Peking University Law School
Peking University Law School (Also known as PKU LAW or PKULS, simplified Chinese: 北京大学法学院; traditional Chinese: 北京大學法學院) is the law school of Peking University, located in Haidian District, Beijing, China. Founded in 1904 as the law department of Peking University, it is the oldest law School in China and is generally considered to be one of the most prestigious law schools in Asia. Since 2015, the School has been ranked first in Mainland China and one of top three law schools in Asia every year by QS World University Rankings. PKU LAW has been generally regarded  as the most competitive and selective law school in China. The school's LL.B students have the highest average scores in China's college entrance examination among all law schools in China, the average acceptance rate of LL.M. and J.M. is less than 10% in 2017. CUAA, the most widely cited Chinese University Rankings ranks PKU LAW the first in its 2017 list. Peking University Law School confers five legal degrees: LL.B., LL.M., J.M., Ph.D., and a special Chinese LL.M degree for international students. As of 2017, PKU LAW employees more than 70 professors and has established 36 research centres . Four of PKU LAW's disciplines including Legal Theory Studies, Constitution and Administrative Law Studies, Economic Law Studies, and Criminal Law Studies are ranked the best in China. The school publishes 11 legal journals including "Peking University Law Journal" (edited by staff members) and "Peking University Law Review" (edited by students). Peking University Law School has produced a significant number of luminaries in both law and politics, PKU LAW's alumni include China's incumbent Prime Minister Li Keqiang and four of the current justices of China's Supreme Court, Jiang Bixin, Nan Ying, Sun Huapu and Pei Xianding. According  to a survey conducted in 2017, 246 partners of China's top 8 law firms are PKU LAW alumni, more than the second and the third ranked law school combined. The school also hosts some of the most prominent legal scholars in China, including Zhang Qianfan, Chen Xinliang and He Weifang. History. Founded in 1904, Peking University Law School is China's oldest law school. Its parent institution, Peking University, is the first national university in modern China. In 1898, China's young emperor Guang Xu and his supporters initiated the "hundred days' reform", the reform was an attempt to  modernise China by reforming its government, economy and society. The short-lived reform saw the establishment of the Imperial University of Peking, which started offering law courses in 1902. It was one of only two law schools to not be closed during the upheaval of the Cultural Revolution in 1966–1976. In 1898, China's young emperor Guang Xu and his supporters initiated the "hundred days' reform", the reform was an attempt to modernise China by reforming its government, economy and society The short-lived reform saw the establishment of the Imperial University of Peking, which started offering law courses in  1902. It was one of only two law schools to not be closed during the upheaval of the Cultural Revolution in 1966–1976. On May 24, 2003, in the prominent case of Sun Zhigang, three graduate students of the law school, Xu Zhiyong, Teng Biao and Yu Jiang submitted a proposal regarding the Measures of Custody and Repatriation for Urban Vagrants and Beggars to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, citing concerns that the provisions restricted personal freedom of citizens and contradicted with the civil rights protection clauses of the Constitution. The proposal urged the committee to conduct  a review of the provisions' constitutionality and had drawn national attention. The State Council of China formally revoked the Measures of Custody and Repatriation for Urban Vagrants and Beggars on June 20, 2020. This case has been widely regarded as a landmark case of China's civil rights protection movement. In 2005, three professors and three graduate students of the law school filed the first public interest litigation in China, asking the Heilongjiang Higher People's Court to fine the defendant PetroChina a total of 10 Billion Yuan to set up a public fund to restore the environment of the  Songhua River, which was seriously polluted by an explosion of a Diphenyl Plant owned by PetroChina. However, the court refused to accept the case citing political concerns. Alumni. Peking University Law School's prestige and large class size has enabled it to produce a large number of luminary alumni, including the current prime minister of China Li Keqiang. Li Keqiang was enrolled in the law school in 1977 when the school resumed admission following the end of the cultural revolution. Four sitting justices of China's Supreme Court are alumni of Peking University Law school. The school's alumni also  include some of the most prominent legal scholars in China's modern history, including Mu Rui, founder of China's economic law and international economic law; Gong Xiangrui, prominent scholar of constitutional law; Wang Tieya, international jurist and former Justice of the International Criminal Tribunal of the former Yugoslavia. Zhang Guohua, legal historian, one of the founders of the studies of Chinese legal thought history; Xiao Weiyun, constitutional jurist, member of the Basic Law Drafting Committee of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Basic Law Drafting Committee of the Macao Special Administrative Region; Yang Chunxi, criminal jurist, one  of founders of contemporary Chinese criminal law; Luo Haocai, administrative law jurist and former justice of China's supreme court.