Law (International Commercial Law) LLM
1 Year Full-Time | September Start

Studying away from your home country can differ due to cultural and language differences in teaching and assessment practices. This module is designed to support your transition to postgraduate level study in the use and practice of subject specific skills around assessments and teaching provision in your chosen subject. The overall aim of this module is to further develop your abilities to read and study effectively for academic purposes; to develop your skills in analysing and using source material in seminars and academic writing and to develop your use and application of language and communications skills suitable for a postgraduate level of study.

The topics you will cover on the module include:

• Understanding postgraduate assignment briefs.
• Developing advanced academic writing skills, including citation, paraphrasing, and summarising.
• Practising advanced ‘critical reading’ and ‘critical writing’
• Planning and structuring postgraduate level academic assignments (e.g. essays, dissertations and presentations).
• Avoiding academic misconduct and gaining credit by using academic sources and referencing effectively.
• Speaking in postgraduate seminar presentations.
• Giving discipline-related postgraduate level academic presentations, experiencing peer observation, and receiving formative feedback.
• Postgraduate level speed reading techniques.

In this module you will develop a critical understanding of UK and European Law governing intellectual property rights. You will examine intellectual property rights in a variety of international and domestic contexts. You will look at both common law and statutory rules. This detailed content of the module includes the following topics: (1) the nature of IP rights, (2) copyright and related rights, (3) Trademarks, (4) Designs, (5) Patents, (6) Confidentiality. These topics will all be discussed within both a theoretical context and also in respect of practical scenarios that are drawn from work-based practice.

This module offers a critical introduction to legal research methods. It is designed to ensure that you will be able to confidently embark on legal research on your Masters programme whatever your academic background or jurisdiction. Your lectures are designed to refresh and develop your understanding of legal research techniques, referencing and evaluating sources. In your workshops you will be provided with opportunities to undertake and obtain feedback upon a series of legal research and writing tasks, thus enabling you to develop critical understanding of what it meant by effective legal research, and how you yourself can become an effective legal researcher.

In this module you will draw on your skills and knowledge acquired from the taught elements of the LLM branch specialism and will develop and refine these in the context of a self-chosen area of independent specialist study. You will develop; (1) your understanding and use of legal research techniques, (2) An ability to critically analyse and evaluate legal data, (3) the ability to handle complex legal material systematically and creatively including material at the forefront of the field of study, (4) a conceptual understanding of the research topic, (5) skill at showing a systematic understanding of knowledge and a critical awareness of current legal issues, (6) the ability to communicate legal information, arguments and conclusions within accepted academic conventions.

In this module you will learn about the key issues and consequences relevant to conducting business successfully in the modern world. You will learn how commercial contracts can be used as a risk management tool, how to exercise professional judgement and you will become more commercially aware. You will also learn about how businesses use marketing arrangements to increase sales and how competition law impacts on these arrangements. As you examine commercial contracts in realistic practical contexts you will learn about drafting issues and consequences in standard form contracts, how to allocate risk and you will develop an awareness of current issues and developments in the commercial environment. The areas covered include; (1) commercial sales of goods contracts, (2) passing of property and allocation of risk in commercial contracts, (3) express terms, (4) implied terms and exclusion clauses, (5) performance of the contract, (6) consequences of breach of contract, (7) agency and the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993, (8) distribution agreements, (9) EU competition law - Article 101 of the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union.

In this module you will develop a critical understanding of the laws relating to international dispute resolution. You will examine: cover a range of key theoretical and practical concepts in international dispute resolution. You will examine the Jurisdiction of European Courts (including English Courts). The module will also examine the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgements within the European Union, Arbitration and Arbitral Awards and the Law applicable to Obligations (Contractual Obligations and Non-Contractual Obligations). This module will combine a doctrinal focus with an examination of real-world problems that require the engagement of international dispute resolution mechanisms. The awareness of such significant systems for dispute resolution will be attractive to employers and businesses who trade on a global level.

This module has an overall aim to provide students with an understanding of how an international sale of goods contract works, i.e., which law will be the governing law of the contract; which trade term will be incorporated into the contract and why; and how the goods will be financed and which law will govern the financing of the goods; as well as the transport of those goods from the Seller to the Buyer by means of sea or inland waterway carriage. As 80% of all international sale of goods contacts may be negotiated by means of applying the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), major emphasis is placed on when the CISG must apply automatically as the governing law of the contract and when the CISG may apply automatically as the governing law of the contract. Carriage of goods by sea by means of charter parties and under bills of lading are also studied including the Hague and the Hague Visby Rules. The topics covered will include: (1) Difficulties of Parties Entering into Cross-Border Agreements and Contract Clauses Generally Included in Written Agreements for the Sale of Goods, (2) Articles 1-29 and 95 of the CISG: When the CISG is the Governing Law of the Contract and Formation of a CISG Contract, (3) Articles 30-51 and 66-70 of the CISG: Obligations of the Seller and Passing of Risk, (4) Articles 53-68 and 71-88 of the CISG: Obligations for the Buyer and Obligations Common to the Seller and the Buyer Including Damages, (5) Trade Terms and INCOTERMS 2010, (6) Financing the Goods and Letters of Credit, (7) Carriage of Goods by Sea: Common Law Charter Party Contracts of Affreightment and Statutory Bill of Lading Contracts of Affreightment, (8) Carriage of Goods by Sea: Implied Obligations and Exceptions to Liability, (9) Carriage of Goods by Sea: Hague and Hague Visby Rules, (10) Summary of International Sale of Goods and Carriage of Goods.

In this module you will develop a critical understanding of the laws relating to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). You will examine: (1) History: General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). This historic international convention was the only multilateral instrument governing international trade from 1948 until the establishment of WTO in 1995. Principal Rounds, specifically Uruguay Round (1986-1994). During a series of multilateral negotiations, efforts were made to reduce tariffs. The last one, the Uruguay Round, was the most extensive of all. It led to the creation of the WTO. (2) Institutional WTO Law: Agreement establishing the WTO. Presentation of the ministerial conference, the general council, the dispute settlement body, the trade policy review body, the council for trade in goods, the council for trade in services, the council for trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights. Dispute settlement understanding. The WTO provides a unique and efficient disputes settlement system, where rulings are adopted by negative consensus. (3) Substantial WTO Law: General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994. Study of the most-favoured-nation treatment, national treatment, rules for regional agreements, anti-dumping rules etc. General agreement on trade in services (GATS). Study of market access, national treatment, special treatment of least-developed countries. Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property.