Online Law 2022-2023

Those operating in the dispute resolution field need to understand some of the legal principles which underpin activity in this area. This course covers the main principles of contract law (which underpins the negotiation, arbitral and mediation contracts) tort/delict (which can be a basis for liability as an alternative to contract in arbitral proceedings) and some of the rules of civil evidence (which can apply in arbitration, with some implications around privilege and confidentiality for negotiation and mediation). This course can (along with other courses) contribute to Fellowship exemption with the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

This course offers students the opportunity to study the theory of mediation and to develop their skills in mediation practice. The course is designed to enable students to learn independently, with ongoing facilitation and support from experienced teaching staff. Students are encouraged to interact with tutors, peers and study groups to develop knowledge, understanding and interpersonal skills, which are critical for the effective practice of mediation. In addition, students will study conflict theory and communication skills, as well as the process and theory of different models of mediation and their application in the many areas where mediation is practised.

Students will be encouraged to critically reflect on their own styles and learning, a pre-requisite for effective mediation practice. It will look in detail at the full range of generic mediation skills, making it suitable for prospective mediators in all situations and jurisdictions.

A successful student will achieve a good understanding of the basic principles of conflict resolution with some practical experience of mediating disputes.

This course contributes (with the Advanced Mediation Practice course) to exam exemption towards Membership of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

Arbitration is growing in popularity as a dispute resolution method across a variety of sectors, and internationally. The law in this area is technical and complex, and a full understanding of how it operates is essential for anyone advising clients, or framing contracts carrying arbitration clauses.

This course offers exemption from the Membership exams of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

This course provides a detailed overview of key legal and regulatory issues in the development of hydrocarbon resources. Teaching will be by a variety of methods including podcasts, directed reading, and interactive discussion. The course will cover: the physical and technical context of hydrocarbon development; the geopolitical context of hydrocarbon development; energy security in the context of climate change; national oil companies; petroleum licensing; production sharing agreements; fiscal arrangements; international maritime boundaries and joint development agreements.

This course provides a detailed overview of key issues in health and safety law and environmental regulation in the context of the oil and gas industry.  Teaching and instruction will be by a variety of methods including podcasts, core readings, discussion boards and interactive discussion.  The course will cover such topics as: regulatory theory (the different modes of regulation, including command and control and goal-setting), health and safety (with specific sub-topics to include the UK regime, the US regime, the Australian regime, Well integrity, Identity of regulator) and environmental regulation (public law, private law, prevention, liability, vulnerable areas).  This course is available to students registering for the Online LLM Oil and Gas Law programmes (Dissertation or Professional Skills).

This course provides a detailed overview of the international and domestic legal regulatory framework pertaining to the decommissioning of offshore oil and gas installations. Teaching and instruction will be by a variety of methods including podcasts, directed reading, and interactive discussion. Topics covered are: International law of the sea; global legal regime for offshore decommissioning; dumping – the UNCLOS, London and Oslo Conventions; Implementing international law in the UK and the Brent Spar Case; Legal and regulatory consequences of Brent Spar; the ongoing evolution of UK decommissioning law; the comparative dimension; waste. This course is available to students registering for the Online LLM Oil and Gas Law programmes (Dissertation or Professional Skills) and MSC Decommissioning.

This course provides a detailed overview of the cooperative contracts utilised to govern the commercial relationship between oil and gas companies when they form consortia in order to bid for and develop oil and gas assets.  Teaching and instruction will be by a variety of methods including podcasts, core readings, discussion boards and interactive discussion.  The course will cover such topics as the purpose and key terms of Area of Mutual Interest agreements; Confidentiality Agreements; Joint Bidding Agreements; Joint Operating Agreements and Unitisation and Unit Operating Agreements.  It will provide a detailed discussion of selected issues including the significance of the legal nature of the joint venture, the problem of dissensus between the co-venturers and the legal issues arising from a default in a party’s obligations under the joint venture.  This course is available to students registering for the online LLM Oil and Gas Law programme (Dissertation or Professional Skills).

