UNIVERSITY OF KENT
Module Specification
1.Title of module
International Business Transactions (LW517)
2.Level of module
H (FHEQ Level: 4)
3.Number of units
2
4.Prerequisite and corequisite modules
No prerequisite.
No co-requisite.
5.Target intake, hours of study and contact hours.
The module is an option available to students on the LLB, joint honours degrees in law and the diploma in law programmes. It is also available as wild module for students following other Social Science programmes, and as such, is likely to be of particular interest to students undertaking Business Administration programmes.
a) Proposed annual intake.
30-60 students
b) Contact hours.
The total number of staff /student contact hours is forty, comprised as follows.
In each of the two teaching terms there will be ten teaching weeks, one reading week and one writing week. In each teaching week there will be two contact hours, comprising one one hour lecture and one one hour seminar.
c) Study hours.
These will be 300 in total. In addition to the 40 contact hours students are expected to undertake 260 hours of private study. This includes reading, seminar preparation, the preparation and writing up of assessments, and revision.
6. Aims and objectives of the module.
a)Aims :
- To make a comprehensive study of the laws relating to the major aspects of international business;
- To foster the acquisition of a secure grasp of the legal principles of international business law;
- To provide each person taking the module with an ability to use and apply relevant legal principles in order to solve concrete legal problems in the real business world today;
- To introduce to students diverse source materials which may relate to different topics in the module. The different laws, set of rules or principles that are applicable to many aspects of international business and export trade today will be discussed at some length. Where relevant, reference will be made to English law, EC Law & directives, international conventions, customs, professional bodies’ guidelines & prescriptions, comparative legal principles, private international law principles, and the lex mercatoria. Above all, the case law, both national and international, in the field will be frequently discussed. This will provide a comprehensive understanding of the legal regimes regulating various aspects of our subject.
- To provide an awareness of an emerging international / transnational business legal order, popularly known as ‘the Lex Mercatoria’ as the module progresses.
b) Objectives / Learning Outcomes:
On completion of the module students will:
- Have the ability to demonstrate that they have a clear understanding of the concepts, rules and principles of the major aspects of international business law through:-
- Legal analysis of concrete situations in which problems relating to various aspects of international business arise. This includes the ability to sort out complex fact situations in order to indicate which legal actions may arise from them, to identify the legal rules, principles, case, statute law, international conventions, principles and international professional bodies’ prescriptions relevant to those actions, to apply the law to the facts, and to provide an informed opinion on the likelihood of success of such actions, and of the legal, practical and , where relevant, procedural problems involved in them.
- being able to give an account which is descriptively accurate, makes appropriate reference to case and statute law, international conventions and principles and provides a critical evaluation of the applicable law in the context.
- Be able to engage in a reasoned and informed discussion about the harmonization and unification of international business law on the global level.
- Be able to successfully engage both orally and in writing in legal arguments.
- Have acquired improved legal research and writing skills, in particular skills in the use of case law in the construction and presentation of legal argument.
The module is taken as a Part 2 option in the LLB, joint honours in law, diploma in law and other social science undergraduate programmes.
7.Organisation & content
a)The subject matter
The course focuses on the laws relating to certain major aspects of international business such as export sales / international sale of goods, their transportation, finance and insurance implications, international marketing operations, and dispute settlement matters and mechanisms. Although the main focus will remain on English law, the two important recent trends, i.e. the global integration of international trade law and the influence of EC law in this field will be given due weight. Special attention will be given to the newly emerging theory of law, i.e. the lex mercatoria, in the context.
b) The approach
The approach will essentially be an analytical and critical review of various laws relating to various aspects of international business transactions.
