Course Descriptions
The following courses have been announced. Additional courses will be added by CEU in mid April and will be available for student registration at that time. This site will be updated once additional courses are made available. Students will be sent additional information on how to select courses after their application is accepted by Emory University.
Legal Aspects of Doing Business in Asia (Two credits)
Stefan Messman, Department Head, Central European University Department of Legal Studies
At the beginning of the 21st century, the economic gravity of the world appears destined to return to Asia. Many Europeans think of “Asia” as being a homogenous group of peoples. The reality is, of course, very different. Due to historical reasons Asian nations have developed a number of different legal systems. History also plays a role in the omnipresent political tension, which pervades the vast continent and casts a dark shadow over the economic miracle. A number of regional bodies have been developed to maintain the economic boom and smooth over any political dispute.
The course intends to provide a basic introduction to regional bodies and legal systems present in Asia, discussing both regional bodies (ASEAN and APEC) and national legal regimes (Japan, PR of China, Taiwan, North and South Korea, Vietnam, India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia).
Learning outcomes:
- Ability to identify and evaluate sources of regulation that are applicable to Asia-related business transactions, together with the social and cultural rules that have to be observed.
- Ability to recognize the effectiveness of the recent business development in the area, and to foresee future development patterns.
- Ability to conclude, evaluate and use legal and business transaction documents related to the area.
The Environment of International Business Transactions (One credit)
Tibor Varady, Professor of Law, Emory Law
The course covers selected issues (and problems) which have had an impact on the structuring, and functioning of international business transactions. The focus is on threats in the environment of international business transactions, and on rules and measures countering these phenomena. The issues and problems include boycott and anti-boycott regulations, the relevance of fraud in letter of credit transactions, the issue of transfer pricing. Special attention shall be devoted to the issue of corruption and bribery, and on national and international efforts including various measures aiming to stop or neutralize bribery.
Learning Outcomes:
- Ability to recognize and evaluate potential threats in the environment of international commercial transactions.
- Ability to understand the environment of international business transactions, and to identify and face impediments and challenges created by States or by private participants.
- Ability to foresee and avoid potential threats, and/or to deal with consequences of boycotts, force majeure, corruption, and other hurdles in the environment of international business transactions.
International Civil Litigation (One Credit)
Peter Hay, L.Q.C. Lamar Professor of Law, Emory Law
This course focuses on issues in private litigation between parties in different states. It treats: first, jurisdiction of courts (including choice-of-court clauses, antisuit injunctions, parallel litigation, notice requirements), service of documents internationally, obtaining evidence abroad; second, international recognition and enforcement of judgments (including different notions of res judicata, defenses, and the public policy exception); and, third, selected family law-related questions, such as recognition and modification of support orders and custody awards. – The emphasis will be on inter-European Union law and on litigational problems between EU and US parties.
Learning Outcomes:
- Ability to deal with issues of jurisdiction and judgment recognition in private international cases (primarily in contract, tort, and family law); familiarity with and competence in applying European Union civil procedure law applicable to these issues and the Hague Child Abduction, Service, and Evidence Conventions; and knowledge of American approaches to these issues.
EU Law II (One Credit)
Peter Hay, L.Q.C. Lamar Professor of Law, Emory Law
This course builds upon EU LAW I, which emphasized the institutions and the external relations of the European Community. This course – EU Law II – first considers the relation of EU law to the national law of its member states and the review of Community law for its compliance with the TEU and TEC Treaties by the Court of Justice (including problems of standing by private parties to seek review and the duty of national courts to obtain binding interpretations of Community law. About two-thirds of the course will be devoted to the three of the “Four Freedoms” (movement of goods; movement and sojourn of persons; establishment of companies and freedom to render services across national lines; no attention will be given to the fourth freedom – movement of capital). The course will conclude with an introduction to the EU’s antitrust law.
Learning Outcomes:
- Ability to demonstrate substantial knowledge of the interrelation of Community and national law and of the respective function of national courts and the EC Court of Justice to ensure observance of Community law, of applicable international human rights law, and to safeguard uniformity of interpretation and application of the foregoing.
- Detailed knowledge of the movement-of-goods provisions (including exceptions in favor of national health, safety, and security policies), of the free-movement-of-persons provisions (including entitlement to benefits under national law, rights of family members of workers, treatment of non-entitled foreigners); and of the ability of companies to move or establish branches across state lines.
International Human Rights (One Credit)
Johan Van der Vyver, I.T. Cohen Professor of International Law and Human Rights, Emory Law
On December 10, 2008 the world community will be commemorating the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In 1968, the United Nations convened an International Conference on Human Rights in Teheran to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and to evaluate the state of human rights in the world after those twenty years. The problems that attracted special attention on that occasion included systems of institutionalized racial discrimination, colonialism that prevailed in metropolitan territories under the control of countries such as Portugal and France, and the advent of foreign domination with a special focus on the occupation of Palestinian territories by Israel. A decision was taken in Teheran which culminated in the two 1977 Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949. In 1993, the United Nations convened a follow-up World Conference on Human Rights that was held in Vienna. The problem areas of international human rights had shifted considerably from those that predominated in the proceedings in Teheran. The question as to the universality or relativity of human rights, with special emphasis on economic, social and cultural rights, became a main focus of the discussions. And now, fifteen years later, we may again reflect on the progress made, and areas of failure, in the implementation on a global scale of the human rights principles encapsulated in the Universal Declaration. The lectures offered in this course represent a selection of topics reflecting those successes and failures.
Learning Outcomes:
- Students will be requires to acquire an in-depth understanding of the concept of human rights and the various categories of such rights and their inter-action. The problems included in the curriculum have been carefully selected to represent topical issues on the international and country-specific levels, including in particular the United States and Eastern European countries.
- Students will be invited to apply the norms that emanated from those problems to their respective countries.
- Students will furthermore be evaluated in view of their ability to critically assess state action that is at odds with internationally proclaimed norms of international human rights.
International Technology Transfer (One Credit)
Frederick Abbott, Edward Ball Eminent Scholar, Florida State University College of Law
Advances in technology are driving today's global economy. The private and public sectors invest in the development of new technologies to provide competitive advantage to business and to address social needs. Transfers of technology, whether by licensing or through direct investment, are essential to improving economic efficiencies and improving public welfare. Such transfers allow businesses and public sector institutions at different levels of the research, development and commercialization chain, and in different geographic locations, to take best advantage of developments.
This course focuses on the legal systems regulating transfers of technology. Components of the course include: (1) an overview of the global framework of intellectual property regulation, including the WTO, WIPO, regional, bilateral and national systems; (2) technology licensing and competition law, including regulation and case law in the US and EU; (3) recent case law addressing intellectual property and technology transfer concerns; (4) technology transfer in the pharmaceutical sector, including the drafting of licensing agreements, and (5) biotechnology, genetic resources and technology transfer.
The course addresses a wide range of technology subject matter, from computer software to pharmaceuticals to genetic resources.
Learning Outcomes:
- Ability to understand and analyze international technology transfer related issues including issues relating to intellectual property law, licensing and competition law.
- Ability to understand and assess the public policies underlying technology transfer legislation and agreements.
- Ability to understand differences between approaches in various countries, and the role of multilateral and regional organizations in establishing the international framework of technology transfer.