General Course Information
1.1 Course details
| Course code: | LLAW6138 |
| Course name: | Arbitration Law |
| Programme offered under: | LLM Programme |
| Semester: | First |
| Prerequisites / Co-requisites: | No |
| Credit point value: | 9 credits |
| Cap on student numbers: | 40 [Only offer to LLM(ADR) students] |
1.2 Course description
The aim of the Arbitration Law course is to provide students with sufficient knowledge and understanding of the law of arbitration.
During the course, the students will focus on the dispute resolution process, as set out in more detail in the syllabus, including the following ADR methods:
- Negotiation;
- Mediation;
- Early Neutral Evaluation
- Expert determination;
- Adjudication
- Dispute Boards
- Arbitration
- State Court Litigation
Further in the course, the students will learn about the history of arbitration and about the major international arbitration legal instruments (NY Convention, UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, UNCITRAL Model Law, the Washington Convention, and others). Further, the students will explore the differing statutory approaches to arbitration in the globalized world (common and civil law), the choices available to the parties in dispute resolution, the concepts of arbitration agreements, the arbitral procedure (commencement, tribunal appointment. Evidence, document production, written submissions, hearings, and others).
The students will learn about the duties and obligations of an arbitral tribunal, the notion of independence and impartiality, jurisdiction and powers, costs, and awards.
At the end of the course, the students will learn about the roe of the state courts in arbitration, and about their supervisory powers.
1.3 Course teachers
| Name | E-mail address | Office | Consultation | |
| Course convenor | Olga Boltenko | boltenko@hku.hk | N/A | By email |
| Course convenor | Shahla Ali | sali@hku.hk | CCT 811 | By email |
Learning Outcomes
2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course
CLO 1 Knowledge and Understanding
- To enhance understanding of arbitration as a private consent-based method of resolving disputes
- To introduce the fundamental principles of arbitration law set out in detail in the syllabus below.
- To introduce the importance of the Hong Kong Arbitration Ordinance when deciding disputes.
- To introduce the essential elements of a binding arbitration agreement and an enforceable arbitration award.
- To introduce the important role of reading and analyzing the sources of arbitration law, including both statutes (particularly domestic arbitration statutes such as the Arbitration Ordinance) and judicial decisions (case law).
CLO 2 Intellectual and Practice Skills
This course seeks to help students develop the following intellectual skills:
- Ability to analyse and solve complex factual legal problems by selecting and applying relevant arbitration law principles;
- Ability to apply rules of law to hypothetical factual situations;
- Ability to isolate crucial issues in hypothetical factual scenarios; and
- Ability to support oral and written arguments using relevant judicial decisions and statutory provisions.
This course also seeks to help students develop the following practical skills:
- Ability to undertake the reading and research of the sources of arbitration law;
- Ability to express ideas both orally and in writing in a clear and coherent manner; and
- Ability to translate technical legal terms into language appropriate for users of arbitration and dispute resolution generally.
2.2 LLM and JD Programme Learning Outcomes (PLOs)
Please refer to the following link:
LLM – https://course.law.hku.hk/llm-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 |
| Take home essay | 31 Oct 2023 | 30% | 1, 2 | 1, 2 |
| Final in-hall exam | 16 Dec 2023 | 70% | 1, 2 | 1, 2 |
| *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 the 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 the convenor(s).
Learning Resources
5.1 Resources
| Reading materials: | To be posted on Moodle |
| Core reading list: | TBA |
| Recommended reading list: | To be posted on Moodle |
5.2 Links
Please refer to the following link: http://www.law.hku.hk/course/learning-resources/