c) The structure and weekly content of the module
MICHAELMAS TERM : IBT - I
*(International Sales & Marketing Laws)*
Weeks : 1-3:Introduction & Export Trade Terms
Weeks : 4-9: International Sale of Goods Contracts
(Note this includes the reading week)
Week : 10 : Conflict of Laws Issues of International Sales Contracts
Week : 11 : International Marketing Operations : Distributorship,
Agency and Franchising
Week : 12 : Writing Week
LENT TERM : IBT - II
*(Finance,Transportation and Insurance of exports, Dispute Settlement
and the Lex Mercatoria)*
Weeks :13-15: International Trade Finance
Weeks :16-18: Transportation of Exports (by Sea, Air and Land)
(Note this includes the reading week)
Weeks :19-20: Insurance of Exports
Weeks :21-22: International Commercial Dispute Settlements
Week: 23 : The Theory of Transnational Commercial Law / Lex Mercatoria.
Week 24 : Writing Week.
8.Teaching methods and student skills
a) Teaching Methods
There will be one lecture per week throughout the course, excluding reading weeks. Seminars will be one hour weekly in groups of 8 or 12 students. Seminars will be based on seminar worksheets which will be provided at the beginning of each term. These will indicate the aims and objectives of each seminar, contain both required and further reading and provide questions and problems for seminar discussion. Private study will be primarily addressed to preparing for seminars and to researching and writing written assessments.
The function of the lectures is to:-
- provide an expository framework of the areas of law to be considered, upon which students may build more detailed knowledge, particularly of the cases, through private study.
- provide a fuller discussion of the more difficult legal concepts.
- introduce students to a range of critical approaches to the understanding of international business law.
In this way the lectures seek to contribute to objectives 1(b) and 2 in particular.
The function of seminars is:-
- for students to learn through engaging in legal argument based on their prior reading, and generally in relation to hypothetical concrete situations.
- to provide the opportunity for students to raise points or clarify issues arising from lectures or reading.
- to develop a deeper critical and evaluative understanding of the law through engaging in discussion based on prior reading.
- to identify learning difficulties in relation to particular topics, or of particular students, so that appropriate remedial steps may be taken.
Seminars seek in particular to contribute to the realization of objectives 1(a), 3 &4.
b) Student skills
In addition to the specifically legal skills identified in the module objectives, the module seeks to contribute to the achievement of a number of general transferable or key skills. These includein particular the ability:
- to apply knowledge to complex situations.
- to recognise potential alternative conclusions for particular situations, and provide supporting reasons for them.
- to identify accurately the issue(s) which require researching
- to identify and retrieve uptodate information, using paper and electronic sources;
- to act independently in planning and undertaking tasks.
- to use the English language and legal terminology with care and accuracy;
9.Assessment and examination methods and requirements.
The module will be examined on the basis of 10% assessment and 90% examination, with the option of undertaking a 45% dissertation. In the latter case the overall mark will be based on 45% dissertation, 45% examination and 10% assessment.
a) Assessments
The assessment requirement is for two pieces of written work of approximately 3000 words in length. Those students opting for the dissertation (45%) will be exempted from one of the coursework essays.
The two assessments will provide a choice of essay type questions. In particular the essay writing is aimed at contributing to objectives 1(b), 3 and 4.
b) Examination
The examination takes the form of a three hour unseen paper.
The paper will contain both hypothetical legal problem questions and essay questions, and candidates will be required to attempt at least one problem question. Further, the paper will be divided into sections to ensure candidates are required to demonstrate knowledge of a sufficient range of topics. The problem questions will seek to assess the abilities described in module objectives 1a, 3 and 4, while the essay questions will be primarily directed to assessing the level of achievement in relation to objectives 1b, 3 (where relevant) and 4.
10.Required and recommended reading.
a) Recommended book purchases.
Students will be recommended to buy a textbbook and a book on Statutes and Conventions on International Trade Law. The current recomendations are for Schmitthoff’s Export Trade (10th ed., 200), Sweet & Maxwell and Richard Kidner and I. Carr, Statutes and Conventions on International Trade Law (3rd ed., 1999) respectively.
b) Study packs of materials.
Study packs for purchase will be produced for each section of the module. These will contain additional materials, including cases, articles and book extracts which are considered essential reading.
c) Further reading.
