3.
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Types of RME elective activities
(A)
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RME elective activity - courses
a.
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An RME elective activity may be in the form of a workshop, lecture, seminar, course or any other programme of instruction including the following:
i.
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Live webinars: Live webinar means a web-based seminar conducted over the internet in “real time” during which participants can submit questions and comments, and speakers can interact with the participants and respond to them instantly.
The course provider must, in addition to the usual accreditation requirements, provide the following to the Society:
(aa)
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a copy of the course materials at the Society's request;
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(bb)
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access to the course on-line in order for the Society to monitor the course;
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(cc)
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evidence that the course is “real time” and interactive; the interactive elements include but are not limited to question and answer session(s), group work, quizzes and exercises;
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(dd)
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attendance records kept by the course provider demonstrating a participant has completed the course in full in the event of CPD and RME audit. For the avoidance of doubt, the attendance policy set out in paragraph 5 of Section B of this Information Package applies to the courses referred to in this Guideline.
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ii.
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Multi-media, audio-visual, audio or visual courses:
The courses referred to in this Guideline must be conducted in “real time” and be interactive, and must be guided by a course instructor(s) or a qualified commentator(s).
In addition to the criteria set out in sub-paragraph (i) above, the following requirements would also apply:
(aa)
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there must be an opportunity for participants to ask questions of the course instructor(s) and to engage in discussion;
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(bb)
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if the course instructor(s) are not available, a qualified commentator is available to offer comments, react instantly to participants’ questions and lead discussion during the course;
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(cc)
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a course which only requires a participant to click through a series of slides will not qualify as an RME elective activity. Reading and reviewing cases or articles does not qualify as RME elective activity;
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(dd)
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in order to comply with one’s RME elective activity, a participant must attend the entire course or view all materials presented. This includes reading any accompanying materials and completing any accompanying group work, quizzes and exercises.
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iii.
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Recorded courses: A recorded course means a course which is recorded prior to its broadcast and is available online for participants to view and study at any time in accordance with the participants’ own pace of learning.
In addition to the usual accreditation requirements, recorded courses must satisfy the following conditions:
(1)
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the course provider must provide the following to the Society:
(aa)
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a copy of the course materials;
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(bb)
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access to the course on-line in order that the Society can monitor the course;
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(cc)
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evidence that the course is interactive; the interactive elements include but are not limited to quizzes and exercises;
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(dd)
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details of the technical support services available to participants; and
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(ee)
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attendance records kept by the course provider demonstrating a participant has completed the course in full.
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A practitioner claiming compliance of his RME elective obligation by attending a recorded course must produce to the Society a printed copy of a completion certificate as supporting evidence in the event of an RME audit. |
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iv.
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Distance learning courses delivered by means of correspondence, online classes, video recordings, video conferencing or any other audio/visual technology medium involving an examination or a written assignment assessed by the course provider or leads to a qualification recognised by the Society.
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v.
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In-house group discussion with a structured outline and a qualified group leader who has the necessary practical and/or academic skills to conduct the course effectively to lead the discussion.
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b.
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Standards and requirement for courses
i.
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Course leaders and lecturers must have the necessary practical and/or academic skills to conduct the course effectively. Experienced lawyers or other professionals must contribute to the development and/or teaching of the course;
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ii.
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The method of presentation used must be appropriate to meet the aims and objectives of the course and, wherever possible and appropriate, should be varied and include participatory elements in order to encourage learning;
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iii.
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Before or at the course, each participant must be provided with written course materials of quality and quantity which indicate that adequate time has been devoted to the preparation of the course and that it will be of value to the participants in the course of their practice;
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iv.
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The course must be presented in a suitable setting conducive to a good educational experience. The course must be scheduled at a time and location so as to be free from interruption from telephone calls and other office matters. In the case of live webinar, the course may be conducted simultaneously with the speakers presenting from different time zones and locations and the participants participating from different locations but all webinars must be conducted from locations free from interruption and disturbance from telephone calls and other matters;
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v.
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The level of the course, the number of CPD point(s) accredited to the course, the accreditation as an RME elective course and whether the course is substantially a repeat of a previous course must be noted in all promotional material;
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vi.
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All courses must be evaluated by the participants attending the course in a manner which is approved by the Society;
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vii.
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All courses must be of at least 30 minutes or more in duration.
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c.
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Preparation and presentation of RME elective courses
i.
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Actual time spent in the preparation work (as rounded up or down to the nearest half hour*) may be counted for CPD purposes provided that the time claimed by a practitioner for preparation for any accredited RME elective course may not exceed three times the length of time the presenter spent in presenting that part of the course (which includes acting as commentator or group discussion leader) for which the preparation was undertaken.
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ii.
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Twice the actual time involved in presenting an accredited RME elective course may be counted for CPD purposes (as rounded up or down to the nearest half hour*).
* blocks of 15 to 29 minutes may be rounded up to the nearest half hour
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d.
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Prescribed fee
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Apart from providing elective courses itself, the Society also permits and encourages external providers, including commercial providers, to conduct RME courses for the purpose of enabling the participants to fulfill their statutory obligations under the Rules provided that the courses have been approved by the Society in accordance with the applicable accreditation criteria.
A fee, at the rate prescribed by the Council from time to time, will be charged on an application for accreditation of an RME elective course.
The fee currently prescribed by the Council for each application for accreditation of an RME elective course by a commercial provider is set at HK3,000 and by a non-commercial provider at HK$1,000.
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e.
