The principle of education in the Faculty of Law is to foster the development of active citizens who are equipped with specialized knowledge that enables them to work proactively to build a society of freedom, equality, and respect for the Other, meaning especially the disadvantaged. This in accordance with the tradition of Christian education that is the founding spirit of the university. Our starting point is the belief that studies of law and political science conducted under this educational principle are aimed at peace in society and happiness among human beings. We continually revisit this starting point and carry on teaching and research in this Faculty from a stance of respect for human beings and help for the disadvantaged, which we also intend as a means of addressing the new problems that arise in present-day society.
Policy on Conferral of Degrees (Diploma Policy)
The Faculty of Law is organized according to its educational principle to have three departments (the Department of Law, the Department of Current Legal Studies, and the Department of Political Science). These profess their own respective educational objectives, and they organize and implement their own curriculum to realize their objectives.
Students in the Faculty of Law who are registered for the prescribed period of time, who acquire broad cultivation together with specialized knowledge of law and political science, and who further acquire practical competence, so that they have the capacity for multifaceted thought and judgment to deal with the problems that occur in society, are to be granted academic degrees. The bachelor’s degree requires the acquisition of 130 credits.
Academic Program Organization and Implementation Policy (Curriculum Policy)
In order to realize the philosophy and educational objectives of the Faculty of Law, the fundamental policy for the Faculty’s academic program is declared in common for the three departments as placing emphasis on the program for the first academic year, assuring small class sizes, providing a thorough educational grounding, specifying the academic year in which core courses are to be taken, and systematically building academic competence though phased learning.
Admission Policy
The student envisioned for the Faculty of Law is a person who will feel sympathy for the above educational principles and educational objectives. In common across the three departments, it is a student who is highly motivated to contribute to society, who has a strong sense of purpose and critical awareness, and who possesses the ability to think logically and judge matters aptly.
In accordance with the founding spirit of Meiji Gakuin University, the educational principle of the Department of Law is to train active leaders in civil society who have a grounding in the study of law together with a sense of morality and a sense of responsibility. Based on this principle, our educational objective is to train true people of the law (meaning sound citizens with legal knowledge who are capable of fulfilling their responsibility to society, regardless of their occupation or status) who cultivate character, who make use of their specialized knowledge of the law, who engage actively with society, and who take every opportunity to contribute to society.
Students in the Department of Law are expected to demonstrate flexibility of thought and a serious commitment to social issues based on their own individual beliefs and position in society. To that end, it is necessary that they acquire accurate knowledge of the law and then develop their ability to use that knowledge to deal with the variety of different problems arising in society. In other words, it is necessary that they develop the abilities required of a true person of the law.
As a guideline for them in acquiring these abilities, we have students take 24 credits or more in Meiji Gakuin core courses, 20 credits or more in 10 courses required by their department, 50 credits or more in required elective courses together with other elective courses for a total of 84 credits or more in elective courses. Students who have earned a total of 130 credits or more in this way will be awarded the academic degree of Bachelor of Arts in Law.
The Department of Law curriculum is configured to establish an accurate knowledge of legal studies and to develop the ability to think legally using that knowledge. For courses in positive law, this is done by providing for systematic, phased learning that proceeds from introduction to foundation, then to fundamentals, and finally to development and establishment.
First, introductory courses (Introduction to Civil Law, Introduction to Criminal Law, Foundation Seminar in Law, etc.) held from the time of admission, before students have any knowledge of society or the law, are conducted in small groups.
In order to establish a foundation, certain required courses (20 credits) are arranged primarily for the first and second year: Constitution 1-1 and 1-2, General Provisions of the Civil Code 1 and 2, Outline of Obligations 1 and 2, Law of Realty 1 and 2, Outline of Criminal Law 1 and 2.
Apart from courses that are situated at the introductory and foundation stages, there are also courses on the six law codes that should in principle be taken. These courses are therefore placed in cluster 1 (12 credits or more from Administrative Law 1-1, 1-2, 2-1, 2-2; Corporation Law 1, 2, 3; General Provisions of Commercial Law; Commercial Transactions Law; Draft and Check Law 1, 2; Securities Law 1, 2), cluster 2 (4 credits or more from Civil Proceedings Law 1, 2; Criminal Procedure Code 1, 2), cluster 3 (10 credits or more from Constitution 2-1, 2-2; Contract Law 1, 2; Tort Law; Family Law; Law of Succession; Civil Execution Law 1, 2; Specifics of Criminal Law 1, 2).
In addition to the above, the following courses are also assigned for the development and establishment of knowledge: Cluster 4 (8 credits or more from Fields of International Law, Fields of Social and Economic Law, Insolvency Law), cluster 5 (12 credits or more from developmental and advanced fields, special lectures and seminars in basic courses), cluster 6 (4 credits or more from Foundational Law, Fields of Foreign Law).
