Postgraduate Qatar Law 2020-2021

This course will discuss the trajectory of the development of corporate governance over the past three decades, especially in the UK and the US, with a view to understanding the extent to which underlying theoretical assumptions and policy decisions impact legislative, regulatory and self-regulatory arrangements as well as reform options. Students will gain an understanding of why the company as a legal entity has the shape and form that it does; why certain actors are regarded as internal to corporate governance arrangements and others external; and why ongoing (and sometimes apparently futile) reform efforts take the form that they do. 

This compulsory course provides students from diverse legal and educational backgrounds with a common understanding of the core research, analytical, and writing skills which would be required to excel in LLM-Taught courses. It commences with a few lectures and progresses to working  in a workshop environment and finally to the submission of an individual assignment. It also incorporates elements such as library workshops to provide students with hands-on experience with the resources available for course and dissertation work.

This course is a selective and critical examination of company laws. A theoretical approach shall be taken based upon the general theory of comparative law developed by Zweigert and Kötz and the Watsonian theory of legal transplants. Key issues in comparative company law shall be examined using the theoretical framework of Hansmann and Kraakman with its particular focus on the agency problem. Specific topics shall include directors’ duties; the protection of minority shareholders and the limits of limited liability.