This book discusses how technological innovations have affected the resolution of disputes arising from electronic commerce in the European Union, UK and China. Online dispute resolution (ODR) is a form of alternative dispute resolution in which information technology is used to establish a process that is more effective and conducive to resolving the specific types of dispute for which it was created. This book focuses on out-of-court ODR and the resolution of disputes in the field of electronic commerce. It explores the potential of ODR in this specific e-commerce context and investigates whether the current use of ODR is in line with the principles of access to justice and procedural fairness. Moreover, it examines the major concerns surrounding the development of ODR, e.g. the extent to which electronic ADR agreements are recognized by national courts in cross-border e-commerce transactions, how procedural justice is ensured in ODR proceedings, and whether ODR outcomes can be effectively enforced. To this end, the book assesses the current and potential role of ODR in resolving e-commerce disputes, identifies the legal framework for and legal barriers to the development of ODR, and makes recommendations as to the direction in which practice and the current legal framework should evolve. In closing, the book draws on the latest legislation in the field of e-commerce law and dispute resolution in order to make recommendations for future ODR design, such as the EU Platform-to-Business Regulation on Promoting Fairness and Transparency for Business Users of Online Intermediation Services (2019) and the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (2018), which provide the legal basis for ODR's future development.

The TPP was negotiated among 12 economically diverse countries, including some most highly developed and rich countries (i.e., the United States, Japan, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Singapore), some newly industrialized countries (i.e., Mexico and Malaysia), and some less-developed countries (i.e., Peru, Chile, and Vietnam). A new paradigm created in this context is that countries with vastly different economic developments can actually agree on a set of very high standards to regulate their economic activities, to liberalize their trade, and to protect intellectual property and foreign investment. The contents of the TPP also reflect its status of being a "new paradigm" as the "21st-Century Trade Agreement" and being a pioneer in rule making in many key regulatory areas. These include not only the improved and enhanced rules on traditional issues already covered by the WTO , such as goods, services, and IP rights, but also the carefully designed rules in areas that have never been addressed in the WTO or comprehensively covered in other FTAs , such as state-owned enterprises, electronic commerce, and labor and environmental issues. Although the United States has withdrawn from the TPP, the remaining countries are still putting efforts into establishing a TPP without the United States or a TPP with China. Economically speaking, the current 11 parties account for about 20 % of the global economy. If such agreement is put into force, there will be significant implications for the region, for the multilateral system, and even for other FTAs. The book addresses the potential of the TPP to change the ways trade and investments are conducted and argues for its potential to be the start of an international trade/economic law revolution. The book elaborates the relationship between the TPP and other existing trade agreements such as the WTO and other FTAs and explains how the TPP is to deal with traditional and new issues. Taken together, the authors argue that the implications of the TPP go beyond its current membership. It is hoped that the book will make an important contribution to the field of international economic law.

Volume 8 of the EYIEL focuses on the external economic relations of the European Union as one of the most dynamic political fields in the process of European integration. The first part of this volume analyses the recent controversial questions of the external economic relations of the Union, dealing with the complexity of mixed agreements, transparency and legitimacy issues as well as recent proposals in relation to Investor-State-Dispute Settlement, the Trade Defence Instruments and the implications of the "Brexit" in this context. The second part of EYIEL 8 addresses ongoing bilateral and multilateral negotiations of the EU with China, Japan, Australia, Canada and Taiwan. Moreover, the third part deals with the EU in international organisations and institutions, in particular the recent institutional aspects of the EU-UN relationship, representation in the IMF as well as WTO jurisprudence involving the EU in 2015. The volume concludes with reviews of recent books in international economic law.

The introduction of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement has established a global patent system requiring a high standard of patent protection. However, any consequential increase in patent applications will further strain the resources of patent offices worldwide. A monolithic "World Patent Office" granting "World Patents" will most likely remain a utopian idea but the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) has successfully demonstrated how to emulate a "World Patent Office" processing "World Patent Applications". The current PCT only goes halfway towards the grant of a patent, hence, the logical step to handle an increase in patent applications would be to further develop the PCT towards a patent grant procedure. This has been recognized and in late 2000, the Assembly of the PCT Union decided to set up a special body to consider a formal request by the United States for a "Reform of the Patent Cooperation Treaty".

