International Business Contracts

Due to their business dynamics, enterprises - including small and medium enterprises - have frequent interactions with clients, suppliers and partners established abroad, and often move their production processes to other countries, or offer goods and services on foreign markets. International contracts are the most important tools to govern business relationships that include such interactions and processes, and have become a critical asset for the development of business activities. Business relationships of this kind give rise to questions that usually do not come up in contracts signed between two parties established in the same country, notably which law is applicable to such relationships - including supranational substantive law - and which courts have jurisdiction to settle any dispute arising out of such contracts. Moreover, the increasing importance of digital technologies for business activities has led to the rise of e-commerce, which facilitates the conclusion of international contracts, but also presents new challenges for transnational business relations. In light of these considerations, the course aims to provide adequate knowledge to enable students to assess the legal effects of globalisation on trades. Therefore, the course will cover the fundamentals of private international law and the relevant case law. In this perspective, by the end of the course students will be equipped with the tools needed to assess the contents of the main types of contracts used in international trades, as well as the most frequent consequences arising out of international contracts.

Through this course, students will learn to use the correct terminology of international contract law. They will also become familiar with the typical elements of the most common contract types, and with the legal institutions of private international law that have a relevance for contracts. In particular, this knowledge will enable students to critically analyse how the transnational nature of a contract can affect the identification of governing law and jurisdiction over potential disputes. They will learn how to solve similar legal matters in practice, by applying the rules and regulations studied during the course. In other words, students will not simply know the contents of the rules applicable to each case, but will also be able to identify such rules in a real-case scenario, as they will learn to navigate through the stratified system of legal texts adopted at a national and supranational level with regard to international contracts. They will also acquire the necessary skills to address the main challenges posed by the progressive digitalisation of commerce, with a focus on the impact of new technologies on the conclusion of international contracts and on the matters of private international law analysed during the course. Lectures will not be limited to the theoretical bases, but will focus on the practical aspects of the subject. Thanks to these legal skills and to the proficiency achieved in their languages of study - as reflected in their individual study plan - students will be able to work in international and multilingual contexts, notably for businesses operating on an international scale, as well as to further their education with a Master's degree.