Abstract:
The term BRICS is an acronym referring to the countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Since 2011, the BRICS countries have repeatedly qualified their institutional setting as a “dialogue and cooperation platform” organized in regular meetings being held among various governmental and private stakeholders. The annual declarations adopted at BRICS high-level summits pledged to enhance cooperation in the fields of trade, investment, technological development, scientific research and education, as well as many others. In order to supply the much needed educational content for the legal and business cooperation among BRICS countries, the team of faculty members of the University of Macau, Faculty of Law has developed a collaborative research-focused course Advanced Issues of International Trade Law: Business Law in the BRICS Countries.
Broadly speaking, the principal course objective is to familiarize the participants with the concept of the BRICS and their role in the global governance today and tomorrow. More concretely, it aims to assess the regulatory challenges found in the area of the regulation of global business and international trade as well as closely related “non-trade” or “trade-related” areas. To this end, it pays particular attention to the BRICS countries’ individual legal systems, compares their similarities and differences, with a view of assessing both the main areas for mutual cooperation and their impact on the governance of global affairs in the 21st century.
The novelty of this challenging endeavour can be demonstrated in several aspects: (1) team teaching by several instructors; (2) use of blended learning elements (materials and exercises for out-of-class work); (3) use of learning technologies (for example applying polling software to obtain instant student feedback; (4) combination of research and teaching (the students are expected to carry out group research projects resulting in a legal policy brief and presentation); (4) use of peer feedback for grading; (5) development of unique learning materials (comparative study of business laws in BRICS countries and perspectives for legal cooperation in global governance The BRICS-Lawyers’ Guide to Global Cooperation published by Cambridge University Press in 2017; compilation of legal texts and materials The BRICS-Lawyers’ Guide to BRICS Texts and Materials (BRICS-Lawyers, 2019); (6) use of autochthon expertise (featuring guest lectures by academics and legal practitioners from the BRICS countries).
Speaker:
Prof. Alexandr Svetlicinii, Associate Professor of Law, University of Macau, Faculty of Law
Alexandr Svetlicinii is Associate Professor of Law at the University of Macau, where he also serves as Programme Coordinator for the Master of International Business Law in English Language and Academic Staff Advisor at the Centre for Teaching and Learning Enhancement. Prior to joining the University of Macau, he worked as a senior researcher at the Jean Monnet Chair of European Law of the Tallinn Law School. Dr Svetlicinii holds a law degree from the Free International University of Moldova, LL.M in International Business Law with specialization in EU Law from the Central European University, Master of Research (Law) and PhD in Law from the European University Institute. One of the focus areas of his research at the University of Macau is legal cooperation of BRICS countries in the fields of international economic law, including dispute settlement. Alexandr Svetlicinii is co-editor of The BRICS-Lawyers’ Guide to Global Cooperation (Cambridge University Press, 2017) launched at the IV BRICS Legal Forum hosted by the Association of Lawyers of Russia in Moscow, and co-author of The BRICS-Lawyers’ Guide to BRICS Texts and Materials (BRICS-Lawyers, 2019) launched at the BRICS Forum on the International Rule of Law hosted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing.