University of Aberdeen School of Law: LLM in Private International Law

LLM in Private International Law

As a result of globalisation, and, in Europe, of its recent communitarisation, Private International Law has undergone profound changes and has become a subject of both increasing prominence and complexity.

The LLM Programme in Private International Law reflects established areas of research strength in the School of Law, and offers options which meet the demand for studying contemporary conflict of laws issues at an advanced level.

We believe this is the first specialist LLM in Private International Law anywhere in the UK and may even be unique in the English speaking world. Aberdeen is historically a centre of excellence in this area as Professor Anton, the modern 'father' of private international law in Scotland, began and ended his academic career here.  We now have an excellent international team of scholars who can provide you with a programme of relevance to you wherever you come from in the world. It is not a programme analysing Private International Law in Scotland or even in the United Kingdom but rather one that looks at the concepts, institutions and substantive rules that are common to the discipline globally or at least regionally.

One compulsory course, Private International Law Concepts and Institutions, will provide the core elements on which students can build up their knowledge. Further courses will introduce students to topical issues of practical relevance. While most will focus on aspects pertinent to civil and commercial operations one course will also be offered in the field of international family law. The intention is that by the end of the programme students will have developed a methodology, which will enable them to analyse confidently any problems arising in international transactions and private issues with an international element. Students are also expected to gain expertise on Private International Law in the European Union with an understanding of global harmonisation processes through the Hague Conference on Private International Law.

In addition to the full LLM, involving four taught courses and a dissertation, students may also study for a Postgraduate Diploma in Private International Law, which does not involve a dissertation, or may elect to study individual components of the syllabus. Study on a full or part-time basis is possible.

Syllabus

The following courses are available. Students must complete four taught courses and a dissertation. At least three courses must be taken from the list below. The fourth course can be taken from a different LLM Programme.

Private International Law Concepts and Institutions (This course is compulsory)

This course will focus on the core elements of private international law. A brief history and development of private international law theories will be examined. It will also examine basic theoretical issues in private international law, including the connecting factors, classification, incidental questions, and function of foreign law in domestic courts. It will examine the role of the global institution in this field - the Hague Conference on Private International Law - and that of the European Union.

Private International Law of Business Transactions: Jurisdiction

This course will give students an understanding of the jurisdictional issues which are relevant in international commercial litigation. Topics covered include: jurisdiction in the UK and Europe; special jurisdiction in contract and tort; jurisdiction agreements in Europe and globally; and responses to forum-shopping in the European Juridial Area.

Private International Law of Business Transactions: Choice of Law

This course addresses the choice of law problems arising out of international business transactions, primarily in the fields of contracts and torts. It will focus on the current developments in Europe, including the Rome Convention, the recent development of the Rome I Regulation and the Rome II Regulation. Topics include: general choice of law in contracts-party autonomy and the default rules in the absence of parties' choice of law; choice of law in special contracts-consumer contracts and the weaker party protection; restrictions on the applicable law-mandatory rules and public policy; the existence and validity of contracts; and choice of law in tort.

Comparative and International Insolvency Law

The course aims to examine the law relating to domestic insolvency in selected jurisdictions; to assess what lessons for domestic insolvency law (if any) may be learned from these jurisdictions; to examine a number of topics in the field of international insolvency; to assess the potential impact of current initiatives in the international insolvency field on law and practice in the UK and internationally; and to develop independent research skills and the ability to analyse complex material and to formulate an independent response to such material.

Private International Law of Family Law

Private International Law of Family Law analyses the work of the Hague Conference on Private International Law on Family Law, in particular the two most successful Conventions in the field, the Child Abduction Convention and the Inter-Country Adoption Convention.  It also addresses the developments in the EU on PIL of family law contained in the Brussels IIbis Regulation (jurisdiction in divorce and custody cases) and current developments in the area of family property.

Course Team

Professor Paul Beaumont has been writing and teaching on private international law for over 20 years.  He is one of the authors of the standard Scottish text on Private International Law, of a book on the Brussels and Lugano Conventions, of the OUP book on The Hague Convention on International Child Abduction and is one of two editors of a leading international journal in the field (the Journal of Private International Law).  Since 1995 he has been a part of the UK delegation at the leading international institution for the development of private international law (The Hague Conference on Private International Law) and has served on the drafting committee for the Hague Choice of Court Agreements Convention (2005) and the Hague Child Support and Maintenance Convention (2007).  Professor Beaumont has also been a member of the UK delegation at the Committee of Civil Law, Council of European Union since 1997 and has negotiated the Brussels I Regulation (jurisdiction), and the Rome I (choice of law in contract), Rome II (choice of law in non-contractual obligations) Regulations and the Regulation on Maintenance. In the Summer of 2008 he gave a course on the Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice on the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction at the Hague Academy of International Law.

Donna McKenzie Skene joined the Law School in 1992 after a number of years in private practice. Her principal research interest is in insolvency law (domestic, comparative and international) which she also teaches at non-honours, honours and LLM level.

Sophia Tang recently completed her doctoral thesis on private international law in consumer contracts at the University of Birmingham. She has been doing research on private international law for many years and has her articles published in refereed journals in both the UK and China. She is also a frequent presenter at international conferences. Her main interests lie in the basic theory of private international law and conflict of laws in the commercial area.

Dr Christa Roodt taught Private International Law and Comparative Law at the University of South Africa before joining the University of Aberdeen in 2008. Her teaching and research interests in Private International Law include jurisdiction in cross-border litigation, choice of law method and the private international law aspects of international commercial arbitration. She has published extensively on these aspects.

Further information

For further information on the LLM, please contact the Programme Co-ordinator,

Dr Christa Roodt.

For application and admission enquiries, please contact the Law School ’s Postgraduate Secretary:

Email: law-pg-enquiries@abdn.ac.uk

Telephone: +44 (0) 1224 272443 / Fax: +44 (0) 1224 272442

Post: School of Law, Taylor Building, Old Aberdeen AB24 3UB, United Kingdom