Results for Certified Evaluation and Accreditation forLaw SchoolNanzan School of Law
Graduate Program in Legal Practice

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: Private

Location: Aichi, Japan

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

Nanzan School of Law Graduate Program in Legal Practice

Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Resultsfor Nanzan School of Law Graduate Program in Legal Practice

To fulfill Nanzan University’s educational philosophy of “For Human Dignity” inproviding education to nurture legal professionals, Nanzan School of Law Graduate
Program in Legal Practice (hereafter "Law School") has set forth its philosophy ofcultivating legal professionals who can contribute to society with a sense of ethics basedon human dignity, and its goal of providing education that bridges the gap between theory
and practice. This is in line with the educational philosophy of law schools. However, theLaw School was denied accreditation in the AY2018 JUAA certified evaluation andaccreditation for law school, the main reasons being: (1) Despite the Law School’s passrate of the national bar examination falling below one-half the national average formultiple years, no effective and specific measures for improvement had beenimplemented; and (2) Regarding the number of freshman enrollment to the freshmanenrollment cap, the Law School never enrolled 10 freshman students in the preceding five
years although its admission capacity was 20. Accordingly, in this year’s certified
evaluation and accreditation for law school, the Law School’s educational activities wereevaluated as a whole to look for improvements made with respect to the issues pointed
out in the last evaluation and the measures taken toward improvement. As described
below, the conclusion was reached that, although some issues remain to be addressed,
significant improvements are being made. Regarding item (1), the bar exam pass rate has
been rising over the years, up to the 10% level in AY2018 and reaching approximately
33% in AY2022. The pass rate is particularly high for students with no previous legal
studies experience. In addition, a high correlation between the bar exam pass rate and thegrade point average (GPA) at the Law School was found. Given these facts, the rising bar
exam pass rate represents the positive outcomes of the Law School’s educational activities.
In particular, full-time faculty members have provided thorough small-group instructions
focusing on the development of “writing skills” during this period, while the advisor
system for correcting answers in mock bar exams has functioned effectively as acomplement to small-group instructions. In these ways, full-time faculty members andadvisors have worked cooperatively with each other. In light of these initiatives, it iscommendable that the Law School has made ongoing organization-wide efforts toimprove the bar examination pass rate. In addition, intensive FD training sessions were
held from November to December 2020, where participants made presentations andexchanged opinions on themes such as class management improvement and step-by-step
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Nanzan School of Law Graduate Program in Legal Practicedevelopment of writing skills, and a meeting is held twice a year for faculty members incharge to exchange opinions on grading. Furthermore, the faculty council examines theeducational outcomes of the Law School. These activities are commendable. Next,
regarding item (2), the numbers of applicants and freshman enrollment have been trending
upward for the past several years. In addition, with collaboration with the University’s
Faculty of Law, the Special Course for Judicial Training was established in the Faculty in
2019, and students who complete this course advance to the Law School. This is an
emerging virtuous cycle and a positive development for school quota fulfillment in thefuture.
There are several areas of improvement, however, identified in the certified
evaluation and accreditation.
First, some course syllabuses state that the regular examination is the only factor
to be considered for grading. During the on-site inspection, however, it was confirmedthat process is also considered for grading. The Law School should modify the description
in the syllabuses in accordance with the actual situation.
Second, going forward the Law School should immediately consider how toutilize the scores of the Common Achievement Test for Law Schools, including using thescores for grading (a requirement for student advancement to the next level).
As the third area of improvement, the establishment of an appeal system forgrading is an issue to be considered.
The fourth area of improvement concerns FD activities. It is commendable that
opportunities for intensive review of the educational activities and for grading verification
are provided, but recently, these activities have not been carried out on a regular basis,and how to operate these systems in the future will be an issue open to discussion. The
Law School should continue to analyze the results of the national bar examination toenhance its FD activities.
The fifth area of improvement concerns enrollment. Although an improvement
trend has been identified in securing enrollment, as mentioned above, the Law School isexpected to continue its efforts to enhance the ratios of freshman enrollment to thefreshman enrollment cap, student enrollment to the student enrollment cap, and thenumber of applicants to the freshman cap, while working to exceed the standards for theseratios. It is recognized that the establishment of the Special Course for Judicial Training
has generated this upward trend, but further measures are expected, including theconclusion of a joint legal profession training agreement with Nanzan University’s
Faculty of Law and cooperation with its neighboring universities.
Sixth, the Law School is expected to make efforts to obtain information on the2Nanzan School of Law Graduate Program in Legal Practicecareer paths of its alumni, especially those who have chosen a career other than the legal
profession.
As each of the above issues should be addressed to implement the Law School’s
distinctive small-group, student-focused education, the Law School is expected tocontinue to examine these issues.

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