As guidelines for taking courses in these clusters, the Department of Law provides model course enrollment plans matched to typical post-graduation career paths ((1) legal profession or law-related profession, (2) aspirant to civil service or public service activity, (3) private enterprise)
The Department of Law hopes to admit applicants who approve of the department’s educational objectives and who are motivated to realize their own dreams. Specifically, this includes the following:
In order to realize the principles of justice and fairness that are at the root of the law, it is essential for people to have consideration for the others around them as well as for the environment, and a perspective that includes the disadvantaged. The purpose of studying law at this university, which declares“Do for Others” as its educational principle, is to employ the legal knowledge and information technology acquired here in the service of helping people who are involved in legal disputes, protecting the environment that is essential to our survival, and improving the circumstances of people who are disadvantaged in society. The educational objective of the Department of Current Legal Studies, therefore, is to train talented people who have practical competence and the ability to take up legal problems faced by present-day society in cutting-edge areas as occasions for deriving appropriate solutions in light of legal principles, and who can make effective use of information technology to deal appropriately with the variety of different problems arising in society today.
Students in the Department of Current Legal Studies must have the practical competence to take up legal problems faced by present-day society in cutting-edge areas as occasions for deriving appropriate solutions, and who can make effective use of information technology to deal appropriately with the variety of different problems arising in society today.
As a guideline for their acquisition of these abilities, students will take 24 credits or more in Meiji Gakuin core courses, 20 credits or more in 10 courses required by their department, 42 credits or more in required elective courses together with other elective courses for a total of 76 credits or more in elective course. Students who have earned a total of 130 credits or more in this way will be awarded the academic degree of bachelor of arts in law.
The basic policy of instruction in the Department of Current Legal Studies is to foster the knowledge, cultivation, and ability to take an active role in present-day Japanese society and international society. This is done by basic learning about law in combination with coursework in cutting-edge legal areas and acquisition of fundamental information processing skills. The curriculum of the Department of Current Legal Studies can be divided largely into Meiji Gakuin core courses and department courses, and it is organized so that learning in both can take place in stages. The department courses have as their foundation the department basic course cluster for teaching information processing skills and the foundational law course cluster to give an understanding of basic law. This foundation for study is built upon with course clusters that make up the three main pillars of consumer law, corporate law, and environmental law. Further courses are also organized to instill abilities for practical application of knowledge about law and information processing, including special seminars, seminar-type courses, and the graduation thesis. In addition, a wide range of specialized courses are provided in each course cluster to provide specialized study that increases in depth with the advance in years.
The Department of Political Science takes as a premise the recognition that actions taken on the spot to resolve the problems that occur in human society in general, ranging from familiar, near-at-hand societies to international society, with the members of society participating in the decision-making, is politics. In this recognition the Department declares its educational principle of imparting the specialized knowledge of the comprehensive field of learning known as political science, and training cultivated political citizens who possess comprehensive judgment and critical faculties. The Department’s educational objective, therefore, is to train talented people who understand this educational principle, who have the knowledge and ability to put it into practice, who are highly motivated, who possess the courage to argue for what is right and the imagination to think of other people, and who intend to involve themselves actively in society as dignified members of civil society.
Students in the Department of Political Science must acquire the cultivation and the ability to take an active role in Japan and the international community. They do this through research into the principles of political science as well as through practical training and by the acquisition of knowledge with an international dimension concerning institutions, political circumstances, and other aspects of countries around the world. It is also necessary for them to acquire a grasp of scientific approaches for clarifying the essence of political phenomena, an understanding of the historical background of political phenomena, and an ability for philosophical and intellectual conceptualization. In other words, they need to have a solid grounding as “cultivated political citizens.”
As a guideline for them in acquiring these abilities, we have students take 24 credits or more in Meiji Gakuin core courses, 6 credits or more in 3 courses required by the department, 32 credits or more in foundational courses, 36 credits or more in developmental courses, and 20 credits or more in elective courses. Students who have earned a total of 130 credits or more in this way will be awarded the academic degree of Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.
In order to train cultivated political citizens who possess comprehensive judgment and critical faculties together with courage and the ability to imagine the Other, the Department of Political Science organizes a diverse and highly flexible curriculum of courses conducted in small groups.
In the first year, students take a political science foundation seminar that involves surveys, workshops, readings in the literature, discussion, and so on, and a course on principles of political science that teaches the fundamental principles and terminology of political science. These are required courses that are positioned as common foundational courses, and they are held in groups of about 13 students under a single full-time faculty member. As students advance to higher years, they develop their own individual interests in and concerns regarding the questions involved from foundational courses, developmental courses, and elective courses. A cluster of courses in the three fields of governance, global politics, and the media and politics is positioned to provide more specialized study according to how the students’ individual interests and concerns have broadened. Model course enrollment patterns are provided so that students can pursue their study in the three specialized fields in a developmental and systematic manner.
Further courses are arranged that deepen the students’ learning on their individual topics in seminars, the graduation thesis, fieldwork, internships, special political science lecture courses, a general lecture series, and readings in specialized literature.
The Department of Political Science hopes to admit applicants who approve of the above educational objectives and who have the potential to become leaders in contributing to society.