General Course Information
1.1 Course details
| Course code: | LLAW6227 / JDOC6227 |
| Course name: | Introduction to Private International Law (Conflict of Laws) |
| Programme offered under: | LLM Programme / JD Programme |
| Semester: | Second |
| Prerequisites / Co-requisites: | No |
| Credit point value: | 9 credit / 6 credits |
1.2 Course description
This schedule is produced for general guidance. Produced many months prior to the start of the course, it is provisional and indicative rather than fixed and immutable. It is liable to improvement by means of minor adjustment during preparation for the seminars.
Preliminary reading, to cover basic concepts and principles of private international law, will be primarily by reference to a document, with references, which will be provided. With that done, the eleven prescribed seminars will probably be:
1 Jurisdiction over defendant present in HK: assertion, exercise, and (non)-exercise
2 Jurisdiction over defendant not present in HK: assertion
3 Choice of court agreements: for HK courts and for foreign courts
4 Injunctions and other measures to prevent or counter foreign proceedings
5 Foreign judgments: the worldwide-applicable rules of the common law
6 Foreign judgments: registration of certain judgments from specific jurisdictions
7 Choice of law toolkit: characterisation, renvoi, procedure, statutes, exclusion
8 Choice of law rules for contracts
9 Choice of law rules for torts
10 Choice of law rules for equitable relationships
11 Choice of law rules for certain kinds of property and certain transactions relating to it
1.3 Course teachers
| Name | E-mail address | Office | Consultation | |
| Course convenor | Adrian Briggs | TBA | TBA | By email |
1.4 Course Outline (for elective course)
| Please click the link here for the course outline (HKU Portal login required). |
Learning Outcomes
2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course
CLO 1 To understand the principles and practices, aims and ambitions, of private international law.
CLO 2 To understand how these principles (i) are given effect as rules of private international law applicable in the courts of Hong Kong, and (ii) are liable to be applied in practice.
CLO 3 To understand how these principles and rules may be borne in mind and deployed prior to any suggestion of litigation (i) for the purpose avoiding litigation or (ii) for ensuring, to the extent possible, that any litigation contains the smallest number of unwelcome surprises.
CLO 4 To reflect on (i) the strengths and weaknesses of the rules we currently have, and (ii) on whether (and if so, what) alteration of the laws would be beneficial.
2.2 LLM and JD Programme Learning Outcomes (PLOs)
Please refer to the following link:
LLM – https://course.law.hku.hk/llm-plo/
JD – https://course.law.hku.hk/jd-plo/
2.3 Programme Learning Outcomes to be achieved in this course
| PLO A | PLO B | PLO C | PLO D | PLO E | PLO F | |
| CLO 1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 2 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 3 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 4 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Assessment(s)
3.1 Assessment Summary
| Assessment task | Weighting | Feedback method* | Course learning outcomes |
| Mid-term written test | 25% | 1, 2, 3, 4 | |
| In-hall exam | 75% | 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| *Feedback method (to be determined by course teacher) | |
| 1 | A general course report to be disseminated through Moodle |
| 2 | Individual feedback to be disseminated by email / through Moodle |
| 3 | Individual review meeting upon appointment |
| 4 | Group review meeting |
| 5 | In-class verbal feedback |
3.2 Assessment Detail
To be advised by course convenor(s). See also Course Outline above.
3.3 Grading Criteria
Please refer to the following link: https://www.law.hku.hk/_files/law_programme_grade_descriptors.pdf
Learning Activities
4.1 Learning Activity Plan
| Seminar: | 3-hour / week for 11 teaching weeks |
| Private study time: | 9.5 hours / week for 11 teaching weeks |
Remarks: the normative student study load per credit unit is 25 ± 5 hours (ie. 150 ± 30 hours for a 6-credit course), which includes all learning activities and experiences within and outside of classroom, and any assessment task and examinations and associated preparations.
4.2 Details of Learning Activities
To be advised by course convenor(s).
Learning Resources
5.1 Resources
| Reading materials: | Reading materials are posted on Moodle |
| Core reading list: | TBA |
| Recommended reading list: | No specific textbook is prescribed for the course, as the law is to be found in the cases rather than in secondary commentary. But reference may be made to which should be available in or through the library.
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5.2 Links
Please refer to the following link: http://www.law.hku.hk/course/learning-resources/