Master programmes:

Yantai University Law School holds a master’s degree authorisation in the first-level discipline of Law, which encompasses ten sub-disciplines: Jurisprudence, Legal History, Constitutional and Administrative Law, Criminal Law, Civil and Commercial Law, Procedural Law, Economic Law, Environmental and Resource Protection Law, International Law, and Intellectual Property Law.

The School offers three professional master’s degree programmes: Master of Law (for students with an LLB degree) ,Juris Master (for students without an LLB degree), and Part-Time Master of Law.

I. Master’s Programmes in First-Level Law Discipline

1.Law Theory

(1) Legal Sociology

This discipline adopts legal philosophy and legal sociology to explore the operational patterns and effectiveness of law in the state and social institution. It investigates the relationships between law and political, economic, cultural, ethical, and social environments, as well as the historical context of legal implementation. The research serves the construction of the rule of law in China after the reform and opening up, especially providing guidance and inspiration for students pursuing careers in legislation, law enforcement, judiciary, and legal services.

(2) Comparative Law

This discipline aims to compare legal cultures across different nations. Through the study and analysis of the characteristics, content, forms, functions, and values of legal systems from different eras and of diverse natures, it explores the patterns of China’s legal modernization and provide theoretical frameworks and mechanisms for the operation of the rule of law. This includes comparative studies of ancient and modern legal systems, Western and Chinese law, religious and secular law, etc., offering experiences, models, directions, and strategies for contemporary Chinese legal system development.

2. Legal History

(1) Chinese Legal History

This discipline studies the historical context and judicial operations of legal systems across different periods in China. It explores the legal concepts of influential figures and their relationship with contemporary political, economic, and cultural factors. It aims to understand the general patterns of change in ancient and modern Chinese legal systems.

(2) Foreign Legal History

This discipline studies the historical background and judicial operations of legal institutions in various countries and regions. It explores the legal concepts of influential figures and their relationship with contemporary political, economic, and cultural factors, also involves comparative studies of Chinese and Western legal systems.

3.Constitutional and Administrative Law

(1) Constitutional Law

This discipline focuses on the fundamental tenets and cardinal principles of the Constitution, the fundamental rights and duties of citizens, and the basic systems of the state. Its research provides theoretical guidance for the official conduct of state organs and the civil servants, scholarly inquiries in other legal disciplines and political science, and ultimately serving the needs of the socialist cause.

(2) Administrative Law

This discipline focuses on the concepts, principles, legal relationships, and relevant institutions defined by administrative law. Its research provides a theoretical foundation for supervising and safeguarding the lawful administration of executive bodies, and for protecting the lawful rights and interests of citizens, legal persons, and other organizations, thereby serving the advancement of administrative rule of law.

4. Criminal Law

(1) Chinese Criminal Law

This discipline involves studying the history of China’s criminal system and achieving a systematic and comprehensive grasp of the fundamental theories and knowledge of contemporary Chinese criminal law. It analyzes the current state of China’s criminal legislation and judicial practices, and explores issues related to the refinement of criminal legislation and the scientificization of criminal justice.

(2) Criminology

This discipline provides a systematic understanding of the history of criminology’s development and thoughts of major schools. Students will master the theories of key representative figures in criminology, learn and apply its primary research methods, and develop the ability to apply relevant criminological theories to analyze criminal phenomena.

5. Civil and Commercial Law

(1) Property Law

This discipline is based on China’s current property law regulations, including the General Principles of Civil Law and the Security Law, and is closely integrated with relevant judicial interpretations. It reflects the achievements in property legislation and the application of property law norms to regulate social relations. Drawing upon and absorbing new research findings in property law from both domestic and international sources, it systematically researches the fundamental concepts and principles of property rights and property law, including ownership, right to usufruct, security interests, and possession. Starting from the practical application of property law, it emphasizes theoretical exploration.

(2) Law of Obligation

This discipline involves the systematic study of the fundamental concepts, theories, and institutions of the law of obligation. It primarily focuses on the various legal systems and related theories of property circulation relationship, mainly including Contract Law and Tort Law.

(3) Chinese Commercial Law

This discipline focuses on the fundamental theories of Chinese commercial law and its major commercial laws, covering Company Law, Negotiable Instruments Law, Insurance Law, etc.

(4) Intellectual Property Law

This discipline focuses on the fundamental principles of intellectual property law and the current effective domestic IP laws and international conventions. It possesses both strong theoretical underpinnings and significant practical importance.

6. Procedural Law

(1) Criminal Procedure Law

This discipline is grounded in the principles of procedural law and modern litigation concepts. It focuses on domestic and international developments of criminal procedure legislation, while conducting research on fundamental theories and practical applications of criminal procedure tailored to China’s specific conditions.

(2) Civil Procedure Law

This discipline is grounded in the principles of procedural law and modern litigation concepts. It focuses on domestic and international developments of criminal procedure legislation, while conducting research on fundamental theories and practical issues in civil procedure tailored to China's specific conditions.

(3) Administrative Procedure Law

This discipline is grounded in the principles of procedural law and modern litigation concepts. It focuses on domestic and international developments of criminal procedure legislation, while conducting research on fundamental theories and practical issues in administrative procedure tailored to China's specific conditions.

