Handbook

This course is designed to bring together UNSW and foreign law students to learn together about international business law, as it applies throughout the world's different jurisdictions. The course will concern the legal environment surrounding international economic interactions that take place between participants from widely different legal systems and legal cultures.  Those participants might be individuals, corporations, international organizations or states.  Thus, for example, the course may consider the legal issues of a transaction between a Chinese and a US company, or between a French investor and an African government.

Students from UNSW Law and foreign students will have the opportunity to engage in intercultural dialogue around the issues presented in the course, thus learning from each other and building transnational professional networks. UNSW Law students who commenced in or after 2013 are required to complete Law in the Global Context prior to enrolling in this course.

The course will discuss the legal and regulatory issues that are relevant to international transactions that arise between:

• Western and non-western legal systems,
• Developing and developed country legal systems,
• Civil and common law legal systems; and
• Market and non-market legal systems

 Substantively, the course will discuss such legal issues as the following:

• The essential legal characteristics of Western versus non-Western legal systems, Civil law legal systems, Non-Market legal systems and Developing states
• Relevant international commercial law
• Relevant international economic law
• Relevant transnational litigation & arbitration
• Theory and practice of cross-cultural negotiations