Module LAW2241: COMMERCIAL LAW

Department: Law

LAW2241: COMMERCIAL LAW

Prerequisites

• Legal Skills (LAW 1041) and Contract Law (LAW 1071).

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To build on foundations laid in Contract Law, with specific reference to sale & supply of goods.
• It is intended that students shall acquire sound and accurate knowledge of these areas, providing them with a useful resource both for future practice and their everyday lives.
• It seeks to develop students' facility in handling of 'black letter law' areas and, in particular, ability to comprehend and apply relevant statutes, analyse and reason from decided cases.
• It also seeks to identify areas of law appropriate for reform.

Content

• The Scope of the Sale of Goods Act 1979
• Delivery & Payment
• Meaning and Significance of Property & Risk
• Non-Existent Goods at the Date of the Contract
• Post-Contractual Loss of Goods and Other Forms of Subsequent Impossibility
• The Passing of Property
• The Principle of Nemo Dat and the Exceptions to that Principle
• The Content of Sales Contracts
• Exclusion and Limitation Clauses
• Remedies

Learning Outcomes

• Students should be able to:
• Demonstrate a sound and accurate (but not necessarily comprehensive) knowledge of commercial law.

• Students should be able to:
• apply the existing law to given factual scenarios and advise accordingly
• Analyse and evaluate the existing law in terms of its legal and commercial context.

• Students should be able to:
• Demonstrate the skill of communicating complex ideas and arguments in clear written form

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The core principles of the subject will be conveyed by lectures, as will the principles of contract interpretation and drafting. Additional reading will be set to ensure that more complex aspects of the principles are investigated. Tutorials will be used to reinforce the lectures, to ensure that the reading has been understood, and to develop subject knowledge and subject-skills as outlined above. The formative essay develops both subject-skills and communication skills.
• Summative assessment comprises one drafting exercise essay and one unseen examination of two hours thirty minutes. The drafting exercise assesses the students’ understanding of the mechanics of the terms of commercial contracts. It involves drafting a contract clause to solve a particular commercial problem, and explaining the logic behind the term’s construction and its likely application by a court. For the exam, students are given a choice of questions to answer, but the paper is structured in such a way as to assess students on all the specific outcomes. The examination tests the ability to focus on relevant legal issues and organise knowledge and argument appropriate to questions raised. The examination questions will provide the means for students to demonstrate the acquisition of subject knowledge and the development of their problem-solving skills.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

One written essay of no more than 1500 words.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University