This course examines the key foundational principles of WTO law. The principles that the course focuses on include non-discrimination, tariffs, quantitative prohibitions, subsidies, and transparency in sanitary and phytosanitary measures. The course also considers the WTO dispute settlement. 

The course examines legal issues arising in relation to international sale contracts, governed either by English Common Law/ SOGA 1979 or by the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (Vienna, 1980) (CISG).  This course acknowledges the importance of sale in international trade, and it is designed in a way to offer a myriad of legal concepts and rules under English law and the CISG.

This course explores interactions between the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and crucial trade issues.  It critically analyses classical and contemporary challenges in the context of agriculture, environment, intellectual property rights, investment, human rights/labour rights and development. Description: The course considers crucial issues relevant to the WTO's multilateral trading system.  With the surge in international trade triggered by globalisation, the WTO presents - often lengthy and complex - rules of trade between nations to organise producers of goods and services in their business transactions. Employing a mix of authoritative primary and secondary sources, the course covers core issues in the WTO's architecture.

This course examines the most common methods of payment and finance in the context of international sale of goods.  This includes documentary letters of credit, demand guarantees, and newly developed financing methods by technological innovation such as supply chain finance and invoice trading.

The aim of this course is to study the substantive legal issues arising from disputes under international investment agreements. The course examines the interplay between a state's right to regulate and substantive protections offered to foreign investors to protect their investments, including fair and equitable treatment (FET) and expropriation. It will be an interactive and dynamic course; students will have the opportunity to work on a FET lab.

This course studies the procedural issues arising from investor-state arbitration. The course will discuss the different aspects of the investor-state arbitration process, starting from the differences between commercial and treaty disputes, studying the notion of sovereign immunity and the understanding of the procedural issues that often arise, such as transparency, the role of amicus curiae and enforcement of international investment awards.

The vast majority of disputes and differences of a civil, that is, non-criminal nature are resolved before one of the parties commences legal proceedings. Somewhere between 85% and 95% of those disputes and differences are resolved before the commencement of the hearing of the legal proceedings.

This course will examine issues such as:

1. International business contracts - Negotiations, drafting and conclusion;
2. Conflict and business disputes - Why to choose ADR and the possibility to renegotiate;
3. Developing strategies for negotiations;
4. Different negotiation tactics and perspectives;
5. Cognitive influences
6. Power and persuasion.

Attendance in Aberdeen is required 16/17/18 March 2020. This course builds on the learning and knowledge gained in the Mediation Theory and Practice course (completion of which is a prerequisite). Students will be encouraged to critically evaluate current practices in mediation and learn more advanced mediation techniques and strategies for use in more complex situations. A deeper understanding of conflict theory and peace studies will form a core part of this course as will the legal context in which mediators operate, both from a UK and international perspective.

This course (along with the pre-requisite course Mediation Theory and Practice course) permits exam exemption towards Membership of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators

Arbitration is growing in popularity as a dispute resolution method across various sectors, in domestic, international and transnational disputes. The law in this area is technical and complex. A full understanding of how it operates is therefore essential for anyone advising or representing clients, framing contracts carrying arbitration clauses or serving as an arbitrator. This course builds on the International Arbitration Law course and takes the practical aspects of arbitration to a deeper level. This course can contribute (along with other courses) to exam exemption towards Fellowship of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

Those operating in the dispute resolution field need to understand some of the legal principles which underpin activity in this area. This course covers the main principles of contract law (which underpins the negotiation, arbitral and mediation contracts) tort/delict (which can be a basis for liability as an alternative to contract in arbitral proceedings) and some of the rules of civil evidence (which can apply in arbitration, with some implications around privilege and confidentiality for negotiation and mediation). This course can (along with other courses) contribute to Fellowship exemption with the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

This course provides a detailed overview of the law relating to risk allocation provisions in oilfield contracts.  Teaching and instruction will be by a variety of methods including podcasts, core readings, discussion boards and interactive discussion: Role of insurance, public policy challenges, gross negligence, third party issues and solutions, limitations of different solutions, different approaches in jurisdictions, contractual interpretation. This course is available to students registering for the Online  LLM Oil and Gas Law programmes (Dissertation or Professional Skills).

