IU School of Law and China University Signed MoU On Joint Study Programm

The Indiana University Maurer School of Law and China University of Political Science and Law have signed a cooperation agreement establishing a new Academy for the Study of Chinese Law and Comparative Judicial Systems.

The academy will be affiliated with China University of Political Science and Law’s Collaborative Innovation Center of Judicial Civilization.

Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie and China University of Political Science and Law Vice President Baosheng Zhang executed the agreement Thursday in Beijing, as part of a larger visit to China. McRobbie also expects to sign or renew agreements with Tsinghua University and Beijing Sport University and open a new office in Beijing.

“This agreement is exciting and important because it demonstrates the Maurer School of Law’s ongoing commitment to global legal studies and the complementary interests of our two universities,” McRobbie said. He noted that China University of Political Science and Law is widely known as the leading law school in China, with more than 200,000 graduates. For more than 60 years, it has played a key part in the formation of the Chinese legal system.

McRobbie added that the agreement coincides with the opening of Indiana University’s new gateway office in Beijing and with the university’s many other cultural and economic initiatives throughout Asia.

“The new academy will foster lecture and research exchanges among leading faculty at both Indiana University and China University of Political Science and Law,” said Austen L. Parrish, dean of the Maurer School of Law and the James H. Rudy Professor of Law. “Regardless of where they practice, today’s lawyers need to understand the impact of globalization on our profession, particularly with respect to China and its growing and dynamic economy. The academy will be a tremendous asset, and we are proud to be partnering with one of the finest law schools in China.”

Parrish said he expects the academy will have immediate benefits for faculty and students at the law school and throughout the university as opportunities for study and research become available.

The agreement deepens China University of Political Science and Law’s longstanding relationship with the Maurer School of Law, a relationship that began in the mid-1990s. In addition to the new academy, CUPL offers a one-semester exchange program to Maurer students at either of its two Beijing campuses. The academy will be officially unveiled in a ceremony in Bloomington in October 2014.

China University of Political Science and Law, which recently celebrated its 60th anniversary, is a “Project 211″ university, a government honor bestowed upon China’s leading institutions of higher education. It has educated and trained more than 200,000 graduates and has taken part in nearly all national legislation activities since the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

The partnership with China University of Political Science and Law is one of several between the Maurer School and international partners, including:


Bucerius Law School in Hamburg, Germany

Escuela Superior de Administración y Derecho de Empresa in Barcelona, Spain

Fundação Getúlio Vargas (Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo) in Brazil

Jagellonian University and University of Warsaw in Poland

O.P. Jindal Global Law School in New Delhi, India

Peking University of Transnational Law in China

Trinity College Dublin School of Law in Ireland

University of Auckland in New Zealand

University of Hong Kong in China

Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris II) in Paris, France

The law school’s commitment to preparing students for a globalized profession includes programs through its Center on the Global Legal Profession, graduate legal studies for international students and advising emerging democracies on constitutional design.