Established in March 2000, the Faculty of Law was one of the first four faculties when the Macau University of Science and Technology was founded. With the historical context of multiculturalism and the tendency toward cross-border law development, after years’ growth, the Faculty has gradually formed a teaching and research tradition characterized as multicultural environment and cross-border law, and set its mission and vision: Cultivate Local and Cross-border Legal Talents within the context of Multiculturalism and Internationalism in its Macau and Cross-Straits Four-Regions Base.
The Faculty has three levels of degree Programs. It offers the undergraduate Program of Bachelor of Laws, postgraduate Programs including Master of Laws, Juris Master, Master of Laws in Criminal Justice, Master of International Economic and Commercial Law, Master of International Arbitration,Master of Financial Crime and Regulation and Doctor of Philosophy in Law in nine majors including Legal Theory, History of Law, Constitutional and Administrative Law, Civil Law and Business Law, Criminal Law, Economic Law, International Law, Legal Procedure, Environmental and Natural Resources Protection Law.
In accordance with the principle of “one country, two systems”, the Faculty conducts parallel courses of Macau Law and Chinese Law in its Degree Program of Bachelor of Laws, covering a wide range of subjects including Macau law, Chinese law, international law and the major legal systems of the world. The Faculty puts more weights on the study of comparative law and cross-border legal issues for its Degree Program of Master of Laws. Moreover, it holds regular competition activities such as the Guanying Cup Legal Essay Contest and the Wangyang Cup Law Debate Competition, as well as initiates the Competition Research Society to help promote the greater ties between theory and practice.
The Faculty has two state-level centers. In 2017, the Faculty and the Intellectual Property Study Centre of the Zhongnan University of Economics and Law were permitted by the Ministry of Education to jointly build the Macau Intellectual Property Research Centre, which is a key partner research base out of the Mainland China for Humanitarian and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education. In 2018, the Macau Research Centre for the Judicial Training Base of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was formed under the cooperation between the Faculty and the judicial training base of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Moreover, the Faculty has established the Legal Practice and Education Center and the Research Center for Arbitration and Dispute Resolution, both of which have developed cooperative relationships with legal institutions, arbitration organizations and law firms from the cross-strait four-regions, providing opportunities of academic training and practice for students and legal training courses for the community. The Faculty, together with Macau Anti–Money Laundering Specialists Association, establishes the Macau Exam Centre of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS), which is the only exam center in Macau authorized by the “Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists”(ACAMS), aiming to enhance the regional talent pool of anti-money laundering and to serve the area and the Macau society.
Taking the advantage of Macau’s traditional and unique geographic superiority, the Faculty actively carries out foreign academic and teaching exchange activities, and has built up effective cooperative relationships with foreign academic institutions and professional units, including becoming the first batch members of the Mainland-Hong Kong-Macau Law Education Alliance and the young member of the Asian Law Institute. In December 2018, as the director of the alliance, the Faculty led and forged the links with the 28 institutions platforms of academic research and legal practice and services such as the Faculty of Law at the University of Hong Kong and Jinan University to inaugurate the Intellectual Property Law Alliance of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area in pursuit of the cultivation of the talented persons and assistance for the development schemes of the Greater Bay Area and the state development strategy of intellectual property rights.
The Faculty focuses on the academic investigations of the comparative law and cross-border legal areas, widely welcomes the scholars from the cross-straits four-regions and the world, and creates trans-territory platforms for legal research. It arranges various regular academic activities and invites well-known legal scholars from Macau and other areas to deliver speeches about the significant problems of legal research and practice to facilitate the fundamental legal theory research and interdisciplinary study, as well as to foster the Faculty’s academic reputation of the regions.
Macau has been the intersection, where the East and the West meets, for more than four hundred years, with a changing history of Chinese and foreign laws and diversified legal cultures. There’s still a long way to go for Macau’s law reform and legal development after its return to China. And the Mainland China is entering into a new stage for the modernization of national governance and the development of rule of law. Both sides have urgent need of outstanding legal talents. At the same time, the relationships between Macau and the Mainland China, Macau and Hong Kong and Taiwan, Macau and the whole World have become increasingly closer, and the cross-border legal talents are even more indispensable. Welcome to the Faculty of Law. Let’s fulfill the mission and achieve the vision together.
Rooted in Macao and open to the world, the Faculty of Law commits to embrace multiculturalism, to nurture local and cross-regional legal talents, and to promote the rule of law.