Hong Kong Legal System
PCLL Conversion Examination June 2011 Examiner’s Comments Hong Kong Legal System The examination consisted of three questions two of which were compulsory. The three
questions addressed: HK sources of law, jury service and reciprocity between the HKSAR and PRC legal systems. The examination was held over two hours and written on a closed book basis. As with past exams, the examiners prepared a list of factors in advance of the examination that were relevant to answering each question. Thus, to answer the questions successfully, candidates needed to address a majority of those factors and to do so in a in a structured and relevant manner. Candidates should have also been able to express themselves in a clear and succinct manner. In order to answer the questions satisfactorily, candidates needed to have been able to cite relevant sources of law and/or major commentators in each area, as appropriate. The overall standard was not very good and was, impressionistically, not as good as in previous sessions. There were a very small number of papers that could be said to have attained even a very good, let alone excellent, standard. The vast majority were at the level of a very bare pass. On the whole, the same reasons for the poor standard of performance were present as in previous sessions: lack of relevant knowledge, lack of comprehension of the scope and parameters of each question, failure to address the question adequately either by directing material to answer the specific question or by responding to only one part of the question, and an inadequate standard of written English necessary to clearly communicate a response to the question. However, on this occasion it seemed that these factors had a detrimental impact on the performance of a wider group of candidates.
In particular the two main problems seemed to be: first, that candidates had not covered the syllabus but had instead revised the right of abode line of cases and the rules of precedent. Even where
questions addressed: HK sources of law, jury service and reciprocity between the HKSAR and PRC legal systems. The examination was held over two hours and written on a closed book basis. As with past exams, the examiners prepared a list of factors in advance of the examination that were relevant to answering each question. Thus, to answer the questions successfully, candidates needed to address a majority of those factors and to do so in a in a structured and relevant manner. Candidates should have also been able to express themselves in a clear and succinct manner. In order to answer the questions satisfactorily, candidates needed to have been able to cite relevant sources of law and/or major commentators in each area, as appropriate. The overall standard was not very good and was, impressionistically, not as good as in previous sessions. There were a very small number of papers that could be said to have attained even a very good, let alone excellent, standard. The vast majority were at the level of a very bare pass. On the whole, the same reasons for the poor standard of performance were present as in previous sessions: lack of relevant knowledge, lack of comprehension of the scope and parameters of each question, failure to address the question adequately either by directing material to answer the specific question or by responding to only one part of the question, and an inadequate standard of written English necessary to clearly communicate a response to the question. However, on this occasion it seemed that these factors had a detrimental impact on the performance of a wider group of candidates.
In particular the two main problems seemed to be: first, that candidates had not covered the syllabus but had instead revised the right of abode line of cases and the rules of precedent. Even where