Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
Objectives Students who successfully complete this subject should (1) have an awareness of the kinds of legal problems that arise from international commercial transactions; (2) have acquired an understanding of how the law of sale of goods, negotiable instruments, carriage of goods, securities, taxation and dispute settlement is affected when goods cross national boundaries; (3) have a familiarity with the principal mechanisms that trading parties use to resolve or reduce those problems; (4) have an appreciation of contemporary issues in Australia's international trading relationships; (5) have an awareness of the ways in which government controls of various kinds may affect private international commercial transactions; and (6) have a broad knowledge of how the general problems of international trade operate in selected specific areas.
Synopsis Introduction and framework for international trade; the trading contract and what it should cover; conflict of laws; the problems of international litigation; international commercial arbitration and other forms of alternative dispute resolution; transactions ancillary to the trading contract; choice of trading vehicle and international tax issues; government controls; special issues (trade with developing countries, technology transfer, environmental issues, the State as trader, multinational trading corporations, trade in services); trade with particular countries (USA, Japan, EEC, China, Indonesia, Vietnam); special sectors of the economy (commodities, agriculture, automotive, raw materials).
Assessment Class participation: 10% + Written research assignment (4000-5000 words): 45% + Case study (4000-5000 words): 45%