General Course Information
1.1 Course details
| Course code: | LLAW6029 / JDOC6029 |
| Course name: | Managing Commercial Disputes in China: Law, Issues and Techniques |
| 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 course takes students to the areas of significance in the field of dispute resolution in China, particularly with respect to the resolution of commercial disputes where arbitration plays a major role in today China. Major methods of dispute resolution will be examined, such as arbitration, civil litigation, and mediation (as it combines with arbitration and litigation). Some topical issues pertinent to commercial disputes such as corporate litigation, securities enforcement, recognition and enforcement of foreign civil judgments, civil justice reform, and cross-border judicial assistance on civil and commercial matters with Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan will be looked into in the course as well.
1.3 Course teachers
| Name | E-mail address | Office | Consultation | |
| Course convenor | Gu Weixia | guweixia@hku.hk | CCT 908 | By email |
Learning Outcomes
2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course
CLO 1 To know about the major means of commercial dispute resolution in China.
CLO 2 To be able to understand the main features of judicial system in China, i.e. how people courts are structured, operated and supervised.
CLO 3 To understand the salient features of civil litigation in China, particularly its very distinctive people juror and judicial supervision systems that have been subject to debates both at home and abroad.
CLO 4 To evaluate the Civil Procedure Law (CPL) and the people court reforms led by Supreme People Court over the past decade in China.
CLO 5 To aspire different types of mediation in China; i.e. private mediations (Med-Arb, People Mediation Committee, etc), public mediation (Court-annexed mediation), and their resulting differences in effects of mediation settlement agreements.
CLO 6 To pay close attention to Chinese arbitration system and its unique features as to regulation of arbitration agreements, ruling of arbitral jurisdiction, formation of tribunal, and enforcement of arbitral awards.
CLO 7 To have thorough knowledge about arbitral rules and practices in China, in particular those under the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), Beijing Arbitration Commission (BAC), and Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration (SCIA), as three leading models of Chinese arbitration institutions serving international and domestic markets.
CLO 8 To know about mechanisms as regards cross-border and cross-strait enforcement of commercial judgments and arbitral awards between Mainland China and Hong Kong.
CLO 9 To evaluate relative merits and demerits of various methods in the settling of commercial disputes in China.
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 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 5 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 6 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 7 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 8 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 9 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Assessment(s)
3.1 Assessment Summary
| Assessment task | Due date | Weighting | Feedback method* | Course learning outcomes |
| Research paper | TBC | 100% | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 |
| *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/