Results for Certified Evaluation and Accreditation forLaw School

Kansai University School of Law

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: PrivateLocation: Osaka, Japan

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

Kansai University School of Law

Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Resultsfor Kansai University School of Law

Kansai University School of Law (hereafter “Law School”) has established its goals “toprovide advanced professional legal education that bridges the gap between theory andpractice in order to cultivate the basic qualities required by legal professionals and train
creative professionals equipped with high professional ethics and a strong sense of socialjustice.” in accordance with the university-wide founding philosophy of “GAKU-NOJITSUGE,” which means developing human resources who serve useful roles in the realworld by harmonizing academic theory and practice.
To achieve the goals the Law School has taken the following distinctiveinitiatives.
First, with respect to the curriculum, the “Externship in Overseas,” in which
students participate in activities to support the establishment of legal systems in Asiancountries, is expected to resume in AY2024 with the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This course has motivated some alumni to become experts providing long-term support
for the establishment of legal systems abroad. This commendable initiative is unique andnot offered by other law schools. In addition, the Law School offers a full range of courses
on Chinese business law, including Chinese Business Law 1-3 and Chinese Business Law
Seminar, as well as the practical Legal Support for Business in Asia course. This is also aunique and highly commendable initiative.
Next, as a distinctive effort to provide detailed guidance to students, the Law
School assigns one supervising instructor to every five to six students, with theresponsible supervisors regularly holding one-on-one interviews with their students at theend of each semester, and brings together the information on all students in the “StudentRecords” for sharing among faculty members. It is also commendable that theQuestionnaire for Successful Candidates and the Law School Journal feature the successstories of students who have passed the bar examination and the active careers of alumni,
which are useful for current students. The Law School also offers Lecture on Activities
of In-House Lawyer course that introduces the realities of today's practitioners. In thiscourse, practitioners who have completed the Law School program serve as instructors,
and alumni serve as teaching assistants (TA) and eventually as academic advisors,providing guidance and advice to current students. Both are excellent efforts that support
the sustainability of the Law School.
In terms of facilities, the Law School has extended the service hours of the law1Kansai University School of Law

library since the last certified evaluation and accreditation for law school. The study room
is available 24 hours a day, and there is a study room exclusively for female students.
These are recognized as excellent initiatives.
There are several areas of improvement, however, the Law School needs toaddress.
First, the Law School’s pass rate for the bar examination fell below one-half thenational average in AY2018, AY2020, and AY2021, but improved significantly inAY2022, suggesting that its various efforts are beginning to produce results. Goingforward, the Law School should continue its efforts to improve the pass rate.
Second, the Law School sets out that applicants who have completed (or expectto complete) a legal profession course at an undergraduate law faculty with which theschool has concluded a Jurist Training Coordination Agreement will receive specificadditional points in the entrance examination screening process. According to the Law
School, the rationale behind the additional points is that applicants “made their own
choice to take the process education of a legal profession course.” However, it isquestionable from the viewpoint of fairness whether this selection method is acceptable
to society, given the fact that the only reason for the additional points is that applicantsmade their own choice to take the process education of a legal profession course with nograding requirements. In particular, with respect to the advantage given to applicants who
have completed (or expect to complete) a legal profession course, even in the entrance
examination for a course created for applicants with no legal studies experience, it ishighly questionable whether this setup is compatible with the purpose of the law school
system aiming to widely accept applicants with no legal studies experience.
As the third area of improvement, the Law School offers a slightly smaller
number of Basic Law and Adjacent Subjects. In addition, the Law and Society (JudicialPractices) course is classified as a Basic Law/Adjacent Subject. It is recommended that
the Law School consider whether these are appropriate.
To deal with the issues raised above, the Law School should adopt the results ofthe certified evaluation and accreditation for law school and continue its self-study efforts
for improvement to further assure and improve the quality of its education.

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