Profile
The course seeks to enable participants to approach legal issues in civil law jurisdictions, above all in Asia, with confidence. The study of principles of civil law teaches participants how to approach legal issues in other jurisdictions and where to look for answers. In particular, the course familiarises students with:
- the general principles of civil law jurisdictions;
- the significant differences between common and civil law systems; and
- the concept of non-contractual obligations.
In addition, participants will be exposed to civil law approaches in topics such as formation of contracts, consequences of non-performance of obligations, torts and negotiorum gestio.
What You'll Learn
This course is offered under the Faculty of Law's Graduate Coursework Programmes in International Arbitration & Dispute Resolution.
The course introduces important concepts and principles of private law in civil law jurisdictions to participants trained in the common law. The focus is on concepts and principles in which the differences between the civil and common law systems are particularly striking. Examples are the core emphasis on obligations, the lack of a strict or any consideration requirement in contract law, the focus on absolute rights in delictual liability, the concept of negotiorum gestio and the design of property law as positive absolute rights. The different concepts of legislation and jurisprudence also form part of the course.
Minimum Entry Requirement
A good Bachelor's or Juris Doctor degree in Law