LLM Programme

Module Convenor:
Dr Fiona Smith

Module summary

Introduction:

This class will examine the WTO trade regime in detail. In particular, the WTO structure, its rules on goods, services, intellectual property, dispute settlement, international agricultural trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barries to trade, rules of origin, safeguards, subsidies and dumping. It will include examination of institutional structures, principles and ‘trade & …’ linkage issues, such as trade and environment, trade and public health and trade and human rights. The WTO Agreement and the reports of the dispute settlement bodies will provide core materials for the class. Students will, however, be expected to read widely in the secondary literature dealing with international trade in order to evaluate current arrangements and policies, and to think constructively about possibilities for reform.

Aims:

• To provide a detailed coverage of the rules of the WTO
• To introduce students to the place of international trade rules within the international legal system
• To place analysis of trade law in a broader normative framework, in order to understand and assess policy spillovers between different regimes;
• To familiarize students with contemporary debates about trade and non-trade values, such as trade and environment/human rights.

Objectives:

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• demonstrate a detailed understanding of the WTO rules;
• critically assess the tension between law, economics and politics in an international regulatory environment;
• evaluate the role of WTO law within its members’ domestic legal systems.
• demonstrate a detailed understanding of the implications of the WTO for non-trade values;
• critically assess the role of the WTO in relation to disputes which implicate non-trade values;
• develop a capacity for innovative thinking in institutional design at the interface between trade and other transnational regimes.
  

Module syllabus

1. Introduction
2. What is the WTO
3. Joining the WTO
4. Monitoring States’ Obligations through non-judicial means
5. Dispute Settlement: Basic Procedures and Principles including obligations of the panel & Appellate Body
6. Dispute Settlement: Treaty Interpretation, Applicable Law & conflicts of law
7. Trade in Goods: GATT
8. Trade in Goods: General exceptions, including security restrictions
9. Trade in Goods: Trade and Environment
10. Trade in Goods: Export Controls
11. Trade in Goods: Restrictions on Fair Trade: Safeguard measures.
12. Trade in Goods: Anti-dumping
13. Trade in Goods: Subsidies
14. Trade in Goods: Agriculture
15. Trade in Goods: Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
16. Trade in Goods: International Standards
17. Trade in Services: GATS
18. Regional Trade Arrangements
19. Trade and Intellectual Property: TRIPS
20. Justice and Global Trade

Recommended materials

S. Lester et al, Word Trade Law 2nd ed. (Hart, 2012)’

Preliminary reading

Michael J. Trebilcock: ‘Understanding Trade Law’ (2011) Edward Elgar.
Andrew Lang: ‘World Trade Law After Neoliberalism: re-imagining the Global Economic Order” (2011) OUP

Other information:

Students may find it helpful to look at the WTO website for general information before starting the course: http://www.wto.org/

The application process for the 2013-14 academic session is open.
The deadline for applications to be received has been extended to Monday 1 July 2013

Please refer to the How to apply section for information on the application process.