The predecessor of CUPL is Peking College of Political Science and Law founded in 1952 by the merger of disciplines of law, politics, and sociology of Peking University, Yenching University, Furen University and Tsinghua University. It was relocated at Xueyanlu in 1954, and was resumed after a close-down period in the “Cultural Revolution”. In 1983, it was incorporated with the Central Carder’s College of Political Science and Law into the present China University of Political Science and Law, and in 1985, its new campus in Changping was constructed, by which it was made in three schools: the school of undergraduates, of postgraduates, and of advanced training. The latter was later renamed Central Carder’s College of Political Science and Law and was separated from the university. In 2000, however, it was merged again with CUPL.
In its 50 years' development, CUPL has fostered more that 200 thousand graduates of different levels, taken part in virtually very legislation activities of the state since its foundation and led the jurisprudence theoretical innovation as well as the legal conceptual renewal of China, representing its international exchanges in the field of law.
CUPL now has 14007 full-time students, including 8414 undergraduates, 4324 graduates and 248 overseas students. It currently has a faculty of 898 members, among which 109 are doctoral advisers, 587 are professors or associate professors. 83.7% of the faculty is with master’s degrees or above.
The university currently has 21 schools or departments as the Law School, School of Civil, Commercial and Economic Laws, School of International Law, School of Criminal and Judicatory Law, School of Political Science and Public Administration, Business School, School of Sociology, School of Humanities, Marxism School, School of Foreign Languages, School of Journalism and Media, School of American and Comparative Law, School of German and Comparative Law, School of International Education, School of Continuing Education, School of Master of Laws，School of Judicial Examination, Department of Science and Technology，Physical Education Department，International School of Confucianists, School of EU and Comparative Law; 10 research institutes as Procedural Law Center，Institute of Chinese Legal History，Institute of Evidence Law and Forensic Science，Research Base of Government By Law，Institute of Comparative Law，Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law，Institute of Ancient Chinese Legal Works，Law and Economics Center，Institute of Globalization and Global Issues，Legal Education Research and Evaluation Center，among which the Procedural Law Center and Institute of Chinese Legal History are the key research bases of Humanities and social science of the Education Ministry, the Institute of Evidence Law and Forensic Science is the key laboratory of the Education Ministry, and the Research Base of Government By Law is the research base of Philosophic and social science of Beijing municipality.
At present, the university has 17 undergraduate disciplines as law, reconnoiter, politics & administration, international politics, administration, public affairs administration, business administration, economics, international business, English, German, journalism, Chinese language & literature, philosophy, ideological education, sociology, applied psychology, 46 master’s degree conferring institutions of second-class discipline, 19 Ph. D. conferring institutions of second-class discipline, of which jurisprudence is a Ph. D. conferring institution of first-class discipline and first-class key discipline of the state.
The university has established international relationship with about 100 other universities of more than 20 different countries or regions. Hundreds of teachers or students are sent abroad each year for study and exchange. Along with the development of joint-education programs in its schools such as the School of EU and Comparative Law, the pattern of fostering international legal talents has taken form.
The motto of the university is “law and virtue in mind, to inquire for the sake of mankind”
The goal of the university is to build CUPL into a world well-known multidisciplinary, research oriented, open and law characterized university.
