The Dispute Settlement Reports of the World Trade Organization (WTO) include Panel and Appellate Body reports, as well as arbitration awards, in disputes concerning the rights and obligations of WTO members under the provisions of the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization. These are the WTO authorized and paginated reports in English. An essential addition to the library of all practising and academic trade lawyers, and needed by students worldwide taking courses in international economic or trade law. Volumes IV to VIII report on European Communities - Measures Affecting the Approval and Marketing of Biotech Products.

The impact of the European Community and European Community law on taxation is becoming increasingly important. EC law influences not only national tax law but also tax treaties. This book focuses on the question of whether anti-abuse provisions in tax treaties may be in conflict with EC law, especially the fundamental freedoms contained in the EC Treaty. This issue is dealt with from the perspective of Austria, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. Though most problems arise with regard to the limitation on benefits clauses contained in the tax treaties concluded between EC Member States and the United States, the book also addresses the compatibility with EC law of other anti-abuse clauses and assesses the consequences of a possible conflict. EUCOTAX (European Universities Cooperating on Taxes) is a network of fiscal institutes of European universities - nine in 1998. This network aims at initiating and co-ordinating both comparative education and comparative research on taxation. The comparative education is structured by various means, e.g. organizing winter courses and guest lectures. Comparative research is realised by means of joint research projects, international conferences and exchange of researchers from various countries.

This work focuses on the EU's participation in the Dispute Settlement Proceedings (DSP) of the WTO for matters of non-conferred competences. The underlying thesis is that the joint membership of the EU and its Member States is fallacious, in that it could cause the EU to become responsible for violations of the WTO regulations on the part of the Member States. Such fallacies are rooted in the blurred nature of the distribution of powers in the EU polity.In order to tackle the issue of international responsibility, the analysis is based on the facts of a real-world case. Based on the tenets of public international law, the law of mixed agreements and the EU constitutional principles, the book puts forward a model for the EU's participation in the DSP, and for the reallocation of burdens to the respective responsible entity. This proposition deconstructs the joint responsibility regime and endorses a solution that could address the issue of responsibility in mixed agreements without a declaration of powers.

This book discusses the relationship between democracy and the financial order from various legal perspectives. Each of the nine contributions adopts a unique perspective on the legal and political challenges brought to the fore by the Global Financial Crisis. This crisis and the ensuing sovereign debt crisis in Europe are only the latest in a long series of financial crises around the globe in recent decades. By their very existence, but also as a result of the political turmoil they have created, these financial crises testify to the well-known tensions between democracy and a market-based economic and financial order. However, what is missing in this debate is an analysis of the role of law for reconciling democracy with a market-based financial order. To fill this lacuna, the book focuses on the controversy surrounding the concept of law, thereby adding another variable to the debate on the relation between democracy and capitalism. Each chapter addresses the concept of law from a particular theoretical angle, be it a full-grown legal theory or an approach in political economy that has a particular view of the law.

