University of Exeter Law School Celebrates new Partnership with Wuhan University

In May 2019, the University of Exeter’s School of Law and Wuhan University finalised a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop closer ties between our institutions. Wuhan University is widely regarded as one of China’s finest universities, with their Law School now placing as one of the best 100 in the world (QS Law rankings 2019). There has been much prior collaboration between colleagues at the University of Exeter and Wuhan in the field of cyber law; both parties how now committed to further developing their research in this increasingly important field.

The new Memorandum of Understanding will see the establishment of a new joint research cluster to draw together both parties expertise on cyber law. Several University of Exeter academics have been involved in the development of the Tallinn Manual 2.0 on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Operations, including the director of the project, Professor Michael Schmitt. Prof Zhixiong Huang, Vice-Dean for International Relations and Academic Affairs at Wuhan University School of Law, is one of the members of the International Group of Experts that helped develop the Manual. Prof Huang also recently completed the translation of the Tallinn Manual into Chinese, opening up this valuable resource to a much greater audience.

During a visit from Prof Huang to Exeter in May 2018, there was much discussion on the pressing need for international cooperation and sharing of knowledge to tackle the complex cyber challenges currently facing the world. The new Memorandum of Understanding will pool resources to encourage collaborative approaches to these challenges, with plans now in place to support the exchange of faculty and PhD students between the Exeter Law School Centre for International Law and the Wuhan University Institute of International Law. The relationship will also extend to postgraduate taught students, with the University of Exeter hoping to welcome a number of Wuhan graduates onto the Exeter Law School LLM from as early as September 2019.

Richard Edwards, Head of Exeter’s Law School, said of the new relationship “I am delighted to have formalised a valuable relationship with an internationally renowned university like Wuhan. Colleagues in cyber law and international law at both institutions have already been working together for some time and have produced some truly impactful research. By extending our relationship with Wuhan, I hope that taught students, research students, and more faculty can benefit from exchanging ideas and developing links with one of China’s finest institutions.”