Jimmy Chuang 2002.08.22Taipei Times報導
Author lambastes Taiwan's Bar exam
TOO TOUGH: A disgruntled student who left the testing room before he
finished says the questions on the exam are adversely affecting law
education
By Jimmy Chuang
STAFF REPORTER
James Yang (楊智傑), a graduate student at National Central University
(NCU, 中央大學), recently wrote a book criticizing the selection of
questions on Taiwan's Bar exam.
Yang, the author of Come on! Lawyer! Judge! Liar?, is currently a
second-year graduate student of the NCU's Industrial Economics Law
Division.
Yang is a graduate from the National Taiwan University's (NTU,
台灣大學) Law Department. He told the Taipei Times that he
participated in the Bar exam after he graduated last year but he decided
to leave in the middle of the exam.
"It was ridiculous," he said. "Many questions on the test
came from either material taught exclusively at cram schools or they were
selected from famous law professors' publications. Which means, if you
didn't go to the cram schools or haven't read these professors' texts, you
will never be able to answer these questions. That's not fair."
Yang wrote in his book that in order to pass the Bar exam, many law
students stop going to classes and start going to cram schools during
their third or fourth year in college.
"I'm not saying that going to cram schools is a bad thing. Actually,
I think these cram schools do help students outline the text books while
they are studying for the exam. However, many students are misled. The
students don't realize that attending classes on campus should be their
priority," he said.
Yang said that seats are often empty for important classes such as
"International Business" since the course is not included in the
Bar exam.
However, if the course is included in the Bar exam or instructed by a
professor who has been or might be an examiner for the Bar exam,
absenteeism will not be a problem for the class.
Taiwan's law education includes undergraduate, graduate and doctorate
degrees. Those who have finished their four-year undergraduate law
education are eligible to participate in the Bar exam.
Yang is the first person in Taiwan who has published a book detailing some
of the problems of the country's Bar exam and how these problems affect
law education.
He said that he had decided against a career in law. However, he still
hopes to pass on legal knowledge to the younger generation.
"I will not take part in the Bar exam ever again and I'm not planning
to take other exams to become a judge or a prosecutor," he said.
"However, if I have the chance, I'll be more than happy to accomplish
a doctorate degree in law and become a law professor."
The book was first published on July 15 and is available at major
bookstores.