'Ruhmkorf's thought-provoking book has a powerful message: that we cannot rely on the discretion of business to promote CSR voluntarily. Through the devastating example of the Rana Plaza disaster, Ruhmkorf shows that we must get beyond business rhetoric and develop a multidimensional approach to the regulation of global supply chains. Whilst recognising the existing limitations of private law, his book highlights the potential contribution of private law to the development and promotion of CSR. The task is not an easy one, but by adopting a pluralistic approach to corporate law and by employing contract law, consumer law and tort law more dynamically, English private law could fill many of the regulatory gaps. The message is urgent and strong. This is a must read book for anyone concerned with CSR, supply chains and the law.' - Charlotte Villiers, University of Bristol, UK 'This book fills an important gap in discussions of international CSR standards. It is all very well to say that states must protect and companies should respect human rights, but when breaches of human rights do occur, it is remedies that matter. Ruhmkorf explores the limits of private law avenues for seeking such remedies. In so doing, he provides a valuable understanding of obstacles to fuller realization of the three-pillared ''Protect, Respect and Remed'' Framework of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. - Alice de Jonge, Monash University, Australia Current debate surrounding social responsibility has neglected to fully comprehend the important role of national private law in achieving socially responsible conduct in business. This insightful book demonstrates how private law makes a significant contribution to the promotion of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and how it could be improved. Based on the analysis of four substantive areas (company law/corporate governance, contract law, consumer law and tort law), this inclusive book covers a full range of issues that are important for CSR. These include directors duties, corporate reporting, the incorporation of CSR policies into the supply chain, consumer rights and the tortious liabilities of companies. The book discerns how national private law in the home state of multinational enterprises can legally affect their socially responsible conduct worldwide. Andreas Ruhmkorf demonstrates that private law already promotes and, with certain amendments, could better promote CSR in the regulation of global supply chains. The book's findings are applied to the collapse of the Rana Plaza Building in Bangladesh, which offers a supportive empirical insight. As an up-to-date and comprehensive survey of CSR and global supply chains, this work will benefit researchers and practitioners interested in the fields of CSR, private law, international law, political economy, international labor standards and sustainable supply chains.

This provocative study investigates the question of whether, and to what extent, stringent EC process or production standards affect regulatory standards in the US and Canada through their effects on trade. Four highly controversial issues - animal trapping methods, beef growth hormones, genetically modified foods and food products, and protection of personal information in data transfers - are examined in great detail. The author combines legal research (EC regulations and directives, WTO cases, national and international regulatory standards and exceptions, records of negotiation and arbitration, and other sources), political and economic analysis, and information and insights gained from 67 personal interviews with officials and representatives of several types of interest groups. The result is a forceful and convincing portrayal of how the major powers are dealing with this most fundamental and complex problem affecting international trade today. This timely study is of extraordinary value in its potential to elucidate comparable manifestations of this fundamental problem in a wide variety of cases, issue areas, and countries, and in its interdisciplinary approach. As such it will be valuable to all lawyers, policymakers, and scholars in the field of international trade and regulatory politics.

Most of the world s redundant ships are scrapped on the beaches of the Indian sub-continent, largely by hand. As well as cargo residues and wastes, ships contain high levels of hazardous materials that are released into the surrounding ecology when scrapped. The scrapping process is labour-intensive and largely manual; injuries and death are commonplace.

Ship breaking was a relatively obscure industry until the late 1990s. In just 12 years, action by environmental NGOs has led to the ratification of an international treaty targeting the extensive harm to human and environmental health arising from this heavy, polluting industry; it has also produced important case law.

Attempts to regulate the industry via the "Basel Convention" have resulted in a strong polarization of opinion as to its applicability and various international guidelines have also failed because of their voluntary nature. The adoption of the "Hong Kong Convention" in 2009 was a serious attempt to introduce international controls to this industry."

This topical and important book identifies the short to medium-term economic, financial and social consequences of Brexit. Containing perspectives from leading thinkers across legal, economic and financial fields, it considers both the general effect of UK withdrawal on the European integration process, and the specific impact on the free movement of capital, goods and people. Addressing the main areas within both the UK and the EU that can and will be affected by Brexit, including the financial sector, immigration, social rights and social security, After Brexit: Consequences for the European Union will make fascinating reading for all those currently engaged in the study and practice of Law, Economics, Finance, Political Science, Philosophy, History and International Affairs.

This book argues that the trade-distorting effects of advantages associated with SOEs are more severe from an economic perspective, and the behavior of SOEs after receiving advantages is of more concern, compared to private-owned enterprises (POEs). The premise is that the existence of SOEs per se is not the essential problem; rather, the underlying problems are (i) the disproportionate granting of advantages to SOEs (compared to POEs) and (ii) the behavior of SOEs once they receive advantages. The book offers a systematic analysis focusing on the various advantages granted to SOEs and their subsequent behavior. Its detailed analysis reveals the inadequacy of current WTO rules and is complemented by a number of concrete proposals.

