Course learning outcomes and reading material:

Here is the course learning outcomes, and note the specific requirements for JUR1230 (BA level) and JUS5230 (MA level)

Course main reading material:

International Commercial Contracts: Applicable Sources and Enforceability By Giuditta Cordero-Moss. (Link requires UiO user login)

Course summary

The course deals with aspects of contract law when parties from different legal cultures want to enter into a contract. It looks at questions such as if there is an obligation to disclose information to the other party during negotitations, or if the arbitration agreement is valid. The course puts a lot of attention to seeking out if parties to a contract actually can create a “self-sufficient” contract, using very detailed language and boilerplate clauses.

The course looks at contract formation under Common Law vs. Civil Law systems, and also under transnational law such as the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). The course also focuses on party autonomy, International Private Law and Arbitration as a way of alternative dispute resolution. Important conventions and regulations in this manner is the Rome I regulation, the Brussels I regulation and the New York convention on the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards.

Learning resources

The main learning resource is the course main reading material: International Commercial Contracts: Applicable Sources and Enforceability By Giuditta Cordero-Moss.

However, to get a good grasp of the course, one should read other materials as well.

• Boilerplate Clauses, International Commercial Contracts and the Applicable Law by Giuditta Cordero-Moss (editor) (link requires UiO login).

This book provides an overview into the applicable law’s effects on boilerplate clauses, with perspectives from common law and civil law.

• UNCITRAL Digest of Case Law on the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods

The Digest of CISG case law provides an article-by-article commentary based on case law and thus can give you a better understanding of the rules in CISG.

• The Tripartite guide: UNCITRAL, HCCH and Unidroit Legal Guide to Uniform Instruments in the Area of International Commercial Contracts, with a Focus on Sales

The Tripartite guide can give you a broader understanding of the CISG and other uniform international legal texts.The Tripartite guide also looks at the relationship between transnational law/soft-law and private international law and arbitration.