Private International Law

Course Catalog Number:
5267
Course Credits:
3
Course Type:
Lecture
Course Priority:
General Enrollment Course
Full Year Course:
No

Course Description

This course will provide students with a general overview of the body of private international law, including that created by international institutions such as UNCITRAL, The Hague Conference on Private International Law and OAS, as well as the institutions of the European Union. Emphasis will be placed on subject matter relevant to U.S. lawyers willing to practice law in an international environment. Accordingly, special attention in this course will be devoted to transaction planning and legal proceedings involving a connection with an EU Member State and with other jurisdictions. Specific EU private international law instruments will be addressed with a particular emphasis on their interpretation by the European Court of Justice. Results of the analysis will be compared with the relevant principles of private international law in the United States. Because of the increasing importance of online transactions, the course will (i) review the international efforts at constructing a system of Online Dispute Resolution; (ii) review the challenging issues of e-commerce and conflict of laws and of jurisdictions, consumer protection, and enforcement within the existing international litigation and arbitration regimes. It is expected that the course will enhance each student’s basic knowledge of civil procedure, conflicts of law, contracts, and tort law in a transnational perspective.