Reflections on the Constitutionalisation of International Economic Law


Book Description

This book collects a large number of essays written in honour of Professor Ernst-Ulrich Petersmann by his friends, colleagues and former students. The respective contributions cover the fields of international economic law, international constitutional law/transnational constitutionalism, EU law and human rights. The broad thematic scope of this book mirrors the extremely large field of interests of the jubilarian. Paying tribute to a particular trait of Professor Petersmann ́s character who was always both a dogmatic thinker and a curious researcher, the authors try to cover both structural issues of law as well as most recent developments, in particular in the field of international economic law. “Construing” the constitution of international economic law, in both senses of this activity, was an aim throughout Professor Petersmann ́s academic career and this goal stands also at the heart of this book.




The Shifting Landscape of Global Trade Governance


Book Description

Takes stock of current challenges to the world trading system and develops scenarios for the future.




Social Dimensions of International Law


Book Description

This book contains the presentations of a conference held in the form of a joint symposium in July 2012 in Munich which was hosted by the Faculty of Law of the University of Munich in cooperation with the Max-Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy. It had as its main topic “Social Dimensions of International Law” that served as a chapeau for presentations in both, public and private international law. The presentations cover various social dimensions of a wide field of international and domestic law: among others, International Human Rights Law, International Economic Law, International Environmental Law, Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, International Law of Restitution, International and European Tort Law, Procedural Law and International Labour Law.




Dynamic Interpretation in International Criminal Law


Book Description

The interpretive process in International Criminal Law (›ICL‹) is characterised by a conflict between the requirements for stability and change. On the one hand, ICL provides for the ›criminal‹ responsibility of individuals. Thus, there is an enhanced requirement for legal certainty: According to the principle of legality, the addressee of the law must be able to identify the prohibited conduct in advance in order to be able to avoid criminal sanctions. On the other hand, however, ICL forms part of ›international‹ law. Hence, it derives to some extent from international treaties. Whereas the forms of criminal conduct are continuously evolving, treaties are rather static instruments – they cannot be adapted to a changing environment within a short period of time. Thus, reality is developing at a pace that the law cannot always match. In consequence, there is a certain need to account for evolving circumstances within the framework of interpretation. The aim of this book is to review the consequences of this conflict for the interpretation of ICL. How can the conflicting requirements be brought into balance? Can substantive rules of ICL be interpreted in a ›dynamic‹ fashion to the detriment of the accused without violating the principle of legality? How do international criminal courts and tribunals deal with this issue?




Rigged Rules and Double Standards


Book Description

A critical and detailed analysis of inequalities of world trade systems.




Blame it on the WTO?


Book Description

The WTO is often accused of not paying enough attention to human rights. This book weighs these criticisms and examines their validity, both from a legal and from political and economic points of views. It asks whether the WTO is under an obligation to construct a fairer trade system and discusses suggestions for reform.




The WTO at Twenty


Book Description

This research explores how multilateralism in trade has worked over the past twenty years - and provides some lessons about how it can work in the future. It describes the WTO's achievements across a number of key areas, including: strengthening the institutional foundations of the trade system; widening its membership and increasing participation; deepening trade integration through lower barriers and stronger rules; improving transparency and policy dialogue; strengthening dispute settlement; expanding cooperation with other international organizations; and enhancing public outreach. It concludes that the WTO has achieved much over its first twenty years but the success of the WTO has inevitably given rise to new challenges.




Domestic Regulation and Service Trade Liberalization


Book Description

Trade in services, far more than trade in goods, is affected by a variety of domestic regulations, ranging from qualification and licensing requirements in professional services to pro-competitive regulation in telecommunications services. Experience shows that the quality of regulation strongly influences the consequences of trade liberalization. WTO members have agreed that a central task in the ongoing services negotiations will be to develop a set of rules to ensure that domestic regulations support rather than impede trade liberalization. Since these rules are bound to have a profound impact on the evolution of policy, particularly in developing countries, it is important that they be conducive to economically rational policy-making. This book addresses two central questions: What impact can international trade rules on services have on the exercise of domestic regulatory sovereignty? And how can services negotiations be harnessed to promote and consolidate domestic policy reform across highly diverse sectors? The book, with contributions from several of the world's leading experts in the field, explores a range of rule-making challenges arising at this policy interface, in areas such as transparency, standards and the adoption of a necessity test for services trade. Contributions also provide an in-depth look at these issues in the key areas of accountancy, energy, finance, health, telecommunications and transportation services.




Global Governance by Judiciary


Book Description

One of the most striking innovations in international law of the last decade is the creation of a standing appellate court at the World Trade Organization, "the Appellate Body". While there are other international tribunals with appellate chambers, the WTO Appellate Body stands out for its creation of a rich and controversial body of jurisprudence, crafted through the dozens of rulings it has made since 1996. In areas such as trade and environment, and trade and health, the Appellate Body has stepped into some of the most heated trade conflicts of the post-Seattle world. This book examines the WTO Appellate Body as the first full blown international law experiment with "routine" appellate review. Issues covered include the choice of interpretative method by the Appellate Body, its internal operations (for example the role of collegiality and the staff in the Appellate Body Secretariat), the Appellate Body's understanding of its own jurisdiction and mandate, and the argument put by critics that the Appellate Body has been engaging in inappropriate "judicial activism", especially in sensitive areas such as the review of domestic trade remedy (dumping, subsidies and safeguards) cases. As the first book length analysis and assessment of the Appellate Body, this volume will be of interest to trade law specialists, but also to all those who are concerned with the relationship of law to politics in global governance, and with the role of the international judge.