7. Economic Law

(1) Fundamental Theories of Economic Law

This discipline focuses on theoretical issues in economic law, including concepts, philosophies, subjects, obligations, as well as the origins and evolutionary patterns.

(2) Market Regulation Law

This discipline focuses on the theories and institutions of market regulation law, including theoretical research and practical application in antitrust, product quality, and consumer protection laws, etc.

(3) Macroeconomic Regulation Law

This discipline explores the theories and institutions of macroeconomic regulation law, including fiscal and tax law, financial law, and industrial policy law, etc.

8. Environmental and Natural Resources Law

(1) Environmental Law

This discipline focuses on the fundamental theories and basic institutional issues of environmental law that includes the origins and historical development of environmental law at home and abroad, its philosophies and core principles, specific laws such as air pollution prevention and control law, and water pollution prevention and control law, etc.

(2) Natural Resources Law

This discipline examines the conceptual framework, evolution, fundamental principles, and basic institutions of natural resources law. Students will master essential domestic and international legal principles and norms for environmental and resources protection, covering areas such as Forestry Law, Grassland Law, Mineral Resources Law, and Water Law.

9. International Law

(1) International Economic Law

This discipline focuses on mastering the fundamental theories of international economic law and familiarity with the legal institutions of international trade and investment. It researches WTO-related legal institutions in the context of China’s specific national conditions.

(2) Private International Law

This discipline focuses on mastering the fundamental theories and methods for resolving international civil and commercial legal disputes. Students will be proficient in relevant rules and procedures of international civil litigation and gain an understanding of international commercial arbitration. It emphasizes the localization of private international law to enhance its applicability and strengthens research on China’s private international law legislation.

10. Intellectual Property Law

(1) Copyright Law

This discipline uses Chinese copyright law as its foundation and conjuncts with international copyright treaties to explore key issues within the copyright system through comparative analysis with copyright laws in developed countries such as Europe, the United States, and Japan. Research includes the subject, content, ownership, acquisition, limitations, term of protection, transfer and licensing, infringement, and remedies for copyright. It also includes related areas such as copyright-related rights, collective management of copyright, computer software copyright, and online copyright protection, etc.

(2) Industrial Property Law

With patent law and trademark law as the main body, this discipline covers areas including trade secrets, geographical marks, new plant varieties, layout-designs of integrated circuits, and anti-unfair competition. It focuses on the subject, content, ownership, limitations, term of protection, acquisition and maintenance, transfer and licensing, infringement, and remedies for various types of industrial property rights. A distinctive feature of this discipline is its emphasis on cultivating high-level intellectual property talents with backgrounds in science and engineering.

(3) International Intellectual Property Law

This discipline focuses on the international system for intellectual property protection established by the WTO TRIPS Agreement and the international treaties administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It also addresses intellectual property issues arising in international trade, such as conflicts of law and jurisdictional issues related to IP, parallel imports, and competition law matters involved in international licensing. Furthermore, it specializes in comparative study of international intellectual property law of Northeast Asian countries.

II. Professional Master’s Degrees

1. Juris Master (for students without an LLB degree)

This programme is designed for students whose undergraduate background is in a non-legal discipline. It aims to cultivate high-level, interdisciplinary, and application-oriented legal professionals prepared for careers as lawyers, judges, prosecutors, corporate counsels, and similar roles.

The curriculum focuses on the systematic study of legal theories, supplemented by practical legal training. It adopts a dual-supervisor system, where each student is mainly guided by an academic supervisor from the university, with additional guidance provided by a practical mentor. While this programme does not establish fixed specialized directions, students are encouraged to take elective courses in certain specialized fields of law based on their individual undergraduate academic background and personal interests.

2. Master of Law (for students with an LLB degree)

The programme is designed for students who have already completed an undergraduate legal education. The training objectives are defined in accordance with the fundamental requirements of the first-level law discipline and the legal profession. The curriculum comprehensively covers the main content of the secondary legal disciplines and its structure strives to reflect the knowledge and competence required for developing application-oriented and interdisciplinary talents.

The programme aims to train ethical and competent professionals who are equipped to meet the demands of the socialist market economy and the construction of a socialist rule-of-law society for related sectors such as legislation, judiciary, administrative law enforcement, legal services, legal supervision, economic management and social administration, etc.

3. Part-Time Master of Law

The programme is designed for part-time people and adopts a non-full-time study mode, utilizing intensive sessions or weekend/holiday classes. Upon completion of the training plan, required credits, a degree thesis, and successful thesis defense, students obtain the graduate degree.

The part-time Master of Law programme enrolls candidates from the judicial system and other sectors engaged in practical legal work. It aims to cultivate high-level legal specialists who meet the needs of China’s social, economic, and political development. These professionals will fulfill occupational requirements, possess legal thinking and skills, demonstrate both ethical integrity and professional competence, and contribute to socialist construction.

The teaching methodology is supported by the knowledge of secondary legal disciplines. It adopts lectures, discussions, case analysis and implements the principle of integrating theory with practice to enhance students’ knowledge structure and improve their theoretical attainment.