NYU legal outlet in Singapore

The Australian (Australia) September 13, 2006 Wednesday

Copyright 2006 Nationwide News Pty Limited
All Rights Reserved
The Australian (Australia)

September 13, 2006 Wednesday
All-round Country Edition

SECTION: FEATURES; Higher Education; Pg. 25

HEADLINE: NYU legal outlet in Singapore

BYLINE: Bernard Lane

BODY:


A FULLY fledged New York University law program, under an Australian director, has opened for business in Singapore. Simon Chesterman, the Melbourne-born director, said the joint venture with the National University of Singapore aimed to tap into two new markets.

''We believe there are students in the Asian region who would like to experience the rigour of a US-style law degree but either can't or won't come to the US,'' Professor Chesterman said.

''Second, we hope to reach out to North American and European students who appreciate the value of a degree from a leading US law school but see their professional or intellectual futures linked in some way to Asia. This is such a novel program that we don't really see direct competitors.''

Professor Chesterman, 34, was executive director of the Institute for International Law and Justice at NYU and worked with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. He studied law at the University of Melbourne and went to Oxford as a Rhodes scholar.

Professor Chesterman said he would be surprised if the first intake at NYU Singapore (where admissions opened this month and term starts next May) did not include some Australians.

''I also think that this is an opportunity for Australian law schools to explore their connections with US law schools and certainly hope that it will be easier to do joint work with them from Singapore than it is from New York,'' he said.

Leon Trakman, law dean at the University of NSW, said the NYU-NUS project was a ''significant development'' and would be followed by similar ventures in globalised education. ''It will highlight the global significance of Singapore as an education hub,'' Professor Trakman said. He said this would benefit UNSW, which opens its Singapore campus next year; NYU would not be a competitor because UNSW would not offer law in Singapore.

Up to 100 students could start at NYU Singapore next year. It should take them about 10 months to finish the dual LLM program, drawing on NYU-taught classes as well as NUS Asian law programs.

The fees would be about $US38,000 ($50,500), and there could be up to 50 full-tuition scholarships, awarded on merit.

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