International and Commercial Dispute Res Law LLM

The course gives you the opportunity for in-depth study of the substantive and procedural issues involved in the field. It is centrally concerned with law and other rules of international and commercial conduct in the context of prevention and resolution of conflicts and disputes, including the relevance of democracy, regulation, governance, and international trade and investment law.
Core modules
Perspectives On Conflicts and Disputes
You will be introduced to the field of conflict and dispute prevention and resolution. You will cover domestic, commercial, municipal and international aspects of the subject, and the main processes involved in conflict and dispute prevention and resolution.
Postgraduate Dissertation
This module allows you to develop a knowledge and understanding of a specialist portion of the field of conflict and dispute prevention and resolution. You will have the support of a supervisor for this independent research and writing work. You must agree the topic with the module leader. The topic must not replicate work, which you have submitted for any prior qualification. Your work for this module should provide you with advanced research skills, and advanced skills of analysis, evaluation, synthesis, application and writing, all of which should stand you in good stead for any subsequent academic, professional or other employment.
Research Theory and Practice
This module introduces you to the general concepts of legal and social scientific (empirical) methods of research, and gives you a greater understanding of the principles of advanced research. You will consider the relevance of these methods for the study of law, as well as giving you an understanding of the legal, social scientific and philosophical debates on methodology.? It will also enable you to evaluate your own work and that of other researchers.
Option modules
Access to Justice
The aim of this module is to introduce you to the range of approaches to providing disputing parties with formal and informal opportunities for resolving their disputes. The main focus is on the development of access to non-adjudicative processes.
Comparative Commercial Arbitration: Law and Practice
You will be introduced to the study of comparative international commercial arbitration (excluding international arbitration between sovereign states and non-sovereign entities in the context of cross-border direct investment). You will examine the law and practice of international arbitration in the major arbitration centres of the world other than England (save for essential comparative purposes), and explore how different legal systems, and arbitrators from different legal cultures, interact in the course of resolution of disputes by arbitration.
Comparative Law
The aim of this module is to enable you to see the ‘broader picture’ of the globalised commercial world through the theories of law transition. You will analyse different approaches to legal problems applied in other jurisdictions, and identify and evaluate the substantive differences as well as similarities of several legal traditions. You will gain an understanding of the legal concepts in a variety of legal families through an example of comparative research, and build on your knowledge of the English legal system through the solutions adopted in other jurisdictions.
Foreign Direct Investment Arbitration
This module introduces you to the study of public international arbitration between sovereign states and non-sovereign entities in the context of cross-border direct investment. You will examine the investment and disinvestment relationships between disputing parties (state and private), and the nature, function and interpretation of foreign investment instruments. You will also explore the relationship between international law and municipal investment laws, and tribunals and awards.
International Commercial Arbitration
You will be introduced to the study of international commercial arbitration, from the perspective of the English jurisdiction. The aim is to include four pairs of overlapping relationships: between parties and tribunals; between parties and courts; between tribunals and courts; and between England and foreign fora, including the New York convention.
International Commercial Litigation
This module introduces you to the study of international commercial litigation,? and examines issues arising in regard to jurisdiction and judgments. You will also cover intra-European union and traditional English aspects of cross-border commercial litigation.
International Commercial Mediation
You will examine the treatment of international commercial disputes by alternative commercial dispute resolution processes. The main focus is on commercial mediation.
Mediation: Concepts, Evolution and Practice
This module introduces you to the modes and culture of mediation as a dispute resolution process in a range of contexts, with a detailed analysis of the growth of mediation practice and theory, as well as current and possible future trends. You will become familiar with the conceptual, legal and practical frameworks for mediation, and how it is used in the UK and internationally. You will also develop basic mediation skills, learn to appreciate the roles of those taking part in the mediation processes, and acquire communication and other skills particularly useful in the mediation context.
Negotiation: Theory, Contexts and Practice
The aim of this module is to introduce the study of negotiation in the fields of politics and commerce (international, municipal and domestic), and in the field of legal conflicts and disputes. Among the areas covered are the relationships between pairs of negotiators; negotiators and the law; negotiators and the ambient cultures; and the theories and practices of negotiation.
Online Dispute Resolution
This module will examine the use of online technology in dispute resolution. It aims to cover municipal and international aspects of this field, and the main processes involved in online technology and resolving disputes online.
Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes
This module will introduce you to the various techniques and institutions available in international law for resolving disputes between states. You will examine diplomatic means of dispute settlement, including negotiation and mediation, and legal means of dispute settlement ? arbitration and adjudication. You will also consider the availability of alternative mechanisms for the resolution of inter-state disputes, and the range of international courts and tribunals that now exist. The module refers to specific past and pending cases and disputes, and there will be a special emphasis on the law, practice and procedure of the international court of Justice.
Private International Law: Substantive Commercial
The aim of this module is to introduce you to the study of the substantive aspects of commercial private international law (i.e. excluding jurisdiction, judgments and related procedural issues). You will cover a range of subjects, including traditional English, and intra-European union aspects of substantive commercial private international law.
Regulating Risk Environments
Modern industrial society is increasingly characterised as the ‘risk society’, emphasising that risks are the product of decisions rather than natural hazards and dangers. Recognising decision making as central to the emergence of risk raises key questions about the disputes and conflicts which underlie risks, and the role of law in resolving them. This module examines the nature of risks confronting society in terms of recent practical examples and theories, the role of decision-making in the creation of such risks, and the role that law plays in resolving the underlying disputes and conflicts.
Restorative Justice: Cultures, Integration and Law
This module provides an introduction to the field of restorative justice, covering international, domestic and public aspects of the field, and the main processes involved in dispute prevention and resolution.
Associated careers
The course is designed to benefit a wide range of individuals, including graduates progressing towards PhD programmes; practising lawyers; other practitioners such as arbitrators, civil servants, diplomats, insurers, journalists, judges, linguists and mediators; and commercial directors and managers. The course is ideal for anyone with a gap year between career stages, and for anyone from the European union and other countries wanting to improve their English for career purposes.
Length of course
One year full-time; two years part-time
Location
Central London (Regent)