Course Title: International Commercial Law

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: International Commercial Law

Credit Points: 12


Course Code

Campus

Career

School

Learning Mode

Teaching Period(s)

JUST2266

City Campus

Postgraduate

615H Accounting & Law

Face-to-Face


Course Coordinator: Margaret Jackson

Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925 5751

Course Coordinator Email:margaret.jackson@rmit.edu.au


Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

None


Course Description

This course aims to provide students with an understanding of the legal environment framework within which business is conducted internationally. Specifically, the course will cover the nature of international law and its application in a variety of countries; international organisations such as the UN, the OECD and the WTO; the contractual law that applies to international transactions (CISG); the establishment of operations in another country; the protection of IP and Electronic commerce; the international payment systems; foreign investment; and international taxation issues. Through problem based learning, students will begin to appreciate what laws apply in given situations and how these laws operate. Students will also develop skills in reading, understanding and applying International treaties and conventions, statutes, case materials and journal articles. This involves the development of comprehension skills, legal literacy, and the students’ ability to analyse problems and to express ideas in a precise manner.


Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development



The Knowledge and Generic Capabilities that have been identified and integrated into this course are:

Knowledge Capabilities

The Knowledge Capabilities that will be developed are:

• Identification of international legal problems and use of legal problem solving to analyses issues to communicate effectively with staff, peers, supervisors and with legal practitioners.
• Identification of relevant areas of international law and domestic law together with an understanding of the impact of these laws on international business practice.
• The ability to obtain and communicate the information management requires to make informed judgments including integrating information from other disciplines.
• Understanding of the role of international business law in defining corporate governance in an organisation.

The knowledge capabilities will be developed through the following areas of law and of legal practice to be studied:

• International legal resources and research skills
• The role of international law in global business activities
• Problem based learning approaches
• International law of relevance to managers– international contract law, protection of IP, e-commerce, international taxation, the role of the UN, OECD and the WTO
• International treaties and conventions of relevance to managers – CISG and Consumer Law, TRIPS and Data Protection Laws and Intellectual Property Laws, OECD and UN models for the elimination of double taxation and tax avoidance

Generic Capabilities

In addition to course-specific knowledge gained from each course, there are a number of capabilities that apply across courses and are of value to students. They include such abilities as problem solving, teamwork, team leadership, communication, and creativity. These generic capabilities will continue to be developed as students’ progress through their studies. This course is designed to foster and further develop the development of the following generic capabilities:

Problem diagnosis and solving: apply legal knowledge to case studies
Team participation: working in teams to solve problems
Evidence based practice: interpret judgments and statutes and use them appropriately in legal problem solving
Information management: locate and access legal information from a wide variety of sources, discern value and use, use legal information to support decision- making.
Communicative capacity: ability to communicate the results of problem solving activities and to frame judgments and practice with professional legal and ethical frameworks.
• Life long learning skills: ability to understand the impact of new laws, to investigate new legal trends and to keep up-to-date.


On completion of the course, students should be able to:

• Effectively research electronic databases and Internet resources relevant to international aw and extract meaningful information.
• Have an appreciation of aspects of the international legal framework within which multi-national corporations operate.
• Understand the International legal framework, including sources of international law, principles of statutory interpretation relevant to treaties and conventions, and gain an overview of legal frameworks in foreign jurisdictions.
• Exercise skills in legal methodology in selected areas of international business law.
• Understand the underlying principles of a number of areas of international law relevant to managers and how to apply these in various foreign locations and situations.
• Evaluate international policy issues raised by the UN and the OECD and other international organisations, law reform proposals and journal articles dealing with current international business law issues.
• Develop awareness of how changes in international law may affect business practice and operations in international locations.


Overview of Learning Activities

This course requires students to participate in various learning activities. These activities comprise the following:

• Engaging in legal research by means of searching electronic legal databases, Internet resources and law journals.
• Participation in class discussion.
• Working in teams to solve case study problems
• Preparing case study reports using the skills developed in this course.


Overview of Learning Resources

Students will be advised of the prescribed text for this course and other reading materials upon enrolment.

Distributed Learning System (DLS)

This course is supported online using the Learning Hub of the DLS. The DLS gives access to important announcements, staff contact details, the teaching schedule, assessment timelines and a variety of important teaching and learning materials. The Learning Hub of the DLS can be found at http://www.rmit.edu.au/online


Overview of Assessment

Normally, students are required to undertake here are four pieces of assessment –three are undertaken in syndicate groups and one is undertaken as an individual assignment.