Results for Certified Evaluation and Accreditation forLaw School

Meiji University Professional Graduate School
Juris Doctor Course Juris Doctor Program

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: Private

Location: Tokyo, Japan

Accreditation Status
Year of the Review: 2023
Accreditation Status: accredited （Accreditation Period: April 1, 2024 – March 31, 2029）

Meiji University Professional Graduate School Juris Doctor Course

Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Results
for the Meiji University Professional Graduate School Juris Doctor
CourseBased on its educational philosophy of nurturing “legal professionals who placevalue on ‘individuals’ and respect human rights,” which is a modern interpretation of theUniversity's founding spirit of “Rights and Liberty, Independence and Self-Government,”
the Meiji University Professional Graduate School Juris Doctor Course (hereafter “LawSchool) has set forth the goals “to instill in students the deep compassion, high sense ofethics and creative thinking deemed suitable for the legal profession; to provide students
with broad general education and highly specialized legal knowledge; and to offer
practical education needed to improve students’ ability to solve legal problems, thereby
developing students into legal professionals with the outstanding qualities and skills
needed to make a contribution to society and the international community.” In light of its
educational philosophy and goals, the Law School has defined the ideal legal
professionals as practitioners who: (1) Place value on individuals and respect humanrights; (2) Possess a critical mindset, seek out social order, and contribute to humandevelopment; and (3) Contribute to the creation of a gender-equal society. These
characteristics are consistent with the purposes of the law school system and theuniversity-wide philosophy and goals.
The Law School has established its educational objectives based on the above
educational philosophy and goals, and is implementing various measures to achieve them.
With the purpose of nurturing “specialized” legal professionals with a deep understandingof the front-line issues and able to achieve success in the areas of corporate law,
intellectual property, gender, the environment, and medical affairs and bioethics, the Law
School enthusiastically offers a large number of advanced and cutting-edge subjects
mainly in these five areas. This distinctive feature is highly commendable. In many of thecourses, including the advanced and cutting-edge courses, the Law School adopts
practical teaching methods such as bidirectional and multi-directional discussions andquestion-and-answer sessions. It is commendable that students highly evaluate thesecourses and show a high level of satisfaction.
In addition, not only full-time faculty members but also adjunct faculty members
who hold concurrent positions and assistant instructors participate in FD workshops toshare information among all faculty members and actively exchange views on how toevaluate and improve class contents. These efforts have led to the adoption of specific1Meiji University Professional Graduate School Juris Doctor Course

measures and resulted in “team-based education.” As part of such efforts, the Law School
has introduced a class teacher system in order to meet students’ learning needs. At thesame time, assistant instructors who are Law School alumni and qualified as lawyers
serve as deputy class teachers and seminar instructors, providing students with learning
guidance and support through consultations on independent study, supplementary review
classes, and seminars. Furthermore, faculty members and assistant instructors work
together to share information on students’ learning status and class contents in order toprovide detailed study guidance through such measures as feeding back the informationon the contents of makeup classes and seminars to regular classes. The study guidanceand support provided by the assistant instructors are believed to be functioning effectively
for students, given the support system’s virtuous cycle, with alumni who have passed thebar exam assuming the position of new assistant instructors. This support system is highly
evaluated by students as an initiative improving their academic abilities in synergy withregular classes and can be identified as a distinctive effort.
There are several areas of improvement, however, identified in the certified
evaluation and accreditation.
First, the law basic subjects account for a large portion of the credits required forprogram completion. The program design is even more heavily tilted toward the law basic
subjects compared at the time of the last certified evaluation and accreditation for law
schools. The Law School should review the program design so that students are notrequired to take subjects disproportionately heavy in any particular subject category.
Second, the Law School provides a mock courtroom that serves its educational
purpose, but the facility is located far from the main building where the Law Schoolclasses are held. To reduce the burden on students going back and forth between the mainbuilding and the mock courtroom during breaks, a better location should be found.
The third area of improvement concerns makeup examinations. Some of the
makeup examination questions are almost identical to those in regular examinations. To
ensure fair and strict assessment of academic achievement in the makeup examinations,school-wide discussions are required on possible ways to ensure their rigor, including by
establishing and sharing an agreed policy among faculty members on drawing up
questions for these examinations.
The fourth area of improvement is related to quota management. The numbersof freshman enrollment and student enrollment have exceeded the freshmen cap andstudent enrollment cap over the years since the capacity reduction in AY2018, thoughstudent enrollment was below capacity in AY2023. Going forward, the Law School isadvised to carry out appropriate quota management, while implementing the selection
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process with attention paid to real competitive ratios.
Fifth, in light of the current situation where a significant number of students
repeat the same year, take a leave of absence, or drop out of school, it is necessary todevelop school-wide measures to identify at an early stage those students at risk ofrepeating the same year and provide appropriate study guidance and support to mitigate
this situation.
Sixth, the common research room and discussion room used by graduate students
for self-study are located separately from the main building where classes are held,requiring students to move back and forth between buildings; at the same time, thebuilding and facilities are old and showing their age. This setup is inappropriate for along-period, long-hour study environment and improvements are recommended.
The seventh area of improvement relates to utilizing the academic achievementsof alumni and helping current students formulate their career plans. The Law School isadvised to establish an organization-wide system to provide continuous support to alumni
who did not pass the bar exam by maintaining close communication and obtaining
information on their career paths, as well as consolidating information held individuallyand privately by faculty members.
The eighth area of improvement concerns faculty organization. The ratio of
female faculty to full-time faculty members is low, and the majority of full-time faculty
members has been in their 50s and 60s over the years. The Law School is advised tocorrect these areas to achieve a more diverse faculty organization.
Some of the areas of improvement were pointed out in the last JUAA certified
evaluation and accreditation for law school. The Law School should take appropriate
actions to address the issues that have yet to see improvements.
To make the improvements raised above, the Law School is recommended toadopt the results of this certified evaluation and accreditation for law school and continue
its self-study efforts, work to assure and improve the quality of its education, and further
enhance its distinctive features.

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