This course provides a detailed overview of the international and domestic law and regulatory regime pertaining to the proper governance of petroleum developments.  Teaching and instruction will be by a variety of methods including podcasts, core readings, discussion boards and interactive discussion.  Topics will include:  what is  governance, Regulation / governance theory, the State's role in governance, The role of legal institutions, The role of NOCs in governance, Norwegian approach, Transparency, Corruption, Use of law to counter corruption, Uganda, Greenland. This course is available to students registering for the Online LLM Oil and Gas Law programmes (Dissertation or Professional Skills).

The course provides students with a comprehensive overview of the commercial issues which arise when decommissioning offshore installations.  The course will focus in particular upon the UK example.  It will consider standardised documentation including LOGIC and BIMCO contracts,  key contractual clauses, innovative contracting models and the legal (including tax) issues which arise as a result of decommissioning costs.

This course provides a detailed overview of oil and gas international arbitration proceedings in the context of foreign investments. This course is the basis for understanding the particular issues of disputes in the energy sector and reviews the key issues that interact in the dispute resolution process in the industry. The course will cover topics such as: applicable law and lex petrolea, the Energy Charter Treaty, stabilization and renegotiation clauses and extensive discussion on gas supply, upstream oil and climate change disputes. Teaching and instruction will be via  methods including podcasts, core readings, discussion boards and interactive discussions.

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

This course examines the key foundational principles of WTO law. The principles that the course focuses on include non-discrimination, tariffs, quantitative prohibitions, subsidies, and transparency in sanitary and phytosanitary measures. The course also considers the WTO dispute settlement. 

The course examines legal issues arising in relation to international sale contracts, governed either by English Common Law/ SOGA 1979 or by the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (Vienna, 1980) (CISG).  This course acknowledges the importance of sale in international trade, and it is designed in a way to offer a myriad of legal concepts and rules under English law and the CISG.

This course explores interactions between the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and crucial trade issues.  It critically analyses classical and contemporary challenges in the context of agriculture, environment, intellectual property rights, investment, human rights/labour rights and development. Description: The course considers crucial issues relevant to the WTO's multilateral trading system.  With the surge in international trade triggered by globalisation, the WTO presents - often lengthy and complex - rules of trade between nations to organise producers of goods and services in their business transactions. Employing a mix of authoritative primary and secondary sources, the course covers core issues in the WTO's architecture.

This course examines the most common methods of payment and finance in the context of international sale of goods.  This includes documentary letters of credit, demand guarantees, and newly developed financing methods by technological innovation such as supply chain finance and invoice trading.

Running from February to May each year, this course is intended to equip distance learning students with the skills required to begin work on writing the dissertation course (LS5910). Students will be given online lectures relating to writing the dissertation and also given the opportunity to plan their dissertations with academic members of staff in the School of Law.

Running from May to mid-August, this course is intended to support distance learning students in progressing, completing an, finally, submitting their 10.000-word (online) dissertation on the topic they have previously chosen and agreed upon with their advisers.  Students will be given the opportunity to discuss their progress with their advisers as well as with other students enrolled on the same course.

The course will provide an understanding for petroleum data managers from legal, commercial and security standpoints of contemporary legal challenges involving data protection and privacy from commercial, state and activist perspectives such as big data and data mining; intellectual property; regulatory frameworks; competition law.

This course provides a detailed overview of the international and domestic legal regulatory framework pertaining to the decommissioning of offshore oil and gas installations. Teaching and instruction will be by a variety of methods including podcasts, directed reading, and interactive discussion. Topics covered are: International law of the sea; global legal regime for offshore decommissioning; dumping – the UNCLOS, London and Oslo Conventions; Implementing international law in the UK and the Brent Spar Case; Legal and regulatory consequences of Brent Spar; the ongoing evolution of UK decommissioning law; the comparative dimension; waste. This course is available to students registering for the Online LLM Oil and Gas Law programmes (Dissertation or Professional Skills) and MSC Decommissioning.