The Master's Degree in Laws Program and the Diploma Course for the Thai Office of the Judiciary

　On July 2nd, 2009 (Thursday) a signing ceremony for the Memorandum of Understanding on the Master's Degree in Laws Program and Memorandum of Understanding on the Diploma in Contemporary Legal Studies between the Thai Office of the Judiciary and the Graduate School of Law of Kyushu University took place in the Large Conference room of the Graduate School of Law building.

　This program will start in the fall term of 2009 in the Graduate School of Law of Kyushu University. It consists of a program (one-year period) in which Thai judges can obtain a Master’s degree in Laws (LL.M.) and a four-month Diploma Course. The instruction for the first four months of the Master’s degree program and the whole period of the Diploma Course will be conducted in Thailand.

　The LL.M. Course of the Graduate School of Law of Kyushu University has been designated as Young Leaders Program (YLP) (Law Course) by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), and receives Thai judges and prosecutors every year. Moreover, since 2006 the Graduate School of Law has implemented a training workshop in Fukuoka for Thai judges. Due to the high appraisal of these initiatives, and due to the rising need for people with a university degree in Thailand, the Graduate School of Law of Kyushu University received from the Office of the Judiciary of the Thai Supreme Court a request to set up a program in which students can obtain a Master’s degree, and the negotiations between the two parties resulted in the conclusion of the current agreement.

　At the signing ceremony, Dean Masakazu Doi delivered a welcome address and the Chief Justice of the Thai Supreme Court, Honorable Viruch Limvichai, greeted everybody present with the words “Kyushu University is a famous university, and it is my solemn wish that this cooperative relationship will continue.”

　Graduates from the LL.M. Course have assumed key positions and are active in many Asian countries. Therefore, one can expect a steady growth of this program in the future.

Photographs:

(Top)　The agreement being signed.
(Middle) Secretary General of the Office of the Judiciary, Phinij Susaoraj (left), and Dean Masakazu Doi (right) shaking hands.
(Bottom) Commemorative photograph, in front of the Graduate School of Law building, taken after the signing ceremony.