The book provides a comprehensive and practical overview of arbitration in the People's Republic of China. The process of arbitrating a dispute is described from the perspective of a non-Chinese individual or business. Readers are guided through the typical course of events in an arbitration process. By avoiding both excessive technicality and undue simplification, the book appeals to both law professionals and business managers, and is useful for practitioners and non-experts alike. Recent developments in Chinese law on the matter, up to the first quarter of 2015, has been taken into account in order to provide readers with a pragmatic, up-to-date presentation of the topic. For the same reasons, illustrative reference is made to the Shanghai FTZ Arbitration Rules. The relevant provisions are noted throughout the text; the three appendices at the end of the book allow for easy referencing of the main legislation and regulations. The appendices include English versions of the most important PRC Statutes and Interpretations of Statutes on arbitration, the Arbitration Rules of the main Chinese arbitration institutions and the official Model Arbitration Clauses suggested by those institutions.

Despite its growing significance, the legal scrutiny of RTAs remains an underdeveloped academic field. This book considers how the interplay between multilateral and preferential liberalisation of trade in services increasingly raises concerns, both from the perspective of the beneficiaries of such liberalisation and that of regulators. With the application of a thorough article-by-article analysis, the author shows how these concerns lead to vast underutilisation of, and often prejudice against, the benefits of services liberalisation. The book meticulously analyses and compares the EU's obligations under the GATS and the services chapters of several RTAs to finally assess the merits of the various concerns. This book will be an invaluable resource for students and scholars of law and related subjects. It will also be of interest to government officials looking for a detailed analysis of the topic, and practitioners looking for a framework for analysing RTA provisions.

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) are the first major multilateral treaties to impose obligations on governments concerning the protection and treatment of foreign investments. These obligations are enforceable by private companies. NAFTA and the ECT examines the effectiveness of the investment rules of these treaties and analyzes the mechanisms adopted to enhance compliance, and to facilitate the implementation and enforcement of the relevant rules and regulations. Coverage of this work includes: a conceptual analysis of the precise meaning and theoretical foundation of compliance, implementation, and effectiveness; an examination of issues of direct effect and direct international responsibility in terms of the practical question of the treaties' impact on the domestic regimes of states; an exploration of the issues of transparency and monitoring to achieve enhanced compliance; and a close look at a number of key links in the field - between the investment rules and the workings of national legal and governmental systems, between national and international law, between different disciplines involved (international law, international relations, international politics, and economics), and between transparency and compliance monitoring. NAFTA and the ECT also offers several helpful features, including results from a questionnaire-based survey circulated to the main players in the realm of foreign investment which offer insights on the prevalent perception of the industry towards NAFTA and the ECT; and suggested provisions and frameworks which would enhance the effectiveness of the investment rules. The issues probed and conclusions reached and the interdisciplinary and comparative approach taken should make NAFTA and the ECT a a useful resource for academics, policymakers, and others interested in the effectiveness of international investment agreements and the tools employed in their implementation and enforcement.

This book explores the future of cyber technologies and cyber operations which will influence advances in social media, cyber security, cyber physical systems, ethics, law, media, economics, infrastructure, military operations and other elements of societal interaction in the upcoming decades. It provides a review of future disruptive technologies and innovations in cyber security. It also serves as a resource for wargame planning and provides a strategic vision of the future direction of cyber operations. It informs military strategist about the future of cyber warfare. Written by leading experts in the field, chapters explore how future technical innovations vastly increase the interconnectivity of our physical and social systems and the growing need for resiliency in this vast and dynamic cyber infrastructure. The future of social media, autonomy, stateless finance, quantum information systems, the internet of things, the dark web, space satellite operations, and global network connectivity is explored along with the transformation of the legal and ethical considerations which surround them. The international challenges of cyber alliances, capabilities, and interoperability is challenged with the growing need for new laws, international oversight, and regulation which informs cybersecurity studies. The authors have a multi-disciplinary scope arranged in a big-picture framework, allowing both deep exploration of important topics and high level understanding of the topic. Evolution of Cyber Technologies and Operations to 2035 is as an excellent reference for professionals and researchers working in the security field, or as government and military workers, economics, law and more. Students will also find this book useful as a reference guide or secondary text book.

Protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs) has become a global issue. The Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) Agreement outlines the minimum standards for IPR protection for WTO members and offers a global regime for IPR protection. However, the benefits of TRIPS are more questionable in poorer countries where national infrastructure for research and development (R&D) and social protection are inadequate, whereas the cost of innovation is high. Today, after more than a decade of intense debate over global IPR protection, the problems remain acute, although there is also evidence of progress and cooperation. This book examines various views of the role of IPRs as incentives for innovation against the backdrop of development and the transfer of technology between globalised, knowledge-based, high technology economies. The book retraces the origins, content and interpretations of the TRIPS Agreement, including its interpretations by WTO dispute settlement organs. It also analyses sources of controversy over IPRs, examining pharmaceutical industry strategies of emerging countries with different IPR policies. The continuing international debate over IPRs is examined in depth, as are TRIPS rules and the controversy about implementing the 'flexibilities' of the Agreement in the light of national policy objectives. The author concludes that for governments in developing countries, as well as for their business and scientific communities, a great deal depends on domestic policy objectives and their implementation. IPR protection should be supporting domestic policies for innovation and investment. This, in turn requires a re-casting of the debate about TRIPS, to place cooperation in global and efficient R&D at the heart of concerns over IPR protection.

Was the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) designed as a definitive trade agreement, or as a stepping stone? This book reviews NAFTA's performances on trade, investment, intellectual property rights, dispute-settlement, as well as environmental and labor side-agreements within a theoretical construct.

The European system of insurance supervision under Solvency II constitutes a parallel to supervision of credit institutions under Basel III. At the heart of this new European insurance supervisory regime are the Solvency II Directive, the attendant regulation, and the EIOPA Regulation. The present volume, "Treatises on Solvency II", includes articles on the bases of European insurance supervision and the associated three pillars of solvency, governance, and disclosure, all viewed predominantly from a legal standpoint.

This book is the first study to examine the issue of the legality of parallel imports of trademarked goods under the most important legal systems on an international level, namely under GATT/WTO law, EU law and the laws of the ten major trading partners of the European Union. Part I consists of a general approach to the phenomenon of parallel importation and of a presentation of the theories that have been suggested to resolve the above-mentioned issue. The rule of exhaustion of rights, of which there are three types (rule of national, regional and international exhaustion of rights), is proposed as the most effective instrument to deal with the issue in question. Part II examines the question of exhaustion of trademark rights in light of the provisions of GATT/WTO Law. Part III analyzes the elements of the EU provisions on exhaustion of trademark rights (Articles 7 of Directive 2008/95/EC and 13 of Regulation (EC) 207/2009) and some specific issues relating to the application of these provisions. Part IV presents the regimes of exhaustion of trademark rights recognized in the European Union's current ten most significant trading partners. The book is the first legal study to welcome, in light of economic analysis, the approach adopted by GATT/WTO law and EU law to the question of the geographical scope of the exhaustion of the trademark rights rule. It includes all the case law developed on an international level on the issue of the legality of parallel imports of trademarked goods and a comprehensive overview of the scientific literature concerning the phenomenon of parallel imports in general and the legality of parallel imports of trademarked goods. All the views expressed in the book are based on the European Court of Justice's most recent case law and that of the courts of the most important trading partners of the European Union.

