General Course Information
1.1 Course details
| Course code: | LLAW6308 / JDOC6308 |
| Course name: | Law and Society in China |
| Programme offered under: | LLM Programme / JD Programme |
| Semester: | First |
| Prerequisites / Co-requisites: | No |
| Credit point value: | 9 credit / 6 credits |
1.2 Course description
Law is often taught through rules, cases, and doctrines. This course asks a different set of questions: how does law actually work in society? We will examine how legal rules are made and implemented, how courts and lawyers operate, how ordinary people understand and use law, and how law is shaped by politics, markets, family relations, class, and gender. China is both the substantive focus and a site of theoretical inquiry. Major empirical studies of Chinese law are placed in conversation with foundational socio-legal concepts. The aim is to develop an empirically grounded and critical understanding of how law operates in society, while complementing rather than replacing doctrinal legal analysis.
1.3 Course teachers
| Name | E-mail address | Office | Consultation | |
| Course convenor | Jiahui Duan | jhduan@hku.hk | CCT 508 | By email |
Learning Outcomes
2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course
CLO 1 Explain central concepts and approaches in law-and-society scholarship.
CLO 2 Explain key features of the Chinese legal system from a socio-legal perspective.
CLO 3 Analyse how law works through courts, lawyers, dispute resolution, and everyday social practices.
CLO 4 Critically evaluate empirical research and competing explanations of legal phenomena.
CLO 5 Develop a clear analytical argument using relevant course readings and examples.
2.2 LLM and JD Programme Learning Outcomes (PLOs)
Please refer to the following link:
LLM – https://course.law.hku.hk/llm-plo/
JD – https://course.law.hku.hk/jd-plo/
2.3 Programme Learning Outcomes to be achieved in this course
| PLO A | PLO B | PLO C | PLO D | PLO E | PLO F | |
| CLO 1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 2 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 3 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 4 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 5 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Assessment(s)
3.1 Assessment Summary
| Assessment task | Weighting | Feedback method* | Course learning outcomes |
| In-class response papers | 30% | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 | |
| Final essay | 30% | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| *Feedback method (to be determined by course teacher) | |
| 1 | A general course report to be disseminated through Moodle |
| 2 | Individual feedback to be disseminated by email / through Moodle |
| 3 | Individual review meeting upon appointment |
| 4 | Group review meeting |
| 5 | In-class verbal feedback |
3.2 Assessment Detail
To be advised by course convenor(s).
3.3 Grading Criteria
Please refer to the following link: https://www.law.hku.hk/_files/law_programme_grade_descriptors.pdf
Learning Activities
4.1 Learning Activity Plan
| Seminar: | 3 hours / week for 12 teaching weeks |
| Private study time: | 9.5 hours / week for 12 teaching weeks |
Remarks: the normative student study load per credit unit is 25 ± 5 hours (ie. 150 ± 30 hours for a 6-credit course), which includes all learning activities and experiences within and outside of classroom, and any assessment task and examinations and associated preparations.
4.2 Details of Learning Activities
To be advised by course convenor(s).
Learning Resources
5.1 Resources
| Reading materials: | Reading materials are posted on Moodle |
| Core reading list: | TBA |
| Recommended reading list: | TBA |
5.2 Links
Please refer to the following link: http://www.law.hku.hk/course/learning-resources/