General Course Information

1.1 Course details

Course code:	LLAW6238 / JDOC6238
Course name:	Comparative Arbitration in Asia
Programme offered under:	LLM Programme / JD Programme
Semester:	Second
Prerequisites / Co-requisites:	No
Credit point value:	9 credit / 6 credits

1.2 Course description

The course will survey the arbitration laws in common and civil law jurisdictions in Asia, including but not limited to PRC, Hong Kong SAR, South Korea, Singapore,  and Malaysia. For the sake of comparison and analysis, reference will be made to the UNCITRAL Model Law and the laws of major arbitration centers around the world. In addition, the course will compare and contrast the various approaches taken by arbitral institutions in these regions (such as HKIAC, SIAC, CIETAC, KCABC, etc.) with respect to procedural and other matters. Again, reference to the UNCITRAL Model Rules and the rules of other major arbitral institutions (such as the ICC and the LCIA) will be useful for comparison and analysis.

Notwithstanding reference to UNCITRAL and other materials, the course will focus on the laws and procedural rules in use in the Asia-Pacific region. . In addition, although the course will take a comparative approach to these laws and rules across common and civil law jurisdictions in the region, the interaction of state law and institutional rules within a particular jurisdiction will also be the subject of analysis and discussion. Finally, cultural and other issues which may impact the practice of arbitration in a given jurisdiction will be explored.

Students will be assigned reading in advance of class, and will be expected to participate in discussions during class.

1.3 Course teachers

	Name	E-mail address	Office	Consultation
Course convenor	Min Kyung Kim	Minki0821@gmail.com	TBA	By email

Learning Outcomes

2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course

CLO 1Have a fundamental understanding of law and practice in international commercial arbitration in the relevant jurisdictions.

CLO 2Understanding differences in how civil and common law jurisdictions in Asia operate vis a vis international arbitration.

CLO 3 Challenge and examine the different perspectives shown in the respective jurisdictions.

CLO 4 Apply acquired knowledge in private practice or other commercial settings.

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	Due date	Weighting	Feedback method*	Course learning outcomes
Class participation	N/A	20%		1, 2, 3
Presentation of summary of the research paper	TBC	20%		2, 3
Research paper	TBC	60%		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 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:	Ma, Geoffrey, and Denis Brock. Arbitration in Hong Kong : a Practical Guide. Ed. Geoffrey Ma and Denis Brock. Fifth edition. Hong Kong: Thomson Reuters Hong Kong Limited trading as Sweet & Maxwell, 2022 Sun, Wei, and Melanie Willems. Arbitration in China : a Practitioner’s Guide. Alphen aan den Rijn: Kluwer Law International, 2015 Menon, Sundaresh et al. Arbitration in Singapore : a Practical Guide. Ed. Sundaresh Menon et al. Second edition. Singapore: Sweet & Maxwell/Thomson Reuters, 2018 Kim, Joongi. International Arbitration in Korea. First edition. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2017 Arifin Zakaria, Sundra Rajoo, and Philip T.N. Koh. Arbitration in Malaysia : a Practical Guide. Ed. Arifin Zakaria, Sundra Rajoo, and Philip T.N. (Philip Tong Ngee) Koh. Subang Jaya, Selangor: Sweet & Maxwell/Thomson Reuters, 2016
Recommended reading list:	Ginsburg, Thomas B., Ali, Shahla F. International Commercial Arbitration in Asia – Third edition. New York, USA: Juris, 2013 Nottage, Luke et al. New Frontiers in Asia-Pacific International Arbitration and Dispute Resolution. Wolters Kluwer, 2020 Bell, Gary F. The UNCITRAL Model Law and Asian Arbitration Laws: Implementation and Comparisons. Cambridge University Press, 2018 Bantekas, Ilias et al. UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration: A Commentary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020 Born, Gary. International Commercial Arbitration. Third edition. Alphen aan den Rijn: Wolters Kluwer, 2021 Additional specific readings will be assigned in the reading lists for each week’s seminar topic

5.2 Links

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