To celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL), to pass on the vibrant culture and spirit of CUPL, and to highlight the characteristics of the university’s training of international legal talents, the China-EU School of Law (CESL) launched the ‘CESL Special Courses Series’ to feature some courses from the CESL curriculum.

Brief Introduction of the Course

International Business Law, taught by Professor Susan-Gale Wintermuth, is an elective class offered by the China-EU School of Law for first-year students of the double masters in the Winter semester. The course was first launched in 2016 in off-line form. Although Prof. Wintermuth cannot come to Changping campus currently because of the pandemic, she is still able to provide students with a comprehensive learning experience using online classroom meetings.

International Business Law focuses on the content of international trade law, international litigation and arbitration, international shipping and payments, and other related topics. In the section of International Trade Law, the Professor will explain the overview and specific provisions of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), and show the importance and reality of a uniform application of law in international trade through vivid cases studies. In the section on International Dispute Resolution, the Professor will first lead the students to learn about conflict of laws, followed by the introduction of Forum Shopping and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). In the International Shipping and International Payments section, the Professor will explain Incoterms, letters of credit, and so on.

Prof. Susan-Gale Wintermuth

Moot Court

On the afternoon of 9 November 2021, the International Business Law class was held as usual in classroom 305 of the Mingfa Building, but the content of the class was different. To give students a real understanding of CISG and dispute resolution mechanisms, the class held a Moot Court competition in which all students were able to participate, either as counsel for the plaintiff or counsel for the defendant.

Case Information

The case highlighted a common problem in contracts, the lack of sufficient detail. It involved the sale of lights by a Chinese seller to a German buyer, but the contract did not specify if the lights were for general use or specifically for the Christmas season. When the lights did not arrive in Germany in time for the Christmas pre-sale season, the German seller attempted to avoid the contract claiming a fundamental breach under CISG, Article 25.

Case Preparation

A week before the Moot Court, Teaching Assistants YANG Youquan and FEI Teng explained to the students how the Moot Court would be conducted and answered their basic questions. After the meeting, the TAs grouped the 20 oralists into two groups of 10 students, with five oralists from each side, three of whom were responsible for pleading while two of whom were responsible for rebuttal.

The Competition

Although the case is quite simple, students had to develop their arguments. As the rounds progressed, the arguments became more sophisticated as the teams learned from each other.

The Competition

In order to give students a more realistic experience, four “arbitrators” with previous mooting experience were invited: JIA Shuxian (FDI Moot oralist), LI Jinglian (Jessup Moot coach), YANG Youquan (Vis Moot coach) and FEI Teng (Vis Moot coach).

Four “Arbitrators”

Comments from Prof. Wintermuth

This is an exercise that brought home to the students that there is not "one question, one answer" as both parties to the dispute had good grounds for arguing their opposing legal positions. And, hopefully, the exercise interested students in pursuing alternative dispute resolution in their legal careers.

International Business Law can broaden students’ knowledge and vision of private international law and international economic law. It can stimulate students’ theoretical thinking and practical reflection in the field of international law, present students with vivid case studies on the historical context and contemporary practice of international business law.

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Written by: YANG Youquan, FEI Teng, CESL double master from 2020 intake