Books
P.S. Atiyah, The Sale of Goods (9th ed., Pitman, 1995).
J. Honnold, Uniform Law for International Sales (Kluwer, 1998).
G. Moens and P. Gillies, International Trade and Business: Law, Policy
and Ethics (Cavendish Publishing Pty. Ltd., 1998).
P. Schlechtriem, Commentary on the UN Convention on the International
Sale of Goods (CISG) (Oxford, 1998).
M. Bridge, The International Sale of Goods: Law and Practice (Oxford UP, 1999).
Sassoon and Merren, C.I.F. and F.O.B. Contracts (4th ed., 1995).
Schmitthoff’s Agency and Distribution Agreements (by S. Kenyon-Slade & M.
Thornton) Sweet & Maxwell, 1992.
Norbert Horn (ed.) The Law of International Trade Finance (Kluwer, 1990) vol. 6
Studies in Transnational Economic Law.
J. Wilson, Carriage of Goods by Sea (2nd ed., 1993, Pitman).
Payne & Ivamy’s Carriage of Goods by Sea (13th ed., 1989).
Carver, Carriage by Sea (2 vols.) 13th ed., 1982.
Ivamy, Marine Insurance (6th ed., 1993).
Arnould, Law of Marine Insurance and Average (2 vols., Sweet &
Maxwell).
Redfern and Hunter, Law and Practice of International Commercial Arbitration (3rd ed., 1999, Sweet & Maxwell).
J. Hill, The Law Relating to International Commercial Disputes (2nd ed.,
1998, L/L/P).
Filip De Ly, International Business Law and Lex Mercatoria (North- Holland, 1992).
Bianca & Bonell, Commentary on the International Sales Law (1987).
UNILEX : UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (Transnational Juris Pub., 1996).
International Contract Manual (vols. I, II & III, Looseleaf) Kluwer Law International (1995).
R. Jack, Documentary Credits (1991, Butterworths, London).
Benjamin: Sale of Goods (5th ed., 1997).
M. Bridge, The Sale of Goods (Oxford., 1998).
K.P. Berger, The Creeping Codification of the Lex Mercatoria (Kluwer, 1999).
Roy Goode, Commercial Law (Penguin, 2nd ed., 1995)
Case Books** :
A.D. Hughes, Casebook on Carriage of Goods by Sea (Blackstone Press Ltd., 1994).
P. Sellman, Law of International Trade Casebook (6th ed., 1995, or any new edition, HLT Pubs.).
UNILEX (Sections D & F) for case law on the Vienna Convention / UN Convention
on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.
** These case books are very useful in their related areas. You can save plenty of time by consulting them before going to detailed cases in Law Reports.
Computer Based Materials:
**For materials and cases you must visit the following important and relevant websites :
or net)
d) Primary legal materials.
In addition to the availability of law reports, statutes and other primary legal materials in the library, these are increasingly accessible electronically from networked CD roms or from the internet eg The Electronic Law Reports, All England Direct and Casetrack.The KLS website or module web page will provide links to such sources.
e) Research materials.
In addition to using standard library resources students will be directed to a range of databases such as Lexis and Lawtel, as well as appropriate internet sites.
11.Student feedbackprocedures
These will follow the standard KLS practice. This consists of firstly a “module sounding” excercise carried out at the end of the Michelmas term in which, in the presence of student representatives and in the absence of any teachers, students are invited to make oral comments and suggestions on the content and teaching of the module. These are then communicated in writing through the student representatives to the module convenor for consideration and, where appropriate, further action. Secondly at the end of the module students are asked to complete a questionnaire on all aspects of the module. When these have been analysed the results are considered by the module convenor and the teachers concerned, as well as being considered by the Head of Department and by the chair of the teaching committee.
12. Resource Requirements
As this module has been running for a very large number of years the library has built adequate resources to cater for the needs of students on this module, including an appropriate number of the relevant multiple copies. Electronic resources are equally well provided for. Timetable provision already exists for this module.