Master of Common Law [MCL]

The Master of Common Law (MCL) programme is tailored for law graduates from non-common law jurisdictions, notably those from Mainland China, who seek to gain expertise in common law as practiced in Hong Kong and other common law jurisdictions.

Students are required to complete the compulsory non-credit bearing course and not fewer than 72 credits, including a capstone experience in accordance with the regulations for this degree and the syllabuses. Students may also choose courses from any of the LLM specialist programmes but in any event no more than two courses from other LLM specialist programmes.

Students who hold a law degree from a PRC university may not choose courses related to PRC law subjects, except with the approval from Programme Director and the Department Head.

Please refer to the Regulations and Syllabus of your respective intake for more details.

Remark: Not all courses will be offered in any given year. You may also refer to the course schedule per academic year for actual classes available.

For admission in the academic year 2025-2026: To be advised

Applicants must comply with the General Regulations, the Regulations for Taught Postgraduate Curricula, and fulfil the following requirements:

(1) Hold a degree of Bachelor of Laws with at least second class honours or equivalent qualification from a university or comparable institution in a non-common law jurisdiction; and

(2) For a candidate who is seeking admission on the basis of a qualification from a university or comparable institution outside Hong Kong of which the language of teaching and/or examination is not English, shall satisfy the Faculty English language requirement with one of the following recognised English tests*:

- IELTS (Academic): An overall band of 7.0 or above with no subtest below 6.5
- TOEFL (Paper-based Test): A score of 593 or above
- TOEFL (Internet-based Test): A score of 97 or above

*For admissions purposes, the test score report is regarded as valid if obtained within two years of the application deadline.
The Faculty does not accept scores from “IELTS Indicator” and “TOEFL iBT Home Edition” for admission.

Scholarships may be awarded to a limited number of qualified students enrolled in the MCL programme. An invitation to apply for the scholarship will be sent to all admitted students after announcing the first semester results, i.e., around February 2026 for the September 2025 intake. Applicants who would like to apply for the scholarship shall submit a separate application by a specific deadline.

In any given year, if candidates are adjudged to be of insufficient merit, no awards shall be made.

For 2025 – 2026 Intake

Please register here by 26 November 2024 (Tuesday), 12:00 noon (HKT).

For 2025-2026 Intake

Main Round:

 
Clearing Round:

 
Interested applicants should submit their application at https://admissions.hku.hk/tpg/programme-list.

Admission offers may be made on a rolling basis, and hence early applications are strongly encouraged.
 
Please click here for details on the application instructions and required supporting documents.



Programme-related Enquiries

✉ lawpgs@hku.hk