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Application
A separate application for accreditation of each RME elective course must be made by the provider of the course to the RME Accreditation Sub-Committee. The application must be made on the Society's standard form and sent to the Standards and Development Officer, the Department of Standards and Development, at least 6 weeks before the scheduled commencement date of the course. If the application is incomplete, accreditation may take longer than 6 weeks from the date of submission of the application.
All changes to the information submitted to the Society in relation to an application shall be notified to the Society as soon as the changes are made and in any event prior to the commencement of the course. The Society has the right to withdraw accreditation on the basis of the changes made to the course.
Overseas courses will be accredited under the following conditions:
i.
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in the normal course, in approved jurisdictions only;
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ii.
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the overseas course provider being an academic institution or a professional body or any other body approved by the RME Committee;
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iii.
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(1)
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upon the overseas course provider submitting an application for accreditation and paying the requisite accreditation fee; or
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(2)
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where it can be demonstrated that the overseas course provider will not, in the normal course, submit an application for accreditation of the course, upon an application for accreditation being made by the Hong Kong practitioner(s) seeking accreditation and upon payment by such Hong Kong practitioner(s) of the requisite accreditation fee;
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iv.
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upon any Hong Kong practitioner who attended the overseas course filing with the Law Society of Hong Kong by the end of the RME practice year in which he attended the course, written confirmation that he attended the entire course, or, where he attended part of the course, written confirmation setting out which parts/sessions of the course he attended and the full attendance details for each part/session of his attendance; and
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v.
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applications for accreditation should be made before the date of the course. However, where the Society is satisfied that exceptional circumstances exist, it may grant retrospective accreditation of an overseas course upon application being made by a practitioner (but not a course provider), provided that the applicant pays a late accreditation fee and submits the application to the Society not later than 30 days after the overseas course has been conducted. However, practitioners should hold no expectation that the submission of an application for retrospective accreditation will necessarily result in the course being accredited.
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f.
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No retrospective accreditation
It is not possible to accredit an RME elective course after any part of it has taken place, unless in exceptional circumstances with respect to overseas courses, as specified in sub-paragraph (e) above.
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g.
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Documents and information required on application for accreditation
i.
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a detailed outline of what will be covered in the course and by whom |
ii..
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a programme showing the sequence of trainers, the method of teaching, eg. lecture, participatory case study, role-play, discussion, question and answer, and the amount of time which each person will spend on each area |
iii.
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an outline of the course materials which will be provided to participants |
iv.
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a brief up-to-date resume of each trainer's professional qualifications, legal background and any teaching experience and relevant experience in risk management issues, if any, which they each have. |
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h.
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Administrative matters
i.
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To apply for accreditation of a course as an RME elective course, the provider is required to:
1.
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submit the application form and supporting documents to the RME Accreditation Sub-Committee for accreditation of the RME programme; and |
2.
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pay a fee for the application for RME elective course accreditation. |
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ii.
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An accredited RME elective course will be accredited with CPD points. Providers must comply with the CPD requirements.
All providers should note the CPD attendance policy. |
iii.
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A participant who has obtained 3 CPD points in respect of attendance (including presentation) at accredited RME elective course(s) will be deemed to have completed 3 hours of RME elective course(s) in satisfaction of the relevant obligation under the Rules.
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iv.
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All accredited RME elective courses must be evaluated by the participants attending the course in a manner approved by the Society. |
v.
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All providers shall promptly submit a full set of the course materials to the Society upon request at any time after the application for accreditation has been submitted or within a reasonable period after the course is held. |
A summary of the evaluation forms must be forwarded to the Standards and Development Officer, the Department of Standards and Development, within 7 days of the completion of each course.
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(B)
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RME elective activity - writing articles, books
a.
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Writing law books or articles in legal journals or legal articles in such other journals as approved by the Society may be accredited as an RME elective activity provided that the RME accreditation criteria are satisfied.
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b.
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The legal or other journal, which may be in an electronic format, must be approved by the Society.
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c.
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Subject to paragraph 3(B)(d), 3 CPD points may be allocated for every 1,000 words (English or Chinese) published, or 1½ CPD points for such lesser number of words published as may be approved by the Society.
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d.
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In the case of substantial revisions or updates of previous publications, the number of CPD points to be allocated shall be determined by the Society.
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(C)
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RME elective activity - legal research
a.
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Conducting legal research which is of use beyond the particular case and results in the production of a precedent, practice note, other form of written guidance, or substantial written submissions on any public consultation document relevant to risk management in legal practice, that is generally available to the public or made available to solicitors and trainee solicitors in the researcher's firm may be accredited as an RME elective activity provided that the RME accreditation criteria are satisfied.
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b.
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The number of CPD points to be allocated, if any, in any case shall be determined by the Society having regard to the quality of the results of the research, its availability to the public or to solicitors and trainee solicitors within the researcher's firm or organisation and the contemporaneous records maintained by the trainee solicitor or solicitor engaged in the research.
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(D)
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RME elective activity - dissertation
a.
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Production of a dissertation counting towards a qualification recognised by the Society may be accredited as an RME elective activity provided that the RME accreditation criteria are satisfied.
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b.
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1 CPD point may be allocated for every 1,000 words (English or Chinese) of such dissertation.
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(E)
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RME elective activity - participation in committees / working parties / associations
a.
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Participation in the work of the Council of the Society and such committees or working parties of the Society and other committees or associations which deal primarily with matters related to risk management in legal practice as approved by the Society from time to time will be accredited as an RME elective activity.
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b.
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Solicitors, trainee solicitors and registered foreign lawyers may claim 1 CPD point for each hour engaged in such work.
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Click here for the list of the approved committees / working parties (Appendix VII) |
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