General Course Information
1.1 Course details
| Course code: | LLAW6172 / JDOC6172 |
| Course name: | Carriage of Goods by Sea |
| Programme offered under: | LLM Programme / JD Programme |
| Semester: | January |
| Prerequisites / Co-requisites: | No |
| Credit point value: | 9 credits / 6 credits |
1.2 Course description
This course deals with the law and practice that apply to the carriage of goods by sea, as well as the key standard shipping contracts and documents used in carriage transactions. It covers the law and practice of charter parties, which are agreements between shipowners and charterers for the use of vessels to transport goods by sea. It also covers shipping documents, focusing on bills of lading and the international conventions on bills of lading, i.e., the Hague Visby Rules as adopted in Hong Kong law. It considers multimodal carriage and contemporary issues such digital trade, green shipping, sanctions and trade war.
1.3 Course teachers
| Name | E-mail address | Office | Consultation | |
| Course convenor | Liang Zhao | TBA | TBA | By email |
1.4 Course Outline (for elective course)
| Please click the link here for the course outline (HKU Portal login required). |
Learning Outcomes
2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course
CLO 1 Comprehensive Understanding: To provide students with a comprehensive understanding of law and practice of carriage of goods by sea, covering both theoretical concepts and practical applications.
CLO 2 Legal Skills Development: To enhance students’ practical legal skills, particularly in analysing and drafting carriage contracts including charter parties, shipping documents and multimodal transport documents.
CLO 3 Critical Analysis: To encourage students to critically analyse legal and practical issues in the carriage of goods by sea, especially in the context of recent market and political developments.
CLO 4 Industry Relevance: To ensure that students are well-prepared to address contemporary challenges in shipping law, including those related to digital shipping documents, chartering practice and the aftermath of recent political and trade crises.
By the end of this course, students will not only understand the key legal rules on carriage of goods by sea in international transactions of goods, but will also acquire practical skills in analysing, drafting and negotiating key agreements used in shipping carriage. These analytical and practical skills are highly transferable to other areas of commercial law.
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 | Weighting | Feedback method* | Course learning outcomes |
| Class participation | 10% | 1, 2, 3, 4 | |
| Take-home exam | 90% | 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). See also Course Outline above.
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
| Lecture: | 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/