The LLM as supported by Hibernia College offers specialisations in International Business Law and Commercial and Corporate Law and consists of the following four courses, with each course delivered in four sections:
1. Foundational and constitutional issues in company law
2. Corporate finance and management issues in company law
3. International investment law
4. Regulation and infrastructure of international commercial arbitration
Foundational and constitutional issues in company law
Section A: Company law foundational issues I
- Introduction
- Corporate theory
- The types and functions of companies
Section B: Company law foundational issues II
- Company formation, promoters and pre-incorporation contracts
- Corporate personality and limited liability
- Lifting the veil of incorporation
Section C: Company law constitutional issues I
- The ultra vires doctrine and other attributions issues (tort – corporate crime)
- The articles of association and shareholders agreements
Section D: Company law constitutional issues II
- Majority rule
- Minority protection
Corporate finance and management issues in company law
Section A: Capital I
- Introduction
- Capital
- Class rights
Section B: Capital II
- Raising capital: Shares
- Raising capital: Debentures
Section C: Corporate Management I
- The management of the company
- Directors’ duties
- Liquidation (in outline only)
Section D: Corporate Management II
- Management theory
- Corporate governance
International investment law
Section A: Evolution of the law of foreign investment
- Origins of the law of foreign investment: the early years
- National standards v. international minimum standard
- National treatment and the Calvo doctrine
- The duty to compensate and the Hull formula
Section B: International efforts to regulate foreign investment
- United Nations efforts
- Efforts made by the World Bank
- OECD efforts
- The role of the World Trade Organization
Section C: Regulation under bilateral and regional investment treaties (BITs)
- Origins of BITs
- The content of BITs
- Significance of BITs
- Regional treaties: NAFTA
Section D: The case-law on the treatment of foreign investment
- Fleshing out of the principles of the law of foreign investment
- Definition of expropriation and nationalization
- Determination of the quantum of compensation
- Extending the frontiers of expropriation
Regulation and infrastructure of international commercial arbitration
Section A: Regulation and infrastructure of arbitration
- Delimitation, definition and juridical nature
- Institutional and regulatory infrastructure
- Constitution, human rights and arbitration
- Arbitration and the courts
Section B: Arbitration agreement
- Autonomy, types, and applicable law
- Formal and substantive validity
- Interpretation of agreements
- Drafting arbitration clauses
Section C: Arbitration tribunal
- Selection and appointment of arbitrators
- Rights and duties of arbitrators
- Independence and impartiality of arbitrators
- Challenge and removal of arbitrators
Section D: Investment arbitration and specialist arbitration
- Arbitration with states and state-owned entities
- Arbitration of investment disputes
- Specialist and mixed arbitration
- Online dispute resolution
