Welcome to the course International Commercial Law (15 credits) at Mälardalen University.
I am truly looking forward to beginning this course again. It has been a year since the previous session started, and this year, I am introducing more AI tools into the curriculum. My ambition is for us to develop effective habits when utilizing AI within a legal environment. There are numerous pitfalls we must learn to navigate and avoid. Remember: we do not become lawyers simply by subscribing to an AI tool; however, we can definitely enhance our legal argumentation skills by using these tools correctly.
Once again, I wish you a warm welcome to what I hope will be a rewarding and intellectually stimulating course.
Best regards,
Krister
Important Information: The Blog
As part of our learning journey, we will utilize my professional blog. This platform is more than just a website; it is a legally protected publication under the Swedish Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression (YGL).
Key takeaways for you as a student:
- Constitutional Protection: The blog holds a formal publishing certificate, ensuring strong legal protections for freedom of speech.
- Source Protection (Källskydd): I have a statutory duty to protect the identity of anyone who provides information for publication. Authorities are legally barred from investigating these sources.
- Educational Purpose: This is a space for dialogue on law, economics, and AI. It promotes transparency and critical thinking beyond the classroom.
- Legal Disclaimer: While the content is designed to sharpen your legal mind, it serves educational purposes only and does not constitute formal legal advice.
Hello! On cases in the group assignment, there are the ”judgment of the court” and the ”opinion of advocate general”. Should we read both of them or just one?
Hi,
To answer your question directly: while the ”Judgment of the Court” is your primary source of law, you should absolutely read both if you want to achieve the depth required for this specific assignment.
Here is why this distinction matters for your analysis:
1. The Judgment of the Court: The Final Word
The Judgment is the legally binding decision. It represents the collective voice of the judges.
• Purpose: It outlines the final interpretation of the Charter and Treaties.
• Style: Often written in a more formal, sometimes ”staccato” style to ensure consensus among the judges.
• Requirement: You must use this to identify the legal tests the Court employs and how they weigh conflicting interests.
2. The Opinion of the Advocate General (AG): The ”Roadmap”
The AG is an independent advisor to the Court. Their opinion is not binding, but it is often much more detailed and discursive.
• Why read it? The AG often explores the alternative interpretations and normative implications that your instructions specifically ask you to investigate.
• Critical Thinking: Comparing where the Court followed the AG and where they disagreed is a goldmine for your ”Critical Analysis” section.
• Systematic Relationship: AGs often do the heavy lifting in explaining how a case builds upon or breaks from established practice.
Pro-Tip for your Group Work
Your instructions state that the analysis should go beyond merely reproducing the court’s reasoning.
By reading the AG’s opinion, you gain access to a ”critique” of the law before the final judgment was even written. This will make your Critical Analysis (Pages 2-7) significantly stronger and much easier to write.
Best regards,
Krister
Hello Krister,
For some reason we can’t download the cases for the group assignment and if we convert it to PDF we only get one page and not the full doc.
Is there anything we can do to access the cases so we can upload them into notebook?
Hello everyone,
It seems some of you are only getting the first page when trying to save them as PDFs.
Let’s look at this as a practical exercise in legal research: The documents are available, but you must be persistent to find the complete versions.
Navigating the System
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) database can be difficult to navigate at first. It often takes some trial and error to locate the full-text versions and format them correctly for your digital notebooks.
To make things easier, please try using this direct link to access the resources: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/advanced-search-form.html?action=update&qid=1770140726136
Why Persistence Matters
In the professional world of commercial law, the information you need isn’t always easy to find.
Whether it is a specific clause in a contract or a difficult-to-find court ruling, a lawyer’s job is to keep searching until they succeed. Use this as an opportunity to build those research skills.
Keep at it—the full documents are there.
Best regards,
Krister
Hello! I just wanted to share a small suggestion regarding Lecture 3, Video 2:
I had a bit of difficulty grasping the concept of grammatical interpretation of law when the pine cone example was used. Personally, I found the example of vehicles much easier to understand. For instance, if a law states “no vehicles in the park,” what does that actually mean? Cars are the obvious example, but does it also include electric scooters, bicycles, toy cars, or sledges?
