The course offers a close look at the history of the lex mercatoria, its current status as well as the formation of various subcategories, such as a lex petrolea (oil law), a lex maritima (maritime law), lex sportiva (sports law), lex electronica, lex digitalis or a lex informatica (law governing information and communications technologies (ICT). It will also discuss the related problems of economic sanctions and the practice of mixed public-private tribunals.

CILO-1: Students will be able to identify the shortcomings of the present international legal order as well as the contours of an emerging global legal order. CILO-2: Students will be able to demonstrate how public and private (international) law diverge and how they may overlap. CILO-3: Students will be able to assess the dynamics of regime interaction, as exemplified by the emergence of new regulatory regimes, various procedural venues that are available for enforcement of legal rules in various fields such as contracts, intellectual property, and competition rules. CILO-4: Students will be able to interpret the meaning of various international legal documents and court judgments.