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LAW.237 Principles of Commercial Law
2022-23
MODULE HANDBOOK
Dr Nkechikwu Azinge | Lancaster University Law School | 2022/23
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Introduction
This is a 30-credit module that introduces second year undergraduates to the core areas of
commercial law. It is not to be confused with typical ‘business law’ courses, in that it
assumes prior knowledge of contract law, and does not address wider business legal issues
such as business organization or commercial property.
Module Delivery
Module delivery is based on a mix of weekly lectures and seminars. Seminars are scheduled
to commence in week 3. See the seminar schedule below for further information.
Teaching materials (lecture handouts, PowerPoint slides, transcripts, seminar material, etc)
can be found on the Law.237 Moodle site. Office hours information will also be found on the
Moodle site.
Aims and Objectives
The course aims to:
• introduce candidates to the concept and varieties of commercial risk(s);
• examine underlying principles governing commercial law;
• introduce students to key commercial transactions in English law;
• encourage students to understand the nexus between various areas of commercial law;
• help students understand the implications of insolvency on commercial transactions; and
• equip students to consider the options for resolving commercial disputes.
Learning Outcomes: On successful completion of the module students should be able to:
• demonstrate increased level of commercial awareness;
• comprehend the importance of business models and transactions covered in the module;
• demonstrate analytical and critical thinking skills on commercial law issues;
• identify commercial issues from given scenarios;
• engage and develop their legal research and writing skills on commercial issues; and
• demonstrate the ability to hold constructive dialogue with tutors and colleagues on the
subject.
Syllabus
Nine topics are covered on the module. These are shown in the Teaching Schedule on page 6 of
this handbook. All but one of the topics has both lectures and an associated seminar. There is no
seminar for Topic 9, which we believe is sufficiently taught through lectures and private study
alone. For every topic there will be a Handout, containing the reading list for the topic and
instructions for seminar preparation, including seminar questions.
Dr Nkechikwu Azinge | Lancaster University Law School | 2022/23
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Relevant Resources
We expect you to use a mix of primary and secondary sources of law i.e. cases, legislation,
articles, textbooks etc. – the prescribed/recommended reading for each topic is set out in the
reading list for each seminar. The prescribed textbook for this module was actually written
with Law.237 especially in mind – two of the joint authors will be lecturing you this year,
and a third was module convenor before moving universities – you should get your own
copy:
Richard Austen-Baker et al, Principles of Commercial Law (Edward Elgar Publishing:
Cheltenham, 2022).
Assessment
One 3h10m examination in summer term – 50%. This is split into two sections:
Section A – 40 multiple-choice questions; answer all questions.
Section B – 5 questions (mix of essay and problem questions); answer one question.
Each section is worth 50% of the examination.
One Coursework – 50%
Students will be given coursework questions at some point in Michaelmas term.
Three questions will be set.
Students must answer ONE out of the three questions set.
The assessed piece of coursework will be submitted at the start of the Lent term. The submission
date will be posted on Moodle.
Coursework must be submitted in accordance with the Law School’s submission policy.
Electronic submission is used to aid the assessment of the work and to allow the confirmation of
the word counts. It also allows for the use of plagiarism detection software. Please note that
assessed coursework must be completed from scratch in the Law School template. If you cut and
paste in finished work without following the formatting, you will lose the benefit of the template,
which is automatic and consistent formatting. All headers in the template must be filled in
correctly with student number and module mnemonic (that’s the word used by Lancaster to
describe the code for the module, which is really the reverse of a mnemonic).
Dr Nkechikwu Azinge | Lancaster University Law School | 2022/23
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Word Limit
The word limit imposed on the coursework for this course forms an important part of the
assessment concerned. In assessing the mark to be awarded examiners will take into account the
extent to which a word limit has been exceeded in judging how a student has complied with the
requirements of the assessment. The penalty for over-length coursework is that staff stop reading
work at the word limit, and the mark will be awarded on the basis of what has been read.
Students will be required to certify the number of words within a particular piece of coursework.
All words, other than the footnotes and bibliography, must be counted in this process, although
expansion of text in footnotes is not acceptable.
Law School Referencing Guide
For advice on proper referencing in written work see the 2022/2023 Law School: Things you
Need to Know. OSCOLA referencing should be used. Bibliographies contain secondary sources
only. However, table of cases and legislation may be included separately. Please do not use bullet
points or numbered lists as a style of writing except where you are specifically setting out a list.
Return of Coursework
Coursework will usually be returned within 4 weeks of submission. Relevant information about
this will be published on Moodle.
Materials in Examinations (only for physical examinations)
Students may take into the final examination commercially published anthologies of unannotated
UK or EC legislation.
Only book-bound commercially published anthology is permitted, no photocopies or printouts
from electronic sources.
Clean materials are essentially those which have no textual additions (other than an indication of
the ownership of the material). Any form of non-textual marking such as highlighting,
underlining or marking with tabs, whether they be colour coded or not, is allowed. Any textual
annotation or addition is not allowed, that includes any symbols or words added to the material
of any type, and any textual indexing on tabs or headings, even if the heading simply reproduces
the material in the text.
Moderation of Marks
The marks on this module are moderated using the ‘Sampling’ method.
