Chairman’s Welcome Message
Welcome to the website of the Standing Committee on Legal Education and Training (“SCLET”).
In November 1999, an ad hoc Steering Committee on Legal Education and Training was established to conduct a comprehensive review of legal education and training in Hong Kong. Following that review, the Steering Committee made numerous recommendations, one of which was the establishment of a statutory body with sufficient status and powers to oversee the implementation of reforms and to monitor the future direction of legal education and training.
Pursuant to this recommendation, S74A of the Legal Practitioners Ordinance Cap. 159 was promulgated under which SCLET was established in 2005.
SCLET is empowered, amongst other things, to keep under review legal education and training in Hong Kong, to make recommendations thereon, and to collect and disseminate information about legal education and training.
Members of SCLET are appointed by the Chief Executive upon the nomination of various stakeholders in the legal community. Members of the public are also represented.
In the years since its establishment, SCLET has constituted various subcommittees to look into the English language proficiency of law students and to consider the pre-requisites for entry into the Postgraduate Certificate in Laws programmes. It witnessed the establishment of a third law school and the Conversion Examination Board. It considered various developments affecting legal education including the implementation of the “3+3+4” academic structure and the increasing use of mediation as a means of alternative dispute resolution. It scrutinized the law-related educational and vocational programmes provided by various institutions under its purview. It commissioned consultants to conduct a comprehensive review on legal education and training. You will find details of the work of SCLET in its Annual Reports which are available on this website.
I hope this website has enlightened you on our functions and our work. If you would like to find out more, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Mr. Justice Robert Tang Ching, G.B.M., S.B.S.
Non-Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal
Chairman