This comprehensive, three-volume set focuses on the legal and business aspects of sports in the USA and abroad. The authors have presented the subject matter from a practical and pragmatic perspective, yet with analytical precision and attention to fine points of detail. This work is composed of five parts. Part I deals with the law and business of sports in the United States, with the primary emphasis on the legal aspects of professional sports. Part II deals with the internationalization of sports from various perspectives, principally North American team sports. In Part III the law and business of sports is explored in 18 foreign (from an American's standpoint) jurisdictions. Part IV treats the legal and, to some extent, business aspects of broadcasting and sports, both in the United States and in selected foreign jurisdictions. Finally, Part V focuses upon sports marketing in its variegated forms in the USA, as well as its international perspectives.

This book addresses the role of public policy in regulating the autonomous artificial intelligence and related civil liability for damage caused by the robots (and any form of artificial intelligence). It is a very timely book, focusing on the consequences of judgment proofness of autonomous decision-making on tort law, risk and safety regulation, and the incentives stemming from these. This book is extremely important as regulatory endeavours concerning AI are in their infancy at most, whereas the industry's development is continuing in a strong way. It is an important scientific contribution that will bring scientific objectivity to a, to date, very one-sided academic treatment of legal scholarship on AI.

The third volume of this yearbook provides articles, comments, and analyses of developments throughout 1998. A special focus section highlights the most significant legal issues raised by the formation of a single currency in the ongoing process of economic and monetary union in the European Union. Commentary is provided on subjects including international financial standards and the transition economies, legal and practical aspects of recovering debt from Russian financial institutions, New Zealand's alternative approach to banking supervision, and regulation of foreign bank access in China. Recent developments, as with previous editions, cover all major areas of the world. This year includes analysis of China's new securities law, the development of the Financial Supervisory Authority in the UK, regional integration and trade liberalization in southern Africa, and problems created by government intervention in the Hong Kong stock market. This volume should be useful to anyone with an interest in international financial and economic law throughout the world.

The exponential growth of disruptive technology is changing our world. The development of cloud computing, big data, the internet of things, artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, and other related autonomous systems, such as self-driving vehicles, have triggered the emergence of new products and services. These significant technological breakthroughs have opened the door to new economic models such as the sharing and platform-based economy. As a result, companies are becoming increasingly data- and algorithm-driven, coming to be more like "decentralized platforms". New transaction or payment methods such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, based on trust-building systems using Blockchain, smart contracts, and other distributed ledger technology, also constitute an essential part of this new economic model. The sharing economy and digital platforms also include the everyday exchange of goods allowing individuals to commodify their surplus resources. Information and innovation technologies are used in order to then match these resources with existing demand in the market. Online platforms such as Airbnb, Uber, and Amazon reduce information asymmetry, increase the value of unused resources, and create new opportunities for collaboration and innovation. Moreover, the sharing economy is playing a major role in the transition from exclusive ownership of personal assets toward access-based exploitation of resources. The success of online matching platforms depends not only on the reduction of search costs but also on the trustworthiness of platform operators. From a legal perspective, the uncertainties triggered by the emergence of a new digital reality are particularly urgent. How should these tendencies be reflected in legal systems in each jurisdiction? This book collects a series of contributions by leading scholars in the newly emerging fields of sharing economy and Legal Tech. The aim of the book is to enrich legal debates on the social, economic, and political meaning of these cutting-edge technologies. The chapters presented in this edition attempt to answer some of these lingering questions from the perspective of diverse legal backgrounds.

