LLM International Business and Commercial Law / Course details

Year of entry: 2024

Course unit details:
International Sale of Goods

Course unit fact file
Unit code LAWS63051
Credit rating 30
Unit level FHEQ level 7 – master's degree or fourth year of an integrated master's degree
Teaching period(s) Semester 1
Available as a free choice unit? No

Overview

The course unit looks at a series of key topics relating to the international sale of goods, focussing on contracts where the transportation of the goods involves carriage by sea.  The solutions of English law, Incoterms and the United Nations Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG) will be discussed and critically compared.

  • Introduction - Legal sources:  English law, Incoterms and the CISG.  An outline of carriage, insurance and payment methods.
  • Application of contract law principles to international trade, especially formation, breach and frustration.
  • Trade terms:  An introduction to trade terms in English law and under Incoterms, with particular reference to CIF and FOB contracts.
  • The obligations of the seller with respect to the goods and the buyer's remedies:  The seller's obligations relating to the nature, quality and quantity of the goods supplied in English law and under the CISG.  The buyer's remedies where the seller is in breach.
  • The obligations of the seller with respect to documents and the buyer's remedies:  The seller's obligations relating to the documents supplied (bill of lading, marine insurance policy, etc) in English law and under the CISG.  The buyer's remedies where the seller is in breach.
  • Risk of loss or damage:  The passing of risk in English law and under Incoterms and the CISG.
  • Property rights:  The importance of the passing of property in international sales.  The rules on the passing of property in English law and the position under Incoterms and under the CISG.
  • Rights under the contract of carriage, focussing on the carriage of goods by sea.
  • The rights and obligations of the seller, the buyer and banks in documentary credit transactions.
  • The impact of containerisation and multi-modal transport:  An examination of the issues raised for the law of sale where the person responsible for the sea carriage also undertakes to carry the goods by land (eg. Where goods are delivered to an inland container port in the country of export for delivery to an inland container port in the country of import).
  • Introduction to marine insurance.

Aims

  • To provide a detailed understanding of the English law relating to the international sale of goods where the transportation of the goods involves carriage by sea;
  • To provide a detailed understanding of the relevant Incoterms and the relevant provisions of the United Nations Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG) and to develop the skills required to compare them critically with English law;
  • To develop students' capacity for critical analysis and logical thinking and to encourage independent learning;
  • To develop a general range of transferable and generic skills in problem-solving and reasoning, computer literacy, time management and written and oral communication.

Teaching and learning methods

Lectures (26 hours) and seminars (4 hours).

E-learning: Course materials (PowerPoint presentations) will be available on Blackboard and students will also have access to recorded lectures on the University's digital learning environment.

Knowledge and understanding

On successful completion of the course unit, students will be able to:

  • Understand key issues relating to the international sale of goods where the transportation of the goods involves carriage by sea, in the context of English law, Incoterms and the United Nations Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG).
  • Understand the limitations of national law in the regulation of the international sale of goods;
  • Demonstrate awareness of the importance of international conventions and of international organisations in regulating international sales law;
  • Understand key issues relating to the international sale of goods where the transportation of the goods involves carriage by sea, in the context of English law, Incoterms and the United Nations Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG).

Intellectual skills

On successful completion of the course unit, students will be able to:

  • Apply detailed knowledge of the law relating to the international sale of goods;
  • Discuss the legal issues raised critically;
  • Draw upon the relevant literature for the analysis of the law relating to the international sale of goods;
  • Develop their knowledge and understanding through independent reading.

Practical skills

On successful completion of the course unit, students will be able to:

  • Research legal information from a number of paper and electronic sources, including the Internet.

Transferable skills and personal qualities

On successful completion of the course unit, students will be able to:

  • Present complex legal ideas in writing;
  • Be able to solve practical problems;
  • Utilise information technology;
  • Show improved ability to present arguments orally.

Assessment methods

One unseen written examination (3 hours)

Recommended reading

Introductory reading:  Carol Murray (ed), Schmitthoff's Export Trade:  The Law and Practice of International Trade (12th ed, Sweet & Maxwell), Introduction and the chapters on Special Trade Terms in Export Sales and on Carriage of Goods by Sea.

Basic textbook: Indira Carr, International Trade Law (6th edition, 2017);  M.G. Bridge, The International Sale of Goods (Oxford University Press, 2017).

Teaching staff

Staff member Role
Abubakri Yekini Unit coordinator

Additional notes

Formative feedback is made available in this course unit through an optional non-assessed essay.  An outline of issues is also published after the assessed examination on Blackboard.

Students wanting to undertake research papers on this subject will be provided with a list of specific titles from which to choose.  Students will be allowed to submit for approval a title that they have designed themselves, provided that it involves a comparison between English law and the CISG.

 

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