Bachelor
2024/2025
Principles of Law
Type:
Elective course (International Programme in Economics and Finance)
Area of studies:
Economics
Delivered by:
International College of Economics and Finance
When:
2 year, 3, 4 module
Mode of studies:
offline
Open to:
students of one campus
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
3
Contact hours:
52
Course Syllabus
Abstract
Introduction to Law is a half course for the 2-nd year ICEF student which is a part of the HSE degree programme. It is specifically designated so as not to require any prior exposure to law, and does not suppose that students will necessarily pursue any further law options. Nevertheless, it is designed in the belief that an acquaintance with core law concepts and processes is an essential element in the ICEF curriculum.
The course seeks to place law in its social, economic, political, historical and philosophical context and thus not only to provide students with a knowledge of legal rules but also to help them develop a critical understanding of the operation of those rules in society. The critical and analytical skills required by a lawyer are valuable in many other contexts. The programme is therefore suitable not only for students who intend to seek entry into the legal professions but also for students intending to seek careers in many other areas, such as banking, management, economics and finance.
Introduction to law aims to provide insight into the nature and function of law, familiarize the students with legal concepts and terminology, principal sources of law and of the means by which laws are made, develop an understanding of the nature and purpose of rights and duties in law. The course provides an overview of the major legal systems of the world. It also focuses on the key legal concepts, principles and doctrines which underpin the core areas of law, including introduction to the theory of law and to foundations of Private law, Contract law, Company (Corporate) law and Competition law.
Students, through the intensive learning program and through the immersion method associated with lecture courses, learn to read cases, to analyze statutes, to do research pertaining to judicial decisions, statutes, and regulations, and to formulate positions using the conventions and rhetoric of legal argument.
Learning Objectives
- • to provide new knowledge to the ICEF students, to train their legal skills;
- • to show and explain the main notions, concepts of theory of law primarily with application to Private law and business activities; to show differences and similarities of the main legal systems of the world, their evolution and interaction;
- • to familiarize students with the fundamental principles of Contract Law and theory of legal transactions, with basic types of contracts;
- • to provide understanding of the importance of fiduciary duties of directors and officers of companies wherever the last are registered;
- • to show the importance of antimonopoly compliance and evaluation of antitrust risks even in ordinary business transactions.
Expected Learning Outcomes
- • to use regulatory legal documents in their activity;
- • to freely communicate, express his thoughts orally and in writing, lead a discussion in Russian and English;
- • to strategically negotiate and/or draft simple contracts;
- • to identify relevant legal issues and to understand, interpret and apply statutes and case law in the area of business associations;
- • to analyze and interpret legal, financial and other information contained in the statements of enterprises of various forms of ownership, organizations, departments, etc.
- • to understand the most common antitrust risks of business activities.
- • research skills: finding relevant cases and articles; effective use of large (and highly technical) body of statutory material;
- - research skills: finding relevant cases and articles; effective use of large (and highly technical) body of statutory material;
- - reasoning skills: understanding how judges can reach radically different conclusions on the same facts;
- - problem-solving: understanding how many issues can be thrown up by the same set of facts. Strong emphasis is placed on this in tutorials, and all tutorial sheets contain at least one detailed problem question for analysis;
- - critical skills: assessing how effective the law is, and how it might be made more effective.
- An integral and important part of this course is also soft skills training. There are extensive number of soft skills that are beneficial for the students to develop. In this course we will be focusing six. They include: • Communication • Negotiation skills • Problem-solving • Prioritization • Decision machining • Critical thinking These soft skills can be regarded as the additional generic skills or a bonus to the student.
Course Contents
- Topic 1 Introduction to Nature, Classification and Sources of Law in different legal families, legal traditions and paradigms. Meanings of the term “common law”. Short history of common law and civil law traditions.
- Topic 2 Concept of legal norm. Legal norm and provision of statute. Structure of legal norm. Implementation of law. Interpretation of law. Rules of interpretation. Gaps in law.
- Topic 3 Foundations of Private Law in civil law tradition. Private autonomy. Legal capacity and subjective right. Civil law relationship. Protection of civil rights.
- Topic 4 Contract in common law and legal transaction in German law. Fundamentals of Contract Law. Basic principles of contracts.
- Topic 5 Formation of Contract. Essential Elements
- Topic 6 Terms of Contract
- Topic 7 Matters Affecting the Validity of Contract
- Topic 8 Discharge of Contract. Breach of Contract. Damages for Breach.
- Topic 9 Good Faith in Contract Law. Opportunistic behavior and its consequences. Good faith as the civil law’s general response on opportunism. The principle of good faith in German and Russian law. Consequences of bad faith.
- Topic 10 Introduction to Comparative Company (Corporate) Law. Types of Business Organizations.
- Topic 11 Company. Nature of company and of juridical person. Realistic and fictional theories. Types of companies. Legal Characteristics and attributes of a company.
- Topic 12 Formation of a Company. Rights of shareholders. Company’s Capital. Equity capital and debt securities. Loan Capital. Piercing the corporate veil.
- Topic 13 Management Structure. Directors and Shareholders. Officers. Directors’ power to represent the company. Duties and powers of directors. Duty of loyalty. Corporate opportunity doctrine. Duty of care. Minority Shareholders Protection.
- Topic 14 Introduction to Fiduciary law. Theories explaining the nature and causes of fiduciary relationship. Directors and officers as fiduciaries. Problem of ordinary employees as fiduciaries. Fiduciary duties.
- Topic 15 Introduction to Competition law. Abuse of dominant position.
- Topic 16 Cartels and concerted actions. Economic concentration. Liability for breach of Competition law rules in Russia.
Assessment Elements
- class record
- final examThe exam is three hours long and will count for 60 % of your final grade. It is all entirely questions in the typical “issue-spotting” mode. The students will be required to answer four from a choice of eight short questions. Suggested approach: 40 minutes for each question (Indicative length –1.5 pages, not to exceed 2.5 pages per question). In order to get a passing grade for the course, the student must sit (all parts) of the examination.
- midterm test
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- An introduction to the law of contract, Atiyah, P. S., 1996
- Comparative company law : a case-based approach, , 2013
- Contract law, McKendrick, E., 2009
- Legal traditions of the world : sustainable diversity in law, Glenn, H. P., 2014
- Основные правовые системы современности : моногр., Давид, Р., 2009
Recommended Additional Bibliography
- A theory of constitutional rights, Alexy, R., 2010
- Casebook on contract law, Poole, J., 2006
- Fried, C. (2015). Contract As Promise : A Theory of Contractual Obligation (Vol. Second edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1201573
- Gower's principles of modern company law, Davies, P. L., 2016
- On law and reason, Peczenik, A., 2009
- Общая теория права и государства: Учебник для вузов / В.С. Нерсесянц. - М.: Норма: НИЦ ИНФРА-М, 2015. - 560 с.: 60x90 1/16. (переплет) ISBN 978-5-91768-238-9 - Режим доступа: http://znanium.com/catalog/product/492842