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Semester 2

International Civil and Commercial Litigation (LAWS10195)

Subject

Law

College

CAHSS

Credits

20

Normal Year Taken

3

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

Visiting students must have completed 3 Law courses at grade B or above, including a basic knowledge of Private International Law or Conflict of Laws. We will only consider University/College level courses. This course is only open to visiting students who are nominated to study with us on a Law exchange agreement. Exchange students outside of Law and study abroad students are not eligible to enrol on this course before teaching begins, with no exceptions, and spaces cannot be guaranteed to those students at any time. **Please see Additional Restrictions**

Course Summary

This course is aimed at giving students a working knowledge of the framework and dynamics of international civil and commercial litigation. The course will consider many of the issues that will need to be addressed by companies and individuals when faced with litigation involving cross-border elements. The approach to the regulation of cross-border disputes varies in different jurisdictions and the questions of which court has jurisdiction to hear a case and which law will be applied to the determination of that case depend to a large extent on which set of rules results applicable to the case. This course will consider international, regional and national approaches in relation to questions of jurisdiction, applicable law and international judicial cooperation in civil and commercial matters. It will provide an opportunity to visualise how some key aspects of international litigation work in practice in some of the most popular judicial systems with vast expertise in international civil and commercial litigation, such as England. Hence, this course is not limited to the study of international civil and commercial litigation in the Scottish courts but provides a window into the practice of international litigation in popular hubs for international legal practice.

Course Description

The course aims to develop the students knowledge and understanding of the legal instruments applicable to the determination of civil and commercial jurisdiction, applicable law in contract and delict, the nuances of multi-party disputes in the international civil and commercial context, and the ingenuity of international legal practice in different jurisdictions to manage the challenges posed by legal diversity in this context. Additionally, the course aims to raise the students awareness of the increasing internationalisation of legal practice and when appropriate consider alternative approaches to these matters from different jurisdictions. **Participants in the course will be able to study the following core topics: *1. The Dynamics of Cross-Border Litigation: 1.1. Litigation in the wider context of dispute resolution mechanisms;1.2. Primary issues informing the process of resolving cross-border disputes;1.3. Procedural justice and procedural efficiency. *2. Jurisdiction in Civil and Commercial Litigation: 2.1. What is jurisdiction in this context?; 2.2. Conflicts of jurisdiction; 2.3. The European Regime of Jurisdiction in Civil and Commercial Matters. *3. A different approach to Jurisdiction: The English Traditional Rules : 3.1. Service in the jurisdiction; 3.2. Service out of the jurisdiction. *4. Choice of Law: 4.1. Introduction to choice of law; 4.2. Why apply foreign law?; 4.3. Choice of law in contract; 4.4. Choice of law in delict; 4.5. Contractual rights and property interests: the situs of debts in international private law. *5. Party Autonomy in International Litigation: 5.1. Choice of court agreements; 5.2. Choice of law clauses; 5.3. Asymmetric agreements; 5.4. Limitations to party autonomy and weaker parties. *6. Multi-party disputes: 6.1. Special scenarios: e.g. cargo claims, product liability claims; 6.2. Special procedural mechanisms: e.g. counter-claims, joinder and consolidation; 6.3. Special problems with overlapping and/or inconsistent choice of law and choice of court agreements. *7. Procedural Devices: 7.1. Provisional and protective measures; 7.2. Freezing assets; 7.3. Enforceability of provisional measures in the EU. *8. International Judicial Co-operation: 8.1. Service of process; 8.2. Obtaining evidence abroad; 8.3. Recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. **THIS COURSE DESCRIPTION EXCEEDS THE CHARACTER LIMIT FOR THIS WEBPAGE - PLEASE CLICK THE LINK TO 'VIEW THE TIMETABLE AND FURTHER DETAILS FOR THIS COURSE' TO SEE THE FULL COURSE DESCRIPTION.**

Assessment Information

Written Exam 0%, Coursework 100%, Practical Exam 0%

Additional Restrictions

**All 3rd year Law courses are ONLY open to visiting students nominated on an exchange agreement within the School of Law (including Erasmus students on a Law-specific exchange). Exchange students outside of Law, and independent study abroad students, are not eligible to enrol in these courses, with no exceptions.** Please note that 3rd year Law courses are high-demand, meaning that they have a very high number of students wishing to enrol in a very limited number of spaces. These enrolments are managed strictly by the CAHSS Visiting Student Office, in line with the quotas allocated by the department, and all enquiries to enrol in these courses must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. It is not appropriate for students to contact the Law School directly to request additional spaces. If there is sufficient space for other visiting students to enrol at the start of the semester (which cannot be guaranteed at all), visiting students must meet the pre-requisites listed above.

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