Keio University Law School (KLS) is one of Japan's top law schools, educating many promising legal professionals each year in its Juris Doctor (JD) program. KLS is located in central Tokyo, the focal point of Japanese business, finance and government.
KLS has submitted its application to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) for approval to launch a new master's degree program, the Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Global Legal Practice to undertake further training of legal professionals who can be active in many fields that have developed as a result of our globalized society. The program will permit a select number of students to obtain an LL.M. degree in one year, with instruction entirely in English, and will be the first program of its kind at a Japanese law school in Tokyo.
The LL.M. program welcomes both international and Japanese participants: we welcome Japanese lawyers, staff of corporate legal departments and graduates of law schools who wish to improve their international practice skills in an English language program; we also welcome students from abroad who want to study Japanese and Asian law and those who want to study international business law in Tokyo. Finally, the program will be open to university graduates who have an undergraduate degree in law and wish to work in international organizations in the future.
Students in the LL.M. program may obtain up to half the credits toward their LL.M. degrees at overseas partner schools. Further, we expect to have in place arrangements to make it possible to receive an LL.M. from Keio as well as from overseas partner law schools. The LL.M. program is also being structured to support interested students in their pursuit of an overseas legal qualification. KLS plans to enter into double-degree programs with partner institutions in other countries, including the United States, that will allow participating students to earn an LL.M. from the partner institution in addition to their degree from KLS as part of a single, integrated course of study.
We will be releasing information of the timetable of the LL.M. courses for the 2017 academic year and the details of the admission through our English website. (Following approval expected to be granted at the end of August, the program is set to launch in April 2017, and we will accept students who plan to start in either the Spring semester from April or Fall semester from late September.)
Note: Prospective students should understand that the LL.M. in Global Legal Practice will not qualify a student to sit for the bar exam in Japan or other countries.
*leaflet(English ver.)