Master of Laws — International Economic Law — Conquest Designer University

Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management · CDU-LAW-IEL-900 · LLM · v1.0.2

Master of Laws — International Economic Law

The rules that move goods, money and disputes across borders: Incoterms® 2020 risk and cost allocation, landed cost with duties and VAT, WTO dispute settlement timelines, and the clauses an international commercial contract must carry.

Lineage

Wits School of Law, 2017 — LLM International Economic Law — supposed to be

Final research project

Open standards as trade law: the payment door, the PAN, and the energy-indexed unit as instruments of cross-border settlement

Syllabus

Incoterms® 2020: the eleven rules, risk transfer, cost allocation, export/import clearance
Customs valuation and landed cost: duty, VAT, and the total cost of an import
WTO dispute settlement: the DSU timeline from consultations to adoption
International commercial contracts: the clauses that cannot be missing

Reference

Incoterms® 2020: ICC publication 723E; risk and cost allocation between seller and buyer
Customs value (SA): FOB value + 10% uplift for duty; VAT on (customs value + duty) at 15%
DSU Art. 4: consultations: 60 days before a panel may be requested
DSU Art. 12: panel report: 6 months from composition (9 at most)
DSU Art. 17: Appellate review: 60 days (90 at most)
DSU Art. 16: adoption: within 60 days of circulation unless appealed

Units

Incoterm risk and cost allocation · Landed cost of an import · WTO dispute settlement timeline · International contract clause check

Role when narrated: You are an international trade lawyer advising a merchant. Say what the rule is, cite it, apply it to the facts, and end with what the merchant should do — and say plainly what is legal advice and what is a calculation.

Incoterm risk and cost allocation · incoterm_allocation

Try with the example

Under a given Incoterms® 2020 rule, when does risk pass, who pays carriage and insurance, and who clears customs?

Reference: Incoterms® 2020 (ICC)

Returns

group: E, F, C or D
riskTransfers: When risk passes from seller to buyer
sellerPaysMainCarriage: Seller pays the main carriage
sellerPaysInsurance: Seller must insure
sellerClearsExport: Seller clears export
sellerClearsImport: Seller clears import (DDP only)
modeSuitable: The rule suits the transport mode
note: What to watch

The example

{
  "incoterm": "CIP"
}

Agents: POST /faculty/llm-international-economic-law/incoterm_allocation with JSON {pan, …inputs} and the x-402-payment header. Manifest.

Landed cost of an import · landed_cost

Try with the example

What does an imported consignment cost once duty and VAT are paid, and what is the landed cost per unit?

Reference: SA practice: customs value = FOB × 1.10 for duty; VAT 15% on customs value + duty (+ 10% uplift on ATV); other jurisdictions: set uplift to 0

Returns

valueForDuty: Customs value used for duty
duty: Customs duty
valueForVat: Added tax value
vat: Import VAT (usually recoverable by a registered vendor)
landedCost: Total landed cost including VAT
landedCostExVat: Landed cost excluding VAT
landedCostPerUnit: Per unit, excluding VAT

The example

{
  "fobValue": 250000,
  "freight": 18000,
  "dutyRate": 0.15,
  "units": 500
}

Agents: POST /faculty/llm-international-economic-law/landed_cost with JSON {pan, …inputs} and the x-402-payment header. Manifest.

WTO dispute settlement timeline · wto_dispute_timeline

Example filled in — consult below

From a request for consultations, when can a panel be requested, when is the report due, and when is it adopted — with and without appeal?

Reference: DSU Articles 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 17, 21

Returns

panelMayBeRequested: Earliest panel request (60 days after consultations)
panelComposed: Panel composition
panelReportDue: Panel report (6 months from composition)
panelReportLatest: Panel report, outer limit (9 months)
adoptionOrAppeal: Adoption (60 days) or appeal decision
appellateReport: Appellate report (90 days outer limit), if appealed
reasonablePeriodOutside: Outer limit of the reasonable period to comply (15 months after adoption)
totalMonths: Months from consultations to adoption

The example

{
  "consultationsRequested": "2026-11-01",
  "appealed": true
}

Agents: POST /faculty/llm-international-economic-law/wto_dispute_timeline with JSON {pan, …inputs} and the x-402-payment header. Manifest.

International contract clause check · contract_clause_check

Try with the example

Which of the twelve clauses an international commercial contract needs are present in this text, and which are missing?

Reference: ICC Model International Sale Contract; UNIDROIT Principles; practice

Returns

present: Clauses found
missing: Clauses not found, with why they matter
score: Present ÷ 12
complete: Every clause present

The example

{
  "contractText": "Agreement between Seller and Buyer. Governing law: South Africa. Arbitration under AFSA rules. Payment terms net 30 in ZAR. Delivery FCA Johannesburg Incoterms 2020. Force majeure applies. Liability limited. Termination on notice. Confidential. Sanctions compliance. Signed."
}

Agents: POST /faculty/llm-international-economic-law/contract_clause_check with JSON {pan, …inputs} and the x-402-payment header. Manifest.