LLAW3123

General Course Information

1.1 Course details

Course code: LLAW3123
Course name: Competition Law I
Programme offered under: LLB Programme
Semester: First
Designated research course: Not applicable
Specialization: Commercial, corporate and financial law, International trade and economic law
Prerequisites / Co-requisites: No
Course offered to non-law students: Yes
Credit point value: 6 credits
Cap on student numbers: 100

1.2 Course description

This course introduces students to basic concepts of competition law (known as antitrust law in the U.S.). Despite being relatively new to the region, competition law has become highly pertinent in East Asia in recent years. In Hong Kong, the Legislative Council finally adopted a cross-sector competition law for the city in June 2012. In China, the Anti-Monopoly Law came into effect on August 1, 2008 and has attracted much attention around the world ever since. With its aggressive enforcement stance, South Korea has become a favorite jurisdiction for multinational corporations to lodge complaints against competitors. With increasing cross-border enforcement across the globe, competition law will surely take on yet greater importance in the future.

This course will focus on two of the three main areas of competition law: cartels and restrictive agreements and monopolization. It will focus on U.S. law with some attention paid at the end of the course to the new Hong Kong Competition Ordinance.

1.3 Course teachers

Name E-mail address Office Consultation
Course convenor Thomas Cheng thomas.cheng@hku.hk CCT 611 By email

Learning Outcomes

2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course

CLO 1 To introduce students to the basics of competition law with materials from the U.S.

CLO 2 To illustrate the interplay between law, economics (especially industrial organization), public policy in the context of competition law cases.

CLO 3 To develop among students the ability to think critically about competition law cases and about law in general.

2.2 LLB Programme Learning Outcomes (PLOs)

Please refer to the following link: https://course.law.hku.hk/llb-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

Assessment(s)

3.1 Assessment Summary

Assessment task Due date Weighting Feedback method* Course learning outcomes
Class participation N/A 20% 1, 2, 3
Case commentary 17 Oct 2023 30% 1, 2, 3
Final take home exam 5 Dec 2023 50% 1 1, 2, 3
*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).

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 hours / week for 12 teaching weeks
Private study time: 9.5 hours / week for 12 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: TBA

5.2 Links

Please refer to the following link: http://www.law.hku.hk/course/learning-resources/