General Course Information
1.1 Course details
| Course code: | LLAW3124 |
| Course name: | Competition Law II [HK and EU Competition Law] |
| 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: | No |
| Credit point value: | 6 credits |
| Cap on student numbers: | 65 |
1.2 Course description
NOTE: It is NOT necessary to have taken Competition Law I (which focuses on US antitrust law) before taking this course. The focus of this course is on Hong Kong and EU competition law. References to US law will be minimal (and, in any event, self-contained). The course does NOT presume any background in business or economics. Students from all backgrounds are welcome to enroll. Students who have performed well in the past have come from a variety of backgrounds.
Brief introduction to the course:
Despite being relatively new to Hong Kong, 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, and the Competition Ordinance has been in full operation since December 2015.
This course takes a comparative look at the connections and differences between Hong Kong and European Union (EU) competition law. Given the Conduct Rules of the Competition Ordinance in Hong Kong are substantially modelled after Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the EU law (including oft law such as guidelines) on Articles 101 and 102 TFEU will provide useful guidance to the interpretation and application of the Hong Kong Conduct Rules. This course will examine in detail the First Conduct Rule and Article 101 TFEU; and the Second Conduct Rule and Article 102 TFEU. We will also consider competition law enforcement, Hong Kong specific issues, and past paper questions (to illustrate the workings of competition law). This course excludes merger review, which forms the subject of a separate course.
If students have any questions about the course, please feel free to contact the course teacher at the email below.
1.3 Course teachers
| Name | E-mail address | Office | Consultation | |
| Course convenor | Kelvin Kwok | khfkwok@hku.hk | CCT 710 | By email |
Learning Outcomes
2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course
CLO 1 Students will acquire a basic understanding of Hong Kong and EU competition law.
CLO 2 Students will acquire a basic understanding of the interplay between law, business/economics, and public policy in the context of competition law cases.
CLO 3 Students will develop the ability to think critically about competition law cases and issues in the local and international context.
CLO 4 Students will acquire a basic understanding of the roles of Hong Kong and EU institutions in competition law enforcement.
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 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 4 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Assessment(s)
3.1 Assessment Summary (TBC)
| Assessment task | Due date | Weighting | Feedback method* | Course learning outcomes |
| Class attendance and participation | N/A | 5% | To be advised | 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| Class presentation | TBC | 20% | To be advised | 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| Commentary: blogging exercise | TBC | 25% | To be advised | 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| Take home exam | TBC | 50% | To be advised | 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).
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/