This book highlights the critical importance of laying, quick relinking, and protecting submarine cables with timely approval for carriers and cable repairing ships and how these are most challenging in many jurisdictions. It identifies that a dedicated national instrument on submarine cable as a way forward is yet to be appreciated by many States, and presently, there is no model legal framework for national instruments on submarine cables available. To bridge these gaps, the book undertakes a systematic inquiry and analysis of submarine cable regimes' and relevant authorities. It consults existing knowledge on international law on cables and analyzes specific principles and provisions on laying repair and maintenance of submarine cables and states' obligations towards protecting cables from vulnerabilities. It touches upon cable regulation in the deep sea concerning the International Seabed Authority and proposed biodiversity agreement. It indicates suitable measures on cable laying, etc., and security risks in the marine space beyond the national jurisdictions. To map States' response, it explores the domestic cable regimes, including both the selected jurisdictions and Australia and New Zealand, analyses specific legal provisions and institutional set-up, and demonstrates state practices, approaches, and loopholes in the governance of the cable system within national jurisdictions. The book suggests adopting the spatial ocean management approach, dedicated regulatory authority, a competent enforcement agency, strict liability with exemplary punishment on cable damage, and the cable system to strengthen the cable system's management. Finally, it arranges the fundamental premises of a common minimum framework for national instruments seeking coastal states' deliberations in implementing initiatives towards a robust law and policy for reliability, resiliency, and security of the cable system. The cable industries, pipeline, fishing, shipping industries, academicians, government authorities, international bodies, and the maritime community worldwide are looking at the issues and challenges of submarine cable regimes, particularly national regimes and suggestive remedial measures. These stakeholders will find the book a useful reference.

One of the primary functions of law is to ensure that the legal structure governing all social relations is predictable, coherent, consistent and applicable. Taken together, these characteristics of law are referred to as legal certainty. In traditional approaches to legal certainty, law is regarded as a hierarchical system of rules characterized by stability, clarity, uniformity, calculable enforcement, publicity and predictability. However, the current reality is that national legal systems no longer operate in isolation, but within a multilevel legal order, wherein norms created at both the international and regional level are directly applicable to national legal systems. Also, norm creation is no longer the exclusive prerogative of public officials of the state: private actors have an increasing influence on norm creation as well. Social scientists have referred to this phenomenon of interacting and overlapping competences as multilevel governance. Only recently have legal scholars focused attention on the increasing interconnectedness (and therefore the concomitant loss of primacy of national legal orders) between the global, European and national regulatory spheres through the concept of multilevel regulation.

In this project the author uses multilevel regulation as a term to characterize a regulatory space in which the process of rule making, rule enforcement and rule adjudication (the regulatory lifecycle) is dispersed across more than one administrative or territorial level and amongst several different actors, both public and private. The author draws on the concept of a regulatory space, using it as a framing device to differentiate between specific aspects of policy fields. The relationship between actors in such a space is non-hierarchical and they may be independent of each other. The lack of central ordering of the regulatory lifecycle within this regulatory space is the most important feature of such a space. The implications of multilevel regulation for the notion of legal certainty have attracted limited attention from scholars and the demand for legal certainty in regulatory practice is still a puzzle. The book explores the idea of legal certainty in terms of the perceptions and expectations of regulatees in the context of medical products - specifically, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, which can be differentiated as two regulatory spaces and therefore form two case studies. As an exploratory project, the book necessarily explores new territory in terms of investigating legal certainty first in terms of regulatee perceptions and expectations and second, because it studies it in the context of multilevel regulation.

Since its accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in December 2001, China has been committed to full compliance with the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement. This text considers the development of intellectual property in China, and offers an interdisciplinary analysis of China's compliance with the TRIPS Agreement using theories originating in international relations and law. It notes that despite significant efforts to amend China's substantive IP laws to prepare for WTO accession and sweeping changes to domestic legislation, a significant gap existed between the laws on paper and as enforced in practice, and that infringements to the agreement are still prevalent. The book examines how compliance with international rules can be promoted and encouraged in a specific jurisdiction. Making a case for a wider, more interdisciplinary and global outlook, it contends that compliance needs to align with the national interests of relevant countries and jurisdictions, as governments' economic interests support the greater enforcement of the IP laws.

This book reveals how conflicting worldviews are at the root of public controversies on policy and trade issues. It highlights the particularly controversial disputes at the level of the World Trade Organization in the case of regulating beef-hormones and GMOs, aiming to show how negotiators of international agreements, members of dispute settlement bodies, and policy makers in general could have recourse to concepts of other disciplines such as epistemology and philosophy in order to address deadlocked legal disputes. Ultimately, the book is a manifesto for independent and critical research.