I thought this example made the concept clearer. Just a small tip 🙏🏽 thank you for an otherwise great and well illustrated video!
Hi,
I sincerely appreciate your feedback regarding the pine cone example; it was certainly a bit ”stuck in the woods.”
I will incorporate the vehicle dilemma into the upcoming course summary as a replacement.
Please continue to share these insights—it is precisely this level of critical thinking that enhances the quality of our course.
Best regards,
Krister
Which website should I use to search for the assignment’s cases?
Hi,
You will find an instructional video under Lecture 2, titled ’MOVIE: How to find a case from the ECJ.
Best regards,
Krister
Hello,
When will we be getting instructions for the group assignment?
Hi
It is published on Canvas
Best regards,
Krister
Hi, I have some small thoughts about the different cases.
I understand that you should read them and understand them. What more concrete things are we supposed to do? I have asked AI to explain them etc., but is the idea to do something more with them than understanding all these cases?
Moving from ”Reading” to ”Applying” Law
Hi!
That is a very good question. It touches on the exact transition you need to make from being a student who memorizes to a legal professional who analyzes.
It is one thing to read the cases and understand the stories; it is quite another to utilize them as tools in your professional legal practice.
Here is why we do this and what you should be doing more concretely.
The Core Objective: Mapping the Mechanics
The purpose of reading these specific cases is to understand the technical concept of Direct Effect and its various ”flavors.” You shouldn’t just know what happened; you should know how the legal machinery works.
When you study a case, focus on identifying:
The Legal Act involved: Is it a Treaty provision, a Directive, or a Regulation?
The Variation of Direct Effect: Is it Vertical (individual vs. state) or Horizontal (individual vs. individual)?
The Alternative: If Direct Effect isn’t applicable, does the court apply Indirect Effect (interpreting national law to reach the same goal)?
Why this matters: Dual Vigilance
The Court has introduced these concepts to create what is known as Dual Vigilance in EU law. By allowing individuals and companies to invoke EU law in national courts, the EU ensures that Member States follow the rules not just because the Commission is watching, but because everyone is watching.
Your task is to reflect: What are the implications for a company or an individual in different EU countries? How does a ruling in Luxembourg practically change the legal standing of a client in Sweden?
Three Concrete Steps for Your Study
If you want to go deeper than just ”understanding” the plot, try this:
Read the EU Book: Go back to the chapter regarding the concept of Direct Effect. The textbook provides the academic framework that connects all these separate cases into one coherent system.
The ”Non-Student” Challenge: Take your Lecture Slides and try to explain their content to someone who isn’t studying law. If you can translate ”Vertical Direct Effect of a Directive” into plain language that a friend can understand, you truly know the material.
Analyze the ”Who”: Always look at the parties. If the defendant was a private company instead of the state, would the result be different? This helps you understand the limits of the law.
Please make a comment if my answer is unclear 🙂
Best regards,
Krister
First lecture complete.
Reflecting on the session, I realized during my video edits that the lecture might have featured a bit too much discussion on AI. On the other hand, we will be utilizing these technologies extensively, and as mentioned, I am still learning the extent of your proficiency with these various tools. Time will tell!
Additionally, I felt my initial explanation of the Socialist Law system could have been clearer. You can find a more comprehensive definition by using an AI tool—such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, or Claude—with the following prompt:
”If you categorize the global legal landscape into systems such as Common Law, Civil Law, Theocratic Law, Socialist Law, Traditional Law, and Mixed Law, how would you describe the Socialist Law system?”
I have added a detailed AI-generated response to the notes section of my PowerPoint slides for my reference. Moving forward, I will strive to provide more nuanced answers to such complex questions.
I have also launched the Study Guide AI – Spring 2026 on our Canvas homepage. Please feel free to share your feedback on the first lecture—I welcome both your positive insights and constructive critiques.
