Master 2023/2024

Mentor’s seminar International Dispute Resolution

Category 'Best Course for Career Development'

Category 'Best Course for Broadening Horizons and Diversity of Knowledge and Skills'

Category 'Best Course for New Knowledge and Skills'

Type: Compulsory course (Law of International Trade and Dispute Resolution)

Area of studies: Law

Delivered by: School of International Law

Where: Faculty of Law

When: 2 year, 1-3 module

Mode of studies: offline

Open to: students of one campus

Instructors: Mikhail Galperin

Master’s programme: Law of International Trade and Dispute Resolution

Language: English

ECTS credits: 6

Contact hours: 30

Course Syllabus

Abstract

The seminar is devoted to the development of legal research skills, team-building and team-working skills, critical thinking, legal drafting and time-management. The specific feature of the seminar is that it creates a unique platform for the regular discussion on the latest international cases, on-going projects in the sphere of international law and policy, recent developments and trends. The course also helps students to choose the topic of the master thesis and work on it together with other students.

Learning Objectives

• Main purpose of the course is to make students able to deal with the typical cases resolved in international litigation and arbitration, make research, prepare and represent legal argumentation. As the result of the course students will obtain knowledge on legal mechanism of international dispute resolution, recent developments in the sphere.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• Skills and abilities: ─ Use specific terms and sources of international litigation; ─ Practical abilities of research, analysis of cases and commentaries; ─ Skills to analyze and solve cases, building up of the legal position and composition of procedural documents; ─ Oral skills and rhetoric; ─ Effective work in professional group; ─ Preparation for participation in real procedures, representing parties.
• Students must gain knowledge on: ─ International litigation and arbitration, regulatory framework of international dispute resolution, forms and essential characteristics of international dispute resolution, cooperation between international tribunals and national courts; ─ Applicable procedures used by the international tribunals, providing of legal positions, taking of evidence, types, nature and consequences of judgements of international tribunals as well as their implementation.
• Students should gain the following competences: - Ability to find most effective and appropriate legal decision of the problem, develop problem-oriented and client-oriented approaches; - Ability to search, analyze, and work with legally relevant information by using the juridical, comparative and other specific methods, - Ability to describe legal problems and situations occurring in professional sphere.
• Students should gain the following competences: - Ability to work with information (search, evaluate, criticize, use information, necessary for fulfilment of scientific and professional tasks, from various sources, including application of the systematic approach); - Ability to work in international legal environment, use international law in day-to-day legal activity.

Course Contents

• Application and interpretation of the international law by the court and tribunals
• Legal argumentation in international litigation and arbitration
• Ratio decidendi in the decisions of international courts
• Forum shopping issues in international dispute resolution
• National and international courts: competition and interaction
• Execution and implementation of the international judgements in national legal systems
• Legal remedies used by international tribunals
• “Fake evidence” problem in international tribunals
• “Political factor” in international dispute resolution system
• States in international tribunals

Assessment Elements

• Attendance, active participation and in-class discussion
  Self-study control: In-between forms: 1 regular test during seminar classes lasting 15-20 minutes to check key concepts to be discussed.
• Examination (written)
  Graded assessment of the level of acquired knowledge and developed skills during the Course; includes questions covering syllabus material, i.e. theoretical and practical dimensions and oral representation (case study}. Parameters: 60-minute exam (case study, mini moot court).
• Presentation
  Presentation of the term paper/master thesis' proposal to the class and discussion/answering questions

Interim Assessment

• 2022/2023 4th module
  0.25 * Attendance, active participation and in-class discussion + 0.5 * Examination (written) + 0.25 * Presentation
• 2023/2024 3rd module
  0.25 * Attendance, active participation and in-class discussion + 0.5 * Examination (written) + 0.25 * Presentation

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• International commercial disputes : commercial conflict of laws in English courts, Hill, J., 2010
• International law, Shaw, M. N., 2017

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Silje A. Langvatn, Mattias Kumm, & Wojciech Sadurski. (2020). Public Reason and Courts. Cambridge University Press.