Dr Nkechikwu Azinge | Lancaster University Law School | 2022/23
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Criteria for Assessment
The Coursework and Essay/problem section of the examination are marked in accordance with
the University’s marking criteria (see 2022/2023 Law School: Things You Need to Know).
The pass mark for this module is 9.0.
Formative Assessment
On this module, you will have the chance to check your understanding following the end of
teaching on each topic, by taking the topic quiz. These are just like the quizzes in Law of
Contracts, except that in LAW.237 these quizzes do not count towards your mark for this
module. Each topic has lectures (some have more lectures than others), followed by a seminar.
The seminars are taught across a two week cycle after the completion of the lectures on the topic.
The quiz for each topic will open when the seminars for that topic have finished for all students
on the module. They will then remain open, so that you can re-test yourself at any time.
Past students have found summative and formative assessment, alongside lecture/seminar
content, quite engaging. Feedback from last year’s students gave a score of 4.14 out of 5 for the
module as a whole.
Assessment Expectation
The better you do these things the better your mark will be.
1. Understanding – including interpreting the assessment task correctly, providing relevant
and accurate information, and demonstrating an understanding of that material.
2. Applying – including analysis and critical evaluation of the issues covered and accurate
application of substantive knowledge to the assessment task.
3. Researching – including using a good range of appropriate sources, effective referencing
and precise citation.
4. Communicating – including structure, coherence, grammar and clarity.
Teaching Team
The module is convened by Dr Richard Austen-Baker (RAB) in Michaelmas Term and Dr
Nkechikwu Azinge (NA) after Christmas. In addition to the convenors, the teaching team
comprises Dr Mukarrum Ahmed (MA) and Maxwell Obesi (MO). Lectures are delivered by
RAB, MA, and NA, while seminars are delivered by MA and MO in Michaelmas Term and by
MA and NA in Lent Term.
Dr Nkechikwu Azinge | Lancaster University Law School | 2022/23
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Teaching Schedule
For your guidance, a schedule of lectures and seminars is shown below. Please note that in
exceptional circumstances it may need to be amended as the course progresses. We will give
you as much notice as possible through email and Moodle of any changes.
Week Lecture Topic Lecturer Seminar Topic
M1 (1) Introduction RAB No seminar
(2) Agency
M2 Agency RAB No seminar
M3 Sales RAB Agency
M4 Sales RAB Agency
M5 Sales RAB No seminar
M6 Bailments RAB Sales
M7 Bailments RAB Sales
M8 Carriage of goods by sea MA Bailments
M9 Carriage of goods by sea MA Bailments
M10 Carriage of goods by sea MA No seminar
L1 Documentary payments NA Carriage of goods by sea
L2 Documentary payments NA Carriage of goods by sea
L3 Sources of finance NA Documentary payments
L4 Sources of finance NA Documentary payments
L5 Dispute resolution MA Sources of finance
L6 Dispute resolution MA Sources of finance
L7 Effects of insolvency NA Dispute resolution
L8 Key principles NA Dispute resolution
L9 Key principles NA Effects of insolvency
L10 Exam preparation session NA Effects of insolvency
Attendance at seminars is compulsory and monitored. Failure to attend could lead to exclusion
from the University. If you are facing problems with attendance, support is available through the
Law School Office, your Year Tutor, your Academic Advisor, and your College Advisors. The
schedule shown above may be subject to change to accommodate the needs of the course.
Contact Outside Teaching
Should you have any queries about the Module generally, please address these to the Module
Convenor. This can be done in 3 ways – I would suggest trying them in order unless the nature of
the query is ill suited to one or other method.
1. Post your query in the ‘Discussion Forum’ section of the Module page on Moodle. This
has the benefit that all students can see the answer to your query to their own benefit.
2. Email the Module Convenor or your seminar tutor. As we can usually access email from
anywhere you are more likely to get a relatively prompt response.
3. Use the lecturers or tutors Office Hour. If you need to discuss a matter in-person/virtually
you can utilise my weekly office hours. Office hours vary from term to term but can be
found on their office door.
Dr Nkechikwu Azinge | Lancaster University Law School | 2022/23
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Please note that the entire teaching team are happy to help you. Last year, the module scored 4.24
out of 5 for helpfulness of teaching staff.
Study Time
Student activity in lectures and seminars leads little explanation. Private study forms much of
learning time for the module. In that time, you are expected to revise and expand your lecture
notes, prepare for seminars, undertake wider suggested reading from lectures, undertake your
own reading from related materials, prepare your assessed coursework, and revise all material for
the examinations. We expect you to use a mix of primary and secondary sources of law
during this time as the depth and relevance of legal materials relied upon is a criterion in
your assessments.
Feedback
We aim to provide students with feedback on their progress on the module in four ways:
1. through guidance on the discussion/chat forum on our Moodle page;
2. through seminar interactions;
3. through feedback on the quizzes; and
4. through feedback on the assessed coursework.
Other methods of feedback, including feedback meetings or examination-preparation sessions and
tools are also be used.
At the end of the module you will be emailed and asked to provide feedback through an online
questionnaire. Your anonymous responses will be used to monitor and optimise the quality of this
module in the future.
Dr Nkechikwu Azinge | Lancaster University Law School | 2022/23
