Legal education at Wuhan University (WHU) can be traced back to Hubei Legal School established in 1908. Since Wuhan National University was founded in 1928, the Law School has always been one of its important departments. The former presidents of WHU Wang Shijie and Zhou Gengsheng, who are famous jurists, have served as full-time or adjunct deans. After the recovery of the Law Faculty in 1979 and the establishment of the Law School in 1986, several famous jurists successively served as deans of the Law Faculty and the Law School. These included the distinguished jurist Prof. Han Depei, the prominent penologist Prof. Ma Kechang, the renowned Prof. Ma Junju of civil and commercial law, the renowned Prof. Yu Jinsong, Prof. Zeng Lingliang and Prof. Xiao Yongping of international law. The current dean is the well-known Professor Feng Guo of economic law.
The Law School has comprehensive disciplines with distinct characteristics and has developed an integrated talent training system. It is the initial law discipline doctorate conferrable institution, of which doctoral and master’s programs have covered all sub-fields of law. Nowadays, it has two undergraduate majors, ten academic master's degree-granting programs, twelve doctoral degree-granting programs in second-level disciplines of law, two nationally key disciplines, one national key discipline under cultivation and one professional master's degree program. It was approved by the State Council to set up the first mobile postdoctoral research station containing all doctoral degree disciplines. For international students, it offers a Master Program in International Law and Chinese Law. From 1979 until now, nearly 20,000 students have graduated from the Law School and it has also cultivated over 300,000 trainees and non-degree students, judges, prosecutors, lawyers, teachers of higher education institutions, civil servants, etc. A large number of these graduates have become outstanding talents in building the rule of law in China. There are currently almost 3000 students in the Law School: more than 1100 undergraduates, 1400 master students, 400 PhD students, and eighty international students.
The Law School maintains various academic institutes and research platforms. It has thirty-four research institutes, the Key Innovation Base of “985 Project”, two Humanities and Social Sciences Research Bases of the Ministry of Education, the National High-end Think Tank (the first batch), two 2011 Collaboration Innovation Centers of the Ministry of Education, the Human Rights Education and Training Base, the National Cyberspace International-governance Research Base, the Environmental and Resources Judicial Theory Research Base of the Supreme People's Court, and the Administrative Prosecution Research Base of the Supreme People's Procuratorate. It is the organizer of academic journals, such as Law Review, International Law Review of Wuhan University, Chinese Journal of International Law, Chinese Journal of Environmental Law, Climate Law, and Environmental Law Review.
The faculty in the Law School is supportive and well-constructed. A group of senior jurists is renowned both nationally and internationally, and a large number of young and middle-aged law experts exercise great influence on the national legal community and relevant fields. The Law School now has 115 full-time teachers, of which fifty-five are professors, forty-five are associate professors, and sixty-two are PhD supervisors, composing a leading academic team and an innovative youth group headed by Senior Humanities and Social Sciences Professors and National Outstanding Teachers.
The Law School has engaged in productive international exchanges. It has formed extensive and in-depth partnerships with world-famous universities, including Université de Paris 11 Paris Sud, Université de Lille 2 Droit et Santé, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Universität des Saarlandes, Universiteit Gent, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, Northeastern University, University of California, Davis, The University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, The University of Melbourne.
The Law School is also adequately equipped. The school building covers approximately 25,000 square meter, and it comprises a 5000 square meter law library, a 500 square meter moot court and moot arbitral tribunal, a 200 square meter legal lab, nine multimedia classrooms and electronic reading rooms each of which can accommodate 130-160 people. The library has a rich, highly professional and academy-oriented collection of legal literature, known for its resources of western language original books on international law, Japanese original books on criminal law, legal books from Hong Kong and Taiwan, literature on environmental law, etc.
During the past 100 years, especially after the reform and opening up, generations of Luojia lawyers have been committed to fostering talented people to promote the socialist rule of law. They have made great contributions to the revitalization and prosperity of the legal profession. In 2017, WHU’s discipline of law was selected for the country’s construction plan of world-class universities and first-class disciplines, and it was regularly among the top in national Law Subject Evaluation. In the QS World University Rankings for Law & Legal Studies 2019, WHU Law School was ranked 50-100, having a high reputation and worldwide influence. It is one of the most influential law schools in China. People call it “the main force on the Luojia Hill”.
