LAW41530: International Commercial Dispute Resolution

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• This module aims to introduce to legal issues concerning different methods of resolving disputes in international commercial practice. It requires students to consider and reflect upon topics relating to arbitration, conciliation and mediation. Students will develop an appreciation of their relative advantages and disadvantages, both in comparison with each other and in comparison with the resolution of disputes through ordinary judicial means.

• The content of the module will typically be:
• The relative advantages and disadvantages of the judicial resolution of disputes
• The availability of arbitration as an alternative to judicial resolution
• The international and domestic legal framework of arbitration: jurisdiction and scope of the arbitrator
• The effect of arbitration and the possibility of limiting the jurisdiction of the courts
• The legal and commercial framework of conciliation and mediation

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• Students will develop an understanding of the complexities of the law relating to dispute resolution, with a specific focus on arbitration, mediation and conciliation in international commerce.
• Students will be able to weigh the practical advantages and disadvantages of different methods of dispute resolution.

Subject-specific Skills:

• Students will learn how to use materials from international conventions and domestic law on dispute resolution.

Key Skills:

• understanding of complex materials
• ability to describe accurately and comprehensibly the arguments and analysis of other commentators
• ability to evaluate critically the arguments of others

• The module will be taught through seminar classes; students will be required to do advanced reading so as to be able to engage in discussion. Students will progressively acquire the knowledge necessary to engage in a more sophisticated analysis of the problems under consideration and to critically assess both primary sources (legislation, case law, treaties) and secondary sources (scholarship, reports etc). The module will be assessed by means of one 6000-word essay, which will be based on common themes developed in the seminars, and will require independent research. The formative essay will support the skills required for the summative essay.

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