Course teacher(s)
Kwinten Dewaele (Coordinator)ECTS credits
5
Language(s) of instruction
english
Course content
- Course 1 : Introduction
- Course 2 : Comparative Trade Law
- Course 3 : Comparative Company Law
- Course 4 : Comparative Competition Law
- Course 5 : Comparative Class Actions Law
- Course 6: Comparative Bankruptcy Law
- Course 7: Q&A
For students from the LL.M. in International Business Law: some overlap may exist between this course and mandatory course in your program.
Objectives (and/or specific learning outcomes)
The main purpose of this course is to allow students to develop the skills to critically assess how the law tackles a specific societal problem. Such a critical assessment requires understanding of what is (i.e., what does the rule say) and what could be (i.e., what alternatives are possible).
To realize this purpose, the course presents five traditional topics in the field of economic law and connects them to modern developments and questions. By building on a variety of jurisdictions, particularly the United States and the European Union, the course presents several possible solutions to these questions for students to compare and learn from.
Understanding the purpose of this course also implies understanding what it does not try to achieve. Specifically, this course is not a crash course on (foreign) corporate/competition/consumer/… law. Students looking to really become experts in one of those (sub)fields may want to look for a course that focuses on one of those topics alone.
Prerequisites and Corequisites
Required and Corequired knowledge and skills
Professional understanding of English. Willingness to speak in public and participate.
General interest in economic law and basis notions of economic law.
Teaching methods and learning activities
The course is built using the functional comparative method. Beginning with a specific problem, the course explores how the laws of different jurisdictions address this issue, where they align and where they differ. Additionally, the course attempts to familiarize students with the non-legal factors influencing the development of the law (i.e., the so-called “legal formants”). For this purpose, each topic also introduces a non-legal highlight.
The course is designed to be deeply interactive. Students are asked to read and prepare in advance. The main point of the course is to raise questions and debate solutions. For this purpose, students will be divided into groups. Each class, a specific group will be “on call” to answer questions, debate a topic or defend a given client position. Attendance for student “on call” is mandatory. Naturally, everyone is invited to participate and contribute, regardless of whether they are on call or not.
This course is taught in English.
References, bibliography, and recommended reading
Syllabus to be provided via the Université virtuelle and assigned readings designated therein. Additional materials (slides, videos…) may be used as well.
Course notes
- Syllabus
- Université virtuelle
Contribution to the teaching profile
The course broadens students’ understanding of economic law by looking at a variety of jurisdictions and deepen their (preexisting) knowledge by looking at specific case studies.
Other information
Contacts
Please reach out during class.
Campus
Solbosch
Evaluation
Method(s) of evaluation
- written examination
written examination
Written exam containing open and closed questions.
Mark calculation method (including weighting of intermediary marks)
Exam graded on a scale of 20. Covers 100% of the grade.
Language(s) of evaluation
- english