Best regards,
Krister
Hi
Sunday evening reflections: GDPR and the ”New Normal”
It is Sunday evening, 8 PM. I am sitting here at home office preparing the final details for our 9 AM lecture tomorrow. I am looking at a complex court case regarding the protection of personal data.
I am thinking about how to teach this tomorrow. Should I just show the judgment on the screen like usual? Or should we do something more modern?
I am tempted to use NotebookLM. My idea is to upload the old Directive (the one that was valid when the case was decided) and the current GDPR. Then, we can teach the AI to find the differences in real-time. This is how many lawyers work today—they use AI to compare old law with new law to see what has changed.
A concern for the group
I must be honest with you: I am a bit worried. I see that many of you are not really using AI yet.
In this course, AI is a progression. We start with small steps, but it builds up. If you are not ”on the train” now, you will have a very hard time with the mandatory assignment later in the course. You cannot ”cram” AI skills at the last minute; you need to practice now.
Where are the comments?
I also noticed our blog is very quiet. The students in the Tax Law course are posting much more than we are! Why is that? Are you shy, or just busy?
I want this blog to be a place where we talk. It doesn’t have to be a perfect academic essay—just your thoughts on Commercial Law.
I will decide tonight how we do the lecture tomorrow. Maybe I will surprise you with a live AI demo. See you at 09:00!
Best regards;
Krister
Krister,
Thank you for sharing your reflections. I think it’s good that you try to develop the course and show how legal work is changing. At the same time, I want to be honest about why the blog has been quiet and why some students seem less engaged.All of us are using AI not for the first year already, but the challenge right now isn’t whether we’re “on the train” with tools like NotebookLM. The bigger issue is that we’re struggling with the core structure of the course and the commercial law theory we need to understand to pass the exam.
This is what most of us feel unsure about:
1. What the “main framework” is (the core concepts, rules, and how they connect)
2. What we are expected to be able to do at exam level
3. How the lectures, readings, and cases fit together into one clear progression
When a lot of lecture time goes into AI methods and demonstrations, it feels like we’re missing the fundamentals: the legal reasoning, the main doctrines, and the exam-focused overview. That uncertainty makes it harder to participate, comment, or even know what to ask because many of us don’t feel we have the baseline map of the subject yet.
I’m saying this respectfully, but directly: we need more commercial law teaching and clearer guidance, and AI should be a supporting tool but not the main focus.
If we had the clarity, I’m confident the blog would be more active and attendance would improve because people would feel they understand what they’re working toward.
I hope you take this in the constructive spirit it’s meant. We want to learn, and we want the course to work. But right now, many of us feel the commercial law part needs to be stronger and more structured.
Hi,
First of all, thank you for this comment. This is exactly the kind of honest feedback I want to see on this blog! It takes courage to speak up, and I appreciate your constructive spirit.
I hear you loud and clear. You want the ”baseline map” of Commercial Law. You want to know how the rules connect so you can feel safe for the exam. This is my main priority too.
Here is my plan for the rest of the course:
Structure first: When we talk about case law, I will start by ”zooming out” to explain how the cases fit into the bigger picture of Commercial Law. I will be more clear about what is exam-level knowledge. We have now covered the basics of EU Law, and the following subjects will be more clear Commercial Law—starting with Contract Law.
AI as a ”Map Maker”: I understand that the AI demos can feel like a distraction if you don’t know the law yet. My goal with NotebookLM isn’t to replace the law, but to show you a tool that helps you find that structure faster. But I hear you—we need to make sure the ”legal foundation” is solid first.
The ”Big Picture”: I will provide a clearer overview of how the lectures, cases, and readings fit together. I don’t want anyone to feel lost.
The Assignment: The assignment is now published on the course homepage. It will give you a clear picture of what the first exam looks like. I have also published several earlier exams and suggested answers. I hope these will help you see the requirements and the ”big picture.”
A challenge for you: Now that the ”ice is broken,” keep telling me where the gaps are! If a concept is unclear, ask here on the blog. If you don’t know how a case connects to the theory, post it.
I will make the commercial law part stronger and more structured, and we will use AI only as a support tool to help us understand that structure.
Best regards,
Krister