This module aims:

To Introduce students with the principles, laws and practice of international commercial and investment arbitration.

To enable students to accurately apply laws and principles to hypothetical facts.

To encourage students to critically consider important aspects of international commercial and investment arbitration.

To help students develop key legal and transferrable skills pertinent to arbitration process.

(LO1) Demonstrate detailed knowledge and understanding of the core principles of international commercial and investment arbitration.

(LO2) Identify and accurately apply the relevant law and principles to complex legal and factual problems.

(LO3) Critically appraise the legal framework surrounding international arbitration.

(LO4) Use and understand relevant statutory law and international conventions, arbitral rules, case law, and academic writing.

(LO5) Construct effective and coherent legal arguments.

(S1) Problem solving skills

(S2) Communication skills

(S3) Commercial awareness

The module will cover the following topics. The list below is indicative and not all topics are covered every year with emphasis on several of those topics depending on current developments in the field of international arbitration to maintain the timeliness and practical relevance of the course.
- Introduction to international arbitration (definition and types of international arbitration, advantages and disadvantages compared to litigation and other methods of alternative dispute resolution, institutional and regulatory framework)
- Arbitration agreement (autonomy, types of agreements, law applicable to agreements, validity of agreements, drafting of arbitration clauses, pathological clauses)
- Arbitral tribunal (appointment of arbitrators, rights and duties of arbitrators, independence and impartiality of arbitrators, challenge and removal of arbitrators)
- Jurisdiction of arbitral tribunal (arbitrability, Kompetenz-Kompetenz doctrine–jurisdiction to deci de on its own jurisdiction)
- Applicable law (law governing the arbitration procedure, determination of applicable law, applicable substantive law, lex mercatoria , ex aequo et bono)
- The conduct of arbitral procedure (ad hoc procedures and institutional rules, organising arbitral proceedings, Terms of Reference, taking evidence, provisional measures, multi-party issues)
- Arbitral award (deliberations, form and content of the award, costs of arbitration, remedies against the award, the role of arbitral institution in the scrutiny of the award, appeals against the award in domestic courts, setting aside of the award)
- Recognition and enforcement of the arbitral award (enforcement of awards in English law, Convention for the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards 1958 (New York Convention), grounds for challenging awards under the New York Convention)
The module will provide a good overall review of international commercial and investment arbitr ation process. It is particularly suitable for independent learners who have a specific interest in international arbitration and have some prior knowledge of or are eager to engage in learning certain fundamental principles of private international law.

Teaching Method 1: Lectures
Scheduled Directed Teaching Hours: Lecture A 7x 2 hours(14 hours), Lecture B 4 x 2 hours (8 hours). 22 hours total.
Lecture B is the second 2-hour lecture scheduled for weeks 1, 3, 4, and 6. The other weeks the 2-hour lectures will be once a week.
Description: Lectures focusing on the key issues raised by the module
Attendance Recorded: Yes

Teaching Method 2: Seminars
Scheduled Directed Student Hours: 4 x 90 minutes (6 hours)
Description: Interactive seminars focusing on the key issues raised by the module
Attendance Recorded: Yes

Unscheduled self-directed learning: 120 hours