LLAW6225 Antitrust and Competition Law in the Global Economy Course Descriptor

Course Overview

This course aims to provide an advanced understanding of modern antitrust and competition law in its global context. It seeks to cover the main areas of competition law that a student would be most likely to encounter in practice, enforcement, or further legal research. It will address comparative material from major competition law systems (e.g., US, EU, UK, China), and how these interact when a deal or practice of concern crosses borders and is addressed by multiple regulators. The course also addresses regulation and deregulation using case studies from recent interventions.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding

Subject Specific Skills

Transferable and Employability Skills

Teaching and Learning

This course has a dedicated Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) page with a syllabus and range of additional resources (e.g. readings, question prompts, tasks, assignment briefs, discussion boards) to orientate and engage students in their studies

The scheduled teaching and learning activities for this course are:

Interactive lectures/seminars 

40 scheduled hours – typically including induction, consolidation or revision, and assessment activity hours.

• Version 1:all sessions in the same sized group

OR 

• Version 2: most of the sessions in larger groups; some of the sessions in smaller groups

Faculty hold regular ‘office hours’, which are opportunities for students to drop in or sign up to explore ideas, raise questions, or seek targeted guidance or feedback, individually or in small groups. 

Students are to attend and participate in all the scheduled teaching and learning activities for this course and to manage their directed learning and independent study.

Indicative total learning hours for this course: 150

Assessment

Both formative and summative assessment are used as part of this course, with purely formative opportunities typically embedded within interactive teaching sessions, office hours, and/or the VLE. 

Students select a topic for their written assignment with support from the course leader, and present on this topic as part of their grade.

Summative Assessments

Further information about the assessments can be found in the Course Syllabus.

Feedback

Students will receive formative and summative feedback in a variety of ways, written (e.g. marked up on assignments, through email or the VLE) or oral (e.g. as part of interactive teaching sessions or in office hours).

Indicative Reading

Note: Comprehensive and current reading lists are produced annually in the Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students; the indicative reading list provided below is for a general guide and part of the approval/modification process only.

• Books: The course leader reviews the currency of text and casebooks and makes a recommendation at the start of the course.
• Journals: The leading law journals are referred to in the course, e.g. Modern Law Review, Cambridge Law Review, and the Law Quarterly Review. Sometimes, continental, Commonwealth and U.S. journals are referred to, guided by the needs of the topic. Economic materials may also be assigned where relevant, e.g. work from leading economic journals.
• Electronic Resources: Westlaw, Lexis and Bailii provide access to the main cases. Additional materials are drawn from the websites of the UK Competition and Markets Authority and other relevant regulators.

Indicative Topics

Note: Comprehensive and current topics for courses are produced annually in the Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students; the indicative topics provided below are used as a general guide and part of the approval/modification process only.

• An introduction to antitrust competition law, policy, and economics in global context
• Merger control
• Horizontal and vertical agreements 
• Dominance and monopolization
• Contemporary case studies