The Constitutionalization of the World Trade Organization

The Constitutionalization of the World Trade Organization PDF Author: Deborah Z. Cass
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 306

Get Book Here

Book Description
This is a book about the constitutionalization of the World Trade Organization, and the contemporary development of institutional forms and democratic ideas associated with constitutionalism within the world trading system. It is about constitutionalization enthusiasts who promote institutions, management techniques, rights discourse and quasi-judicial power to construct a constitution for the WTO. It is about constitutional skeptics who fear the effect the phenomenon of constitutionalization is having on the autonomy of states, the capacity of the WTO to consider non-economic and non-free-trade goals, and democratic processes at the WTO and within the nation-state. The aim of the study, then, is to disentangle debates about the various meanings of the term 'constitution' when it used to apply to the World Trade Organization, and to reflect upon the significance of those meanings for more general international law conceptions of constitutions. Cass argues that the WTO is not and should not be described as a constitution, either by the standards of any received account of that term, or by the lights of any of the current WTO models. Under these definitions serious issues of legitimacy, democracy and community are at stake. The WTO would lack a proper political structure to balance the work of its judicial bodies; it may curtail the ability of states to decide matters of national economic interest; it lacks authorization by a coherent political community; and, it risks an emphasis upon economic goals and pure free trade over other, equally important, social values. Instead, Cass argues that what is needed is a constitutionalized WTO which considers the economic development needs of states and takes account of the skewed playing field of international trade and its effect on the economic prospects of developing countries. In short, trading democracy, legitimacy and community and not trading constitutionalization, are the biggest challenges facing the WTO.

The Constitutionalization of the World Trade Organization

The Constitutionalization of the World Trade Organization PDF Author: Deborah Z. Cass
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 306

Get Book Here

Book Description
This is a book about the constitutionalization of the World Trade Organization, and the contemporary development of institutional forms and democratic ideas associated with constitutionalism within the world trading system. It is about constitutionalization enthusiasts who promote institutions, management techniques, rights discourse and quasi-judicial power to construct a constitution for the WTO. It is about constitutional skeptics who fear the effect the phenomenon of constitutionalization is having on the autonomy of states, the capacity of the WTO to consider non-economic and non-free-trade goals, and democratic processes at the WTO and within the nation-state. The aim of the study, then, is to disentangle debates about the various meanings of the term 'constitution' when it used to apply to the World Trade Organization, and to reflect upon the significance of those meanings for more general international law conceptions of constitutions. Cass argues that the WTO is not and should not be described as a constitution, either by the standards of any received account of that term, or by the lights of any of the current WTO models. Under these definitions serious issues of legitimacy, democracy and community are at stake. The WTO would lack a proper political structure to balance the work of its judicial bodies; it may curtail the ability of states to decide matters of national economic interest; it lacks authorization by a coherent political community; and, it risks an emphasis upon economic goals and pure free trade over other, equally important, social values. Instead, Cass argues that what is needed is a constitutionalized WTO which considers the economic development needs of states and takes account of the skewed playing field of international trade and its effect on the economic prospects of developing countries. In short, trading democracy, legitimacy and community and not trading constitutionalization, are the biggest challenges facing the WTO.

International Dispute Settlement in an Evolving Global Society

International Dispute Settlement in an Evolving Global Society PDF Author: Francisco Orrego Vicuña
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521842396
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 188

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Lauterpacht Research Centre for International Law, University of Cambridge."--T.p.

Efficiency, Equity, and Legitimacy

Efficiency, Equity, and Legitimacy PDF Author: Roger B. Porter
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
ISBN: 9780815771630
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 468

Get Book Here

Book Description
Despite its widely acknowledged contribution to global prosperity over the past half century, the movement toward further liberalization has increasingly been challenged. This collection of essays examine several key issues at the heart of the debate over the multilateral trading system.

Treaty Interpretation by the WTO Appellate Body

Treaty Interpretation by the WTO Appellate Body PDF Author: Isabelle Van Damme
Publisher:
ISBN: 0199562237
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 487

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book analyzes how the Appellate Body uses particular principles of general international law in interpreting the WTO covered agreements. It deals equally with general international law and WTO law. The aim is to explain how the Appellate Body interprets and applies customary international law on treaty interpretation in dealing with the WTO covered agreements. The main concern is to analyze the judicial reasoning and ways of justifying judicial decision-making. In particular, it answers the question of how the Appellate Body explains its reading of WTO treaty language. It is argued that the Appellate Body has interpreted the WTO covered agreements in a contextual and effective manner, an approach that corresponds with general international law. The character of the WTO covered agreements has, nevertheless, confronted the Appellate Body with some questions of interpretation that were until recently unexplored or neglected by other courts and tribunals. In that sense, the Appellate Body has contributed to the development of general international law on treaty interpretation, or at least to its practice. WTO law is primarily treaty law, but increasingly soft law and broader themes and values from other disciplines, such as governance, variable geometry and legitimacy, are introduced and discussed. Customary international law - with the exception of the principles of treaty interpretation - and general principles of law are often seen as excluded entirely. An ancillary theme of this proposed monograph is the extent to which customary international law and general principles of law have penetrated WTO law through the technique of treaty interpretation.

