Deans call for better training systems

A better structured and supervised training system for trainee solicitors would be a more effective means of ensuring higher professional standards than the controversial plan by the Law Society to introduce a new qualifying exam, say law deans.

Both Professor Johannes Chan Man-mun and Professor Christopher Gane, law deans of the University of Hong Kong and Chinese University, respectively, hit out at the Law Society's proposal to introduce a common qualifying exam for solicitors to replace the assessment provided by the city's three law schools.

The deans saw the proposal as a move to abolish the PCLL (postgraduate certificate in laws), which is the existing postgraduate qualification programme provided by the law schools, even though such a view was denied by the Law Society.

But City University law dean Professor Wang Guiguo said he "welcomes and supports the suggestion of the Law Society".

"In our view, the move will be perceived as an effort to ensure a more open exam system," he said. "At the same time, we encourage the Law Society to consult the Bar when co-ordinating the exam."

But Chan told the that introducing a common exam "would not solve any problem" if the Law Society saw it as a solution to maintaining or even improving the quality of the profession.