This book explores the way in which 'development' has functioned within the multilateral trade regime since de-colonisation. In particular, it investigates the shift from early approaches to development under the GATT to current approaches to development under the WTO. It argues that a focus on the creation and transformation of a scientific apparatus that links forms of knowledge about the so-called Third World with forms of power and intervention is crucial for understanding the six decades long development enterprise of both the GATT and the WTO. The book is both topical and necessary given the emphasis on the current round of negotiations of the WTO. The Doha 'Development' Round has been premised on two assumptions. Firstly, that the international community has undertaken an unprecedented effort to address the imbalances of the multilateral trading regime with respect to the position of its developing country members. Secondly, that its successful conclusion represents an historic imperative and a political necessity for developing countries. Through a sustained analysis of the interaction between development thinking and trade practices, the book questions both assumptions by showing how development has always occupied a central position within the multilateral trading regime. Thus, rather than asking the question of what needs to be done in order to achieve 'development', the book examines the way in which development has operated and still operates to produce important, and often unacknowledged, power relations. "Intense controversy surrounds the issue of the relationship between trade and development. This book is novel in examining the emergence of the international trade regime in the context of the history of the concept of development that may be traced back at least to the time of the League of Nations. This is a very welcome and original contribution to the field that should generate new discussions and understanding about the law of international trade." Antony Anghie, University of Utah

This timely book brings clarity to the debate on the new legal phenomenon of environmental border tax adjustments. It will help form a better understanding of the role and limits these taxes have on environmental policies in combating global environmental challenges, such as climate change. The book is structured around three main topics: the rationale, the tax design and the legal framework of environmental border tax adjustments. This three-fold analysis gives an overview of the legal issues that should be considered before the adoption of environmental border taxes, including carbon tax adjustments. Alice Pirlot's critical approach to the arguments surrounding traditional and environmental border tax adjustments allows for detailed legal analysis going beyond the question of their compatibility with WTO law, while also reviewing the economic argument. This book will prove to be essential reading for legal scholars and professionals alike, as well as benefitting environmental NGOs, stakeholders in energy-intensive industries and policymakers looking for in-depth insight into environmental border tax adjustments.

Trade liberalization has shaped international economic relations since the conclusion of the GATT 1947. The last few decades have seen a significant shift in the focus of this process: multilateralism seems to have reached its limits, giving way to regionalism, and the focus of trade liberalization has shifted to non-tariff barriers. While these developments have attracted considerable attention, exploring them from comparative perspectives has been largely neglected. Trading systems - the WTO, regional economic integrations and federal systems - are all based on the same dichotomy of free trade and local public interest: they generally prohibit the constituent parties (states) from restricting trade, but exempt them from this limitation if the restriction is warranted by a legitimate local end. The purpose of this volume is to contribute to filling the above-mentioned research gap by exploring central issues in regional economic integrations from a comparative perspective. It provides a general economic analysis of the costs and benefits of trade liberalization and the role and function of normative values in commercial policy. This is followed by a comparative analysis of the approaches used in various regional economic integrations (in North America, Europe and Latin America) and federal markets (the United States, Australia and India) regarding the balance between free trade and local public interest. Key issues in investment law, one of the most contentious elements of next-generation free trade agreements, are also addressed.

As part of its review of competition law that started in the late 1990s, the European Commission proposes to revise its interpretation and application of the Treaty 's prohibition of abuses of dominant positions. Also, it has instigated a debate about the promotion of private enforcement of EC competition law. On the former subject, the Commission published a Discussion Paper in 2005; on the latter, a Green Paper in 2005, followed by a White Paper in 2008.

The chapters in this volume critically appraise the Commission 's proposals, including the most recent ones. The authors also highlight the repercussions of the proposed more economic approach to abuses of dominant positions on private litigants opportunities to bring damages actions in national courts for such abuses.

