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Summer school

Maritime BERGEN Law Summer Programme 2022

The Maritime BERGEN Law Summer Programme 2022 was a great success. However, the programme will not be offered in 2023.

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The maritime industry has a long and proud tradition in Bergen and represents Norway ’s most global cluster of competence. In MBLSP, students will get an introduction to several areas of law relevant to the maritime business sector.
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About the Programme

The University of Bergen Faculty of Law together with Maritime Bergen, offer a 3 week summer study programme in Bergen, Norway. Students who complete the course will be awarded 5 ECTS credits.  

Bergen is the maritime capital of Norway, and the programme provides an introduction to Maritime Law in a broad sense. The maritime business sector is of great national importance. In addition, it represents huge opportunities for cooperation between international enterprises across our borders.  

The programme is hosted by University of Bergen Faculty of Law, generally recognized as Norway's most international law faculty. Classes are taught in English by Norwegian and international scholars and practicioners who are experts in their fields.

During the three-week long programme, there will be classes in the mornings, and in the afternoons there will be site visits to businesses and government offices operating in the maritime business sector. 

There is also time reserved in the programme for exploring the city and the area around Bergen on your own, or together with fellow students.  

The complete programme for this years summer school can be found at the bottom of this page. Minor changes might still occur. The final programme will published in week 31.

For course description, please consult this webpage https://www.uib.no/en/course/MBLSP-1 

Curriculum

The programme is composed to cover the various stages of the life cycle of a ship. Starting out from ship finance, offshore and shipbuilding contracts, and sale and purchase of vessels, and continuing to contracts for the carriage of goods and passengers, marine insurance, and liability for damage, loss, and delays. Arbitration and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) are also components of the programme, with a particular emphasis on the Nordic Arbitration Model which is a recognized and often preferred model for solving disputes internationally, also in the maritime business sector.

In addition to maritime law in the narrow sense, the programme will touch upon other topics related to the ocean, such as the regulatory framework for aquaculture, energy law and climate change in a maritime context, and environmental law and marine pollution.

The curriculum will included the following subjects:

  • The maritime business sector – essential features 
  • The sale of goods on shipment terms: the essentials of CIF and FOB contracts
  • Contracts for the carriage of goods by sea: charter parties and bills of lading at work 
  • Ship finance 
  • Regulatory framework for aquaculture
  • Sale and Purchase of Vessels
  • Offshore Contracts and Shipbuilding Contracts
  • Liability for damage, loss and delay
  • Arbitration: With a Special Emphasis on Nordic Arbitration 
  • Energy & Climate change in a maritime context
  • Environmental law and marine pollution
  • Marine insurance 

Teaching

Lectures and seminars are held at the University of Bergen Faculty of Law from Monday 8 August through Friday 26 August. Some of the lectures will also be held on site during company- and government office visits.

The programme starts with a social get-together on Sunday 7 August and ends with an informal farewell gathering in the evening of Friday 26 August.

Lecturers

A total of 13 different lecturers will contribute to the 2022 programme, in addition to the presentors during the visits and field trips. The lecturers are professors and researchers, or experienced practicioners from the maritime sector. 

Among the practicioners lecturing in the 2022 programme, are representatives from

Field trips

In addition to classroom lectures and discussions, each student’s learning experience is enriched through a series of field trips to some of Maritime Bergen's member companies. The companies represent the whole value chain of the maritime cluster; ship owners, service providers, shipyards and equipment manufactures.

The students will get to know more about the maritime industry, the companies and learn about the competence that the region of Bergen possess within the maritime industry.

In 2022, the programme include the following visits:

 

Application Procedures and Eligibility

Application is open to international students enrolled as an exchange student at the faculty of Law for autumn semester 2022/ Autumn and spring semester 2022/2023.

To be eligible, students should have previous knowledge of law. By previous knowledge of law, we expect that students have studied law courses equaling approximately two years of law studies before the programme starts. Previous knowledge of Maritime Law is not required. 

Students should also have a good command of English, both written and spoken. 

Norwegian students:

10-15 students enrolled in the MAJUR or MAJUR-2 programme may be admitted.

Interested students must submit an application according to the instructions and deadline which will be published annually in MittUiB well in advance of the next upcoming summer programme.

If the number of applicants is greater than the number of places available for Norwegian students, students will be selected based on the quality of their application. The selection is done by the course leader and the course administrator.

Given that there are places available, students who attended the 2018 0-credits version may attend the MBLSP course again to gain ECTS credits.

Given that there are places available, students who complete their master of law degree between the time of application and the start of the Summer Programme, may attend the programme enrolled as POSTMAJUR students.

However, students who will still be enrolled in the MAJUR or MAJUR-2 programme at the time of the Summer Programme, will be selected before students who according to plan will complete the master of law degree before the start of the Summer Programme.

Costs

There are no tuition fees for the programme.

Transportation to field trip sites and cost of admission to sites included in the programme are taken care of by the organisers.
 

Travel and Preparation, Arrival and Departure

Programme participants are responsible for making their own travel arrangements and for obtaining their own visas.

There will be a social get-together on Sunday 7 August, while the lectures start on Monday 8 August.

Neither the University of Bergen Faculty of Law nor the student's home university will be responsible for personal injury, illness, or property damage or loss. Participants must purchase health insurance valid for the duration of their stay, and may also wish to consider an insurance for lost or damaged luggage, and trip cancellation insurance.

Compulsory Assignments and Attendance

Attendance of lectures and excursions which are part of the programme is mandatory. An up to 25 % deviation from the general rule of 100 % attendance can be accepted.

In case a student who attended the 2018 0-credits version wishes to attend the programme again to earn ECTS credits, attendance of lectures and excursions in 2018 does not count towards later versions of the course. This is due to the key role Norwegian students have in the implementation of the programme, acting as hosts for the international students.

Forms of Assessment

Take home exam

Students will be required to write a reflection paper upon completion of the programme (approximately 3000 words). The paper shall be based on two or three of the questions/topics provided by the lecturers in the programme. The deadline for submitting the paper is three weeks after the end of the programme, and the paper must be submitted in Inspera.

The reflection paper must be an individual, original work by the student, complying with academic and scientific ideals following academic standards for citation and references.

The reflection paper will be evaluated on a pass/fail basis.

When a need for resit occurs, this will be organized on an individual basis.