Centre for Common Law

The Centre for Common Law, established in September 2014, is a cooperative joint venture between the Great Britain-China Centre, the University of Oxford’s Law Faculty, and Renmin Law School – China’s leading university law school.

The Centre was established to promote the values and principles of Common Law in China, to support collaborative research, and to serve as a platform to deepen and strengthen legal and judicial contacts between the UK and China.

As Chinese companies invest abroad in larger numbers, the demand for well-trained lawyers is increasing, and Chinese interest in common law legal systems is growing in line with this. The UK’s reputation for the fairness and justice of our legal and judicial system is unrivalled, and the Centre for Common Law was established to capitalise on this major opportunity for the UK.

The Centre for Common Law Academic Advisory Council is led by joint Presidents Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, former President of the UK Supreme Court, and Mr Xiao Yang, former President of the Chinese Supreme Court.