This book offers guidance for US-based IT businesses on both sides of the Atlantic when dealing with big data and government data, since transatlantic data flows are key to the success of these enterprises. It offers practical insights into many of the data-protection challenges US companies in various industries face when seeking to comply with US and EU data-protection laws, and analyses the potential conflicts in the light of their risks and the way in which US-based cloud providers react to the uncertainties of the applicable data-protection rules. The book particularly focuses on the insights derived from a qualitative study conducted in 2016 with various cloud-based IT businesses in the Silicon Valley area, which shows the diversity of views on data protection and the many approaches companies take to this topic. Further, it discusses key data-protection issues in the field of big data and government data.

This book addresses the recent debate about copyright law and its impact on the distribution of scientific knowledge from an economic perspective. The focus is on the question whether a copyright regime or an open access regime is better suited to the norms and organizational structure in a purely global science community. The book undertakes a thorough economic analysis of the academic journal market and showcases consequences of a regime change. It also takes account of the Digital Divide debate, reflecting issues in developing countries. Finally, a comprehensive analysis of legal action in the light of international Intellectual Property (IP) agreements offers prospects on the future of academic publishing.

The globalization of the securities markets, rapid technological advancement, the perpetration of widespread cross-border fraud and the proliferation of emerging capital markets have made international financial law an increasingly important area of regulation, practice and research. Its significance will continue to grow in the 21st century, making the advent of a book focusing on developments in international securities law extremely timely. Key topics covered in this book include disclosure requirements, insider trading regulation, global offerings, transnational regulatory co-operation, the role of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), memoranda of understanding and emerging capital markets. Discussion of these issues is supported by examination of the law and policy in numerous countries, including developed and emerging capital markets. The author makes detailed analysis of applicable legal principles with regard to a wide range of topics, discusses proposed standards for law reform and makes recommendations to enhance international cooperation.

This book presents comprehensive information on a range of issues in connection with the Fair and Equitable Treatment (FET) standard, with a particular focus on arbitral awards against host developing countries, thereby contributing to the available literature in this area of international investment law. It examines in detail the interpretation of the FET standard of key arbitral awards affecting host developing countries, demonstrating the full range of interpretation approaches adopted by the current investment tribunals. At the same time, the book offers valuable practical guidance for counsels/scholars representing host developing countries in investment arbitration, where balancing the competing interests of the foreign investors and the host developing countries in investment disputes poses a complex challenge. The book puts forward the pressing need for a re-conceptualized interpretation of the FET standard in tune with the developmental issues and challenges faced by host developing countries, recognizing these countries' particular perspectives as an important and relevant aspect of investment disputes (often ignored by the current investment tribunals), while continuing to ensure reasonable protections for foreign investors and therefore serving the needs of the system as whole. The findings presented here will greatly benefit host developing countries engaged in investment arbitration. In addition, the book offers an insightful guide for all researchers whose work involves investment law and investment arbitration issues.

The book examines the rights of defendants in infringement procedures and those of the notifying parties in merger proceedings before the European Commission and the Chinese competition authorities. The initial chapters offer a general introduction to EU and Chinese competition law respectively, paying particular attention to the substantive rules of competition law. Subsequent chapters present an overview of the procedural rights of the notifying parties in merger cases in both legal systems surveyed, address the procedural rights of defendants in infringement cases, and provide an international perspective on differences in the notification and enforcement procedures between legal systems. The final chapter draws comparative conclusions and includes a number of suggestions for improvement.

With a foreword by Peter Van den Bossche and Ellen Vos The Codex Alimentarius Commission was established by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1963, as subsidiary organ of both organizations. Since its establishment, the Commission has been charged with the creation of the Codex Alimentarius: a collection of uniformly-defined food standards. Examples of food standards adopted by the Commission are the Standard for Natural Mineral Waters, the Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs) for hormone growth promoters in cattle, and the Standard for Sardines and Sardine-Type Products. The authority of the Commission is restricted by its position as a subsidiary body of the FAO and the WHO. However, with regard to its normative powers, the Commission operates independently from its parent organizations. This book examines the legal aspects of the Codex Alimentarius Commission and its standards, and describes more precisely the actual status of the standards, both within the framework of the WTO agreements as well as within the context of the EC legal order. In addition, it defines the consequences of the new status of the Codex standards for the legitimacy of the institutional framework of the Commission, its standard-setting procedure, and the Codex standards themselves. The book is geared at scholars of international law and WTO law. It will also be an important reference for specialists at national governments and international organizations (FAO, UNCTAD, WTO, WHO, World Bank, EC Commission, World Organisation for Animal Health, etc.), working with Codex standards and food safety, and equally of interest to food scientists and consumer organizations.

