LL438E Half Unit
Commercial Remedies
This information is for the 2020/21 session.
Teacher responsible
Dr Solene Rowan NAB 7.26, Prof Charles Webb NAB 6.26 and Dr Andrew Summers NAB 6.06
Availability
This course is available on the Executive LLM. This course is not available as an outside option.
Pre-requisites
Undergraduate contract and tort law
Course content
The objective of the course is to provide students with a detailed understanding of remedies in a commercial context. The reading addresses both case law and academic commentary. Here is an indicative list of the issues that will be considered on the course:
1. The aims of commercial remedies: What interests and other policies may be served by the law when remedying commercial disputes?
2. The function of contract damages: How do the courts assess damages for breaches of contract? Should the courts do more to protect the claimant’s interest in performance? What limits are placed on the recovery or measure of damages?
3. Punishment: Is punishment of a defaulting defendant ever a legitimate aim in commercial remedies? Should punitive damages be given a greater role in English commercial law?
4. Agreed remedies: To what extent are commercial parties free to fix the remedies available to them in the event of breach? Does freedom of contract extend to the parties’ secondary obligations?
5. Unjust enrichment: What is the law of unjust enrichment? What is its relationship to the law of contract? What can commercial parties recover under the law of unjust enrichment?
6. Comparative law: How do other jurisdictions deal with these questions? What might the common law learn from civil law systems?
Teaching
24 hours
Formative coursework
All students are expected to produce one 1,500 word formative essay during the course. Formative assessment opportunities will be provided (essay or problem questions)
Indicative reading
Rowan, Remedies for Breach of Contract: A Comparative Analysis of the Protection of Performance (OUP 2012)
Burrows, Remedies for Torts and Breach of Contract (4th edn OUP 2019)
Virgo and Worthington (eds), Commercial Remedies: Resolving Controversies (CUP 2017)
Webb, Reason and Restitution (OUP 2016)
Assessment
Assessment path 1
Essay (100%, 8000 words).
Assessment path 2
Take-home assessment (100%).
Important information in response to COVID-19
Please note that during 2020/21 academic year some variation to teaching and learning activities may be required to respond to changes in public health advice and/or to account for the situation of students in attendance on campus and those studying online during the early part of the academic year. For assessment, this may involve changes to mode of delivery and/or the format or weighting of assessments. Changes will only be made if required and students will be notified about any changes to teaching or assessment plans at the earliest opportunity.
Key facts
Department: Law
Total students 2019/20: Unavailable
Average class size 2019/20: Unavailable
Controlled access 2019/20: No
Value: Half Unit
