Civil and Commercial Litigation: Comparative Perspective

Master 2022/2023

Category 'Best Course for Career Development'

Category 'Best Course for Broadening Horizons and Diversity of Knowledge and Skills'

Category 'Best Course for New Knowledge and Skills'

Type: Elective course (Law of International Trade and Dispute Resolution)

Area of studies: Law

Delivered by: School of International Law

Where: Faculty of Law

When: 1 year, 3 module

Mode of studies: offline

Open to: students of all HSE University campuses

Instructors: Maria Filatova

Master’s programme: Law of International Trade and Dispute Resolution

Language: English

ECTS credits: 3

Contact hours: 32

Full Syllabus

Abstract

Why to study foreign civil and commercial procedure? This is not an easy question to answer since it is not merely a rhetoric one: although the importance of comparative approach in legal education is not put into doubt today all over the world, relevance and utility of comparative procedural law is not always obvious. Indeed, what is a practical effect of learning peculiarities of different procedural systems for a lawyer educated in a national system who, most likely, will not participate as an attorney in a foreign court proceeding? Does such study imply any practical importance or has just informative value? The course gives answers to these questions proposing not only information on organisation and functioning of foreign procedural systems but paying attention to the fundamental similarities and differences between different procedural models. Students learn to identify common issues for all procedural systems and to analyze the best techniques used for deal with them. These techniques hypothetically may be borrowed to improve the national procedural system. The course gives an overview of different judicial and procedural systems in the modern world. It covers different aspects of courts’ organization, types of procedural systems and forms of judicial (and, to a certain extent, of non-judicial) protection of rights. It begins with a historical analysis of the modern procedural systems evolution that explains major differences in philosophy and technique of civil procedure. The course will be useful for Russian as well as foreign graduate students having interest in the development of European judicial systems and procedures. The course is taught in English.

Learning Objectives

The main objectives of the course are the following: 1. Obtaining knowledge allowing to assess in a correct way the legal environment in which foreign partners of Russian business actors live and act; 2. Acquiring the skills of professional evolution of perspectives of filing a claim with foreign States’ courts in case of legal disputes (civil and commercial); 3. Familiarization of students with main procedural concepts including those unknown in the Russian legal system; 4. Learning the trends of development of the procedural law in the global context.

Expected Learning Outcomes

assess the perspectives of cases examination by the foreign courts
deal with basic skills of legal analysis when assessing particular cases and legal conflicts
give an analysis of foreign procedural law and case-law
give legal analysis of potential legal issues which may arise in course of examination of the case by a foreign jurisdiction
the basic typology of modern procedural systems and their particularities
deal with basic skills of legal analysis when assessing particular cases and legal conflicts
give an analysis of foreign procedural law and case-law
the main sources, notions and institutes of foreign countries’ procedural law
the trends of development and harmonization of modern civil and commercial litigation

Course Contents

Civil and Commercial Litigation: Cases and Courts
Typology of Modern Procedural Systems
Sources of Procedural Law of Modern States
Civil and Commercial Proceedings and its Structure in Different Legal Systems
Initiating a Claim: Main Procedures and Effects
Examination of Evidence in Different Legal Systems
Judicial Decisions and Their Effects in Modern Legal Systems; Res Judicata and its Perception in Different Countries
Appeal and Recourse against Judicial Decisions
Trends of Development of Modern Legal Systems
Harmonization and Unification of Modern Civil Procedural Law

Assessment Elements

Seminar attendance /participation
Self-study (in-betweener forms)
Self-study (Essay)
Examination (test)

Interim Assessment

2022/2023 3rd module
0.1 * Self-study (Essay) + 0.3 * Seminar attendance /participation + 0.5 * Examination (test) + 0.1 * Self-study (in-betweener forms)

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

Alan Uzelac. (2014). Goals of Civil Justice and Civil Procedure in Contemporary Judicial Systems. Springer.
Larry E Sullivan, Marie Simonetti Rosen, Dorothy M Schulz, & M. R. Haberfeld. (2005). Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement. SAGE Publications, Inc.

Recommended Additional Bibliography

Dwyer, D. M. (2007). European Traditions in Civil Procedure. By C. H. van Rhee (ed). Modern Law Review, 70(2), 342–345. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.2007.00641_1.x
Maleshin, D. (2007). The Russian Style of Civil Procedure. Emory International Law Review, 21(2), 543–562.

Authors

FILATOVA MARIYA ANATOLEVNA

Course Syllabus