This open access book focuses on public actors with a role in the settlement of investment disputes. Traditional studies on actors in international investment law have tended to concentrate on arbitrators, claimant investors and respondent states. Yet this focus on the "principal" players in investment dispute settlement has allowed a number of other seminal actors to be neglected. This book seeks to redress this imbalance by turning the spotlight on the latter. From the investor's home state to domestic courts, from sub-national governments to international organisations, and from political risk insurance agencies to legal defence teams in national ministries, the book critically reviews these overlooked public actors in international investment law.

This book attempts to reconcile the concept of free trade with a key non-trade social value - cultural diversity - in an era of economic globalisation. It first shows how we can look at culture in many different ways, and explains why we should care about cultural diversity. The book then examines the challenges that policymakers are faced with in formulating cultural measures in the new media environment, and analyses UNESCO's theories and approaches to cultural diversity. This is followed by a comprehensive examination of the treatment of 'culture' in global and regional trade agreements, including the framework of the GATT/WTO system, the WTO's judicial practice involving cultural products, and the treatment of culture under the EC/EU and NAFTA. This identifies the challenges trade norms encounter in dealing with cultural products. The author seeks to formulate a balanced view of the challenge of protecting and promoting cultural diversity while also recognising the important goal of trade liberalisation. To this end Professor Shi proposes a dual method through which the norms found in WTO agreements and in UNESCO cultural instruments may be brought into alignment: the first highlighting the compatibility of cultural policy measures with trade obligations on a domestic level, the second suggesting potential linkages between the WTO rules and the UNESCO Convention from the perspectives of treaty interpretation.

The institutional and legal status of the WTO, with its integrated dispute settlement system, provides a framework for certainty, security and stability for trade as well as a coherent system to protect intellectual property rights. In all member countries and their respective enterprises, WTO regulations need to be considered when designing and implementing trade-related strategies for business operations in the integrated global market.

This book aims at giving upper-level undergraduates and graduate students a comprehensive understanding of the public regulations related to international trade within the WTO mechanism and equip them, as potential policy makers and future practitioners in international trade, with the practical skills to interpret and apply the multilateral trade regulations as outlined by the WTO."

This incisive book provides a comprehensive overview of the WTO dispute settlement practice from 1995 up until the present day, illustrating the need for it to be resurrected from its current state of crisis. By inquiring into the current set-up of WTO adjudication system, the book explores to what extent its original intent has been followed in practice. Its empirical analysis of decades of data regarding the number, duration, and subject matter of dispute adjudications, as well as the frequency of implemented or non-implemented settlements, illuminates the effectiveness of the system and highlights the issues that have led to the WTO's present predicament. Petros C. Mavroidis employs these findings to build a case for the urgent reform of the WTO dispute settlement system by virtue of its accomplishments. He then concludes with a proposal for a reinvigorated "Dispute Settlement Understanding 2.0". The WTO Dispute Settlement System will prove an essential read for students and scholars of WTO law, as well as lawyers, political scientists and policy-oriented economists interested in the WTO dispute settlement system. Its accessible evaluation of the rationale and practice of key provisions of the adjudication regime will also be of benefit to practicing attorneys.

This text provides a straightforward and up-to-date analysis of the wide range of issues surrounding the use of derivatives in common law countries, focusing on derivatives law and regulation in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. Topics covered include the nature of derivatives, key legal issues, standard market documentation, derivatives regulation, recent market developments and regulatory reform.

This book is a survey of the rules and regulations relating to state aid in the European Union and their role in the overall competition policy of the EU. It examines the implications and provisions of articles 92 and 93 and covers the substantive law as well as the procedural questions. The rules on state aid have been adopted in the EEA Agreement and the association agreements between the EU and the Countries of Central and Eastern Europe and have been incorporated in the WTO Agreement on subsidies and equalization measures, all despite severe criticism. This work aims to provide a useful introduction to practitioners and academics who may have limited experience in dealing with matters of state aid.