Redesigning the World Trade Organization for the Twenty-first Century

Redesigning the World Trade Organization for the Twenty-first Century PDF Author: Debra P. Steger
Publisher: Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press
ISBN: 1554581745
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 498

Get Book Here

Book Description
Two high-level commissions—the Sutherland report in 2004, and the Warwick Commission report in 2007—addressed the future of the World Trade Organization and made proposals for incremental reform. This book goes further; it explains why institutional reform of the WTO is needed at this critical juncture in world history and provides innovative, practical proposals for modernizing the WTO to enable it to respond to the challenges of the twenty-first century. Contributors focus on five critical areas: transparency, decision- and rule-making procedures, internal management structures, participation by non-governmental organizations and civil society, and relationships with regional trade agreements. Co-published with the International Development Research Centre and the Centre for International Governance Innovation

The International Constitutional Order

The International Constitutional Order PDF Author: Erika de Wet
Publisher: Amsterdam University Press
ISBN: 9056293877
Category : International agencies
Languages : en
Pages : 35

Get Book Here

Book Description
This title can be previewed in Google Books - http://books.google.com/books'vid=ISBN9789056293871.

Judges in Contemporary Democracy

Judges in Contemporary Democracy PDF Author: Justice Stephen Breyer
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 0814789714
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 540

Get Book Here

Book Description
Law, politics, and society in the modern West have been marked by the increasing power of the judge: the development of constitutional justice, the evolution of international judiciaries, and judicial systems that extend even further into social life. Judges make decisions that not only enforce the law, but also codify the values of our times. In the summer of 2000, an esteemed group of judges and legal scholars met in Provence, France, to consider the role of the judge in modern society. They included Robert Badinter, former president of the Constitutional Council in France; Stephen Breyer, Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States; Antonio Cassese, the first president of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia; Dieter Grimm, former vice president of the Constitutional Court of Germany; Gil Carlos Rodriguez, president of the Court of Justice of the European Union; and Ronald Dworkin, formerly of Oxford University, now professor of philosophy and law at the New York University Law School. What followed was an animated discussion ranging from the influence of the media on the judiciary to the development of an international criminal law to the judge's consideration of the judge's own role. Judges in Contemporary Democracy offers a rare and intimate glimpse into the powers and the role of judges in today's society.

The United Nations Charter as the Constitution of the International Community

The United Nations Charter as the Constitution of the International Community PDF Author: Bardo Fassbender
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004175105
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 228

Get Book Here

Book Description
The a oeconstitutionalizationa of international law is one of the most intensely debated issues in contemporary international legal doctrine. The term is used to describe a number of features which distinguish the present international legal order from a oeclassicala international law, in particular its shift from bilateralism to community interest, and from an inter-state system to a global legal order committed to the well-being of the individual person. The author of this book belongs to the leading participants of the constitutionalization debate. He argues that there indeed exists a constitutional law of the international community that is built on and around the Charter of the United Nations. In this book, he explains why the Charter has a constitutional quality and what legal consequences arise from that characterization.

Global Governance by Judiciary

Global Governance by Judiciary PDF Author: Robert Howse
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781841133454
Category : Foreign trade regulation
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Get Book Here

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.

Ruling the World?

Ruling the World? PDF Author: Jeffrey L. Dunoff
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521735490
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 432

Get Book Here

Book Description
Ruling the World?: Constitutionalism, International Law, and Global Governance provides an interdisciplinary analysis of the major developments and central questions in debates over international constitutionalism at the UN, EU, WTO, and other sites of global governance. The essays in this volume explore controversial empirical and structural questions, doctrinal and normative issues, and questions of institutional design and positive political theory. Ruling the World? grows out of a three-year research project that brought twelve leading scholars together to create a comprehensive and integrated framework for understanding global constitutionalization. Ruling the World? is the first volume to explore in a cross-cutting way constitutional discourse across international regimes, constitutional pluralism, and relations among transnational and domestic constitutions. The volume examines the core assumptions, basic analytic tools, and key challenges in contemporary debates over international constitutionalization.