academic attainment and may be required to pass a qualifying examination; and
(d) shall, notwithstanding General Regulation G2(b), achieve a band score in the International English Language Testing System (IELTS): (i) within a specified period before application for admission2; and (ii) at the level that may be prescribed from time to time by the Board of the Faculty of Law.
1 A candidate's degree must be in common law and will normally be from a Hong Kong or Commonwealth institution. A candidate must demonstrate competence in the following required law subjects or subject areas (or subjects recognised as their equivalent): Constitutional Law, Contract, Criminal Law, Land Law, Tort, Equity and Trusts, Evidence, Business Associations, Commercial Law, Hong Kong Constitutional Law, Hong Kong Legal System and Hong Kong Land Law.
2 An IELTS band score is valid for three years from the application deadline.
Download Documents
For additional information, we recommend reviewing the following documents:
Additional Information
PDF Document
Regulations & Syllabuses
PDF Document
Supporting Documents
PDF Document
Faculty
Faculty of Law
The Faculty of Law at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) traces its origins to 1969, when a Department of Law was established within the Faculty of Social Sciences. Beginning with three teachers and 40 students, the Department offered a three-year LLB degree and, from 1972, a one-year Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (PCLL). The department was Hong Kong's first law school, and its LLB and PCLL were the first local university qualifications to be recognized for admission to legal practice in Hong Kong. Formerly, all barristers and most solicitors had trained and qualified in the United Kingdom. Law had been taught at HKU in the 1920s and 1930s, but only as part of a broad-based Arts curriculum. From 1964 to 1969 the Department of Extra-mural Studies at HKU had also taught part-time courses leading to an external LLB degree from the University of London. The law school at HKU was designed to increase the supply of lawyers, train lawyers in Hong Kong law rather than just English law, and make formal legal education available without the need for students to go overseas.
From a teaching department in 1969 to a Faculty today with about 2,500 students and over 80 full-time academic staff from about 17 jurisdictions, the Faculty of Law has been the training ground of many distinguished legal minds. Generations of lawyers who graduated from the Faculty now form the backbone of the legal profession and protect the Rule of Law in Hong Kong, which is crucial to the success of the territory.
The Faculty is committed to academic and professional excellence in meeting the challenges of a rapidly changing environment. While the Faculty has gone a long way from its inception, it continues its efforts in international outreach, in strengthening the ties with Mainland China, and in enhancing the quality of legal education with a view to train not just good lawyers but also leaders who have a passion to serve, wherever they are.
You can find more information about HKU Law at https://www.law.hku.hk/.
From a teaching department in 1969 to a Faculty today with about 2,500 students and over 80 full-time academic staff from about 17 jurisdictions, the Faculty of Law has been the training ground of many distinguished legal minds. Generations of lawyers who graduated from the Faculty now form the backbone of the legal profession and protect the Rule of Law in Hong Kong, which is crucial to the success of the territory.
The Faculty is committed to academic and professional excellence in meeting the challenges of a rapidly changing environment. While the Faculty has gone a long way from its inception, it continues its efforts in international outreach, in strengthening the ties with Mainland China, and in enhancing the quality of legal education with a view to train not just good lawyers but also leaders who have a passion to serve, wherever they are.
You can find more information about HKU Law at https://www.law.hku.hk/.
Faculty Website
Contacts
If you have any inquiries regarding the programme or faculty, please do not hesitate to reach out to us using the contact methods provided below:
Contact Info
PCLL Admissions Team, Faculty of Law, HKU
(852) 3917-2817
