General Course Information
1.1 Course details
| Course code: | LLAW6351 / JDOC6351 |
| Course name: | Selected Topics in Private Law |
| Programme offered under: | LLM Programme / JD Programme |
| Semester: | June |
| Prerequisites / Co-requisites: | No |
| Credit point value: | 9 credits / 6 credits |
1.2 Course description
This is a doctrine-centric course, tailored both to students who are already familiar with Chinese law or the common law, and to students who wish to learn comparative private law. LLM students without common-law training will gain a structured topical introduction to common-law doctrine. JD students without prior legal training will be guided from foundational concepts through the Chinese Civil Code. LLB students with common-law training but little or no Chinese law will be able to learn Chinese private law through a common-law mindset. By integrating common law and Chinese civil law studies, students from different starting points are catered for transsystematic private law education.
Using the seven Books of the Chinese Civil Code (namely, General Provisions, Property Rights, Contracts, Personality Rights, Marriage and Family, Succession, and Tort Liability), the course helps students grasp the corresponding common-law doctrines and understand the main similarities and differences between common law and civil law. Indicative topics include: taxonomy of rights; digital assets; land ownership and usufructuary rights; security interests; acquisition of rights; contract and restitution; public and private law approaches to personality rights; marital assets; holding of rights; and protection of rights. This course aims to help students grasp the corresponding common law doctrines and understand the main similarities and differences between common law and civil law.
The course convenor is Zhicheng Wu, Associate Professor at School of Law, Renmin University of China, and Visiting Associate Professor at Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong. Before joining Renmin, Zhicheng obtained DPhil in Law at the University of Oxford. Zhicheng’s research interests cover property, trusts, restitution, and fiduciary law generally. He has published in leading peer-reviewed journals (eg, Legal Studies, European Business Organization Law Review, Hong Kong Law Journal, Asia Pacific Law Review, and Journal of Contract Law). He published a monograph entitled Separation and Abstraction in Property Transfers: A Comparative Study of English and Chinese Law (Brill). He is a co-editor of the Article-by-Article Commentary of the Chinese Civil Code: Book on Property Rights (Hart Publishing), and a fellow of European Law Institute.
1.3 Course teachers
| Name | E-mail address | Office | Consultation | |
| Course convenor | Zhicheng Wu | TBA | TBA | By email |
Learning Outcomes
2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course
CLO 1 Describe and explain the key doctrines and institutional structure of the Chinese Civil Code together with the corresponding common law doctrines on selected topics
CLO 2 Identify, compare, and explain main similarities and differences between common law and Chinese civil law approaches to the selected topics, and explain how the common law mindset and the civilian structure frame legal analysis.
CLO 3 Apply relevant rules, concepts, and comparative perspectives to hypothetical or unfamiliar private law problems, and justify reasoned solutions by reference to common law and Chinese Civil Code materials.
CLO 4 Demonstrate awareness of the broader doctrinal, comparative, and socio-economic context when critically evaluating the strengths, limitations, and policy implications of the two jurisdictions.
CLO 5 Communicate doctrinal and comparative legal analysis clearly and accurately in English, using appropriate legal terminology and structure, in both oral and written forms.
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 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Assessment(s)
3.1 Assessment Summary
| Assessment task | Weighting | Feedback method* | Course learning outcomes |
| Class participation | 30% | 5 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| Take home exam | 70% | 1 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| *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 |
3.3 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 intensive course in June semester |
| 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 (note: A topic-by-topic reading list is provided above) |
| Core reading list: |
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| Recommended reading list: |
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5.2 Links
Please refer to the following link: http://www.law.hku.hk/course/learning-resources/