International Commercial Contracts and Arbitration

These days, commerce and trade increasingly move across national borders. Structuring the legal relationships between professional parties will, therefore, require familiarity with the international legal environment of cross-border business transactions and dispute resolution. This course introduces you to the practice of and national, international, and transnational norms applicable to doing business abroad. This course is divided into two parts.

In the first part is dedicated to commercial contracts for international commercial transactions. The legal analysis of the commercial goals and contractual instruments of commercial actors is combined with scholarly and critical reflection. Students gain insights on the junction of contract law, corporate law, and international law.. Here, attention is given to  international law instruments such as the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, at times in comparison with American and Dutch contract law, as examples of civil and common law jurisdictions, and non-binding, transnational instruments such as the INCOTERMS promulgated by the International Chamber of Commerce.

The second part is primarily devoted to procedural law – international litigation and commercial arbitration. Firstly, It provides an in-depth study of relevant aspects of international litigation. Thereafter, it examines alternative or out-of-court methods of resolving commercial disputes with international elements., whereby the focus is on commercial arbitration. The topics to be discussed include the procedural framework and sources, public policy, arbitrability and mandatory rules, the validity of the arbitration agreement, the applicable procedural and substantive law, issues relating to the establishment of the tribunal, powers and duties of arbitrators, and some aspects of the conduct of arbitral proceedings. Particular consideration is given to the role of the national courts in arbitration. It is especially so with respect to the extent of judicial review in the proceedings for setting asideof the award and in the procedure for the enforcement of the award. When addressing the issues concerned, a comparative approach is used - the different arbitration rules, arbitration statutes, international treaties, and relevant case law are analysed.
 

Format
The course will have a heavy emphasis on class participation and interactive learning. The class will meet twice a week. The general format of the course will be a combination of class discussions, seminars, mock sessions, student presentations, and lectures. The students are expected to complete assigned readings and projects prior to weekly meetings. First, weekly sessions will start with brief student presentations or class discussion reviewing the previous week’s material. A lecture or workshop complementing the readings will follow. The second weekly session may involve class discussions of assignments