This book analyses the emerging jurisprudence of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and seamlessly knits together all the disparate texts, policies and judicial decisions into a single, coherent resource. The work is deliberately crafted to address the lack of a comprehensive resource on the subject, and guide lawyers, policy-makers, Community citizens, researchers, students and civil society organisations through the labyrinth of the Community's laws and policies. From a socio-legal perspective, it unearths political, socio-economic and legal structures that impinge on the integration cause on the one hand, and dilute the efficacy of the Community legal regime on the other hand. Also, it exposes contemporary terrorism and conflict in West Africa and the legal interventions that the Community has adopted to respond to these challenges. In sequence, it traces and expounds the legal development of the Community norms with respect to sources of law, human rights, supra-nationalism and laws of the member states, reference procedure, action for damages, freedom of movement, discrimination and competition policy.The book particularly evaluates the extent of the human rights jurisdiction of the Community Court of Justice, as well as jurisdictional limitations to the protection of Community rights either at national or Community level. Also, it sheds light on the jurisdictional chasm existing between Community law and member states' national laws, and offers proven constitutional, legislative and judicial solutions to plug the gap. It explains vividly the common market, free movement of goods and the impact of Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) on the entire ECOWAS free trade policy. In all these analyses, evaluation and examination of norms and policies, the work draws on the European Union's rich case law on similar points to explain recondite issues of law which may arise or have arisen from the application of any of the ECOWAS texts.

Professor Fischer presents a comprehensive overview of global trade at the start of a new century, from a national, regional, and international viewpoint. He looks closely at the four dominant and competing economic systems--the United States, the European Union, Japan, and China--and argues that the traditional we-win/you-lose national trade paradigm has been replaced by one that is more collaborative, one that is leaning toward de facto world governance. He compares foreigners' attitudes toward trade and markets with our own, using four economic models that typify world trade today. He examines the interface between national, regional, and international trading systems and between business and government, then at the prospect of global trade management in different trade sectors under the GATT/WTO and other organizations. The result is a provocative discussion of global trade today.

Professor Fischer makes it clear that the United States needs allies. Though its influence in the world trade arena will continue, America's hegemony has ended. The European Union is America's most obvious ally, but it has many problems and ambitions of its own. The North American Free Trade Agreement has solidified the North American market but it may isolate and lose South America, while Japan, China, Russia, and others are left to develop alliances of their own. All these factors raise important global questions, among them: Can American capitalism prevail? Should the United States proceed unilaterally, as it has so often? Or are regional and multinational arrangements preferable? If there is further globalization, as seems inevitable, and if American influence is on the wane, what group or organization will lead? To explore these questions and provide the beginnings of answers, Professor Fischer uses his four competing economic systems and handicaps the process country by country, sector by sector, with particular attention to transatlantic relations.

This volume examines the property transformations in post-communist Central Eastern Europe (CEE) and focuses on the role of restitution and privatisation in such transformations. It argues that the theorisation of 'restitution' in post-communist CEE is incomplete in the transitional justice scholarship and in the literature on correction of historical wrongs. The book also argues that, for a more complete theorisation of (post-communist) restitution, the transformations of property in post-communist societies ought to be studied in a more holistic way. The main legal vehicles used for such transformations, privatisation and restitution, should not be studied separately and in abstract, but in their reciprocal relationship, and in connection to the dimension of justice which each could achieve. Finally, the book integrates 'privatisation' in a theory of post-communist transformation of property.

This is the first publication of AIJA's Antitrust Sub-Commission of the International Business Law Standing Commission. The book is the result of the reports from 20 different jurisdictions for the working session organized by the Antitrust Sub-Commission during the Annual Congress of AIJA in Sydney in September 1998. The reports were based upon a questionnaire prepared by the General Reporter and Editor and generally reflect legislation up until January 1999. The purpose of this book is to discuss the critical issues in applying antitrust laws to the media sector, having in mind three main issues, namely deregulation and convergence in the media industry worldwide, the effect of antitrust laws on the new media environment, and the balance between sector-specific regulation and antitrust rules.

Drafted in plain language, the International Trade Terms (Intraterms) are a set of standard terms for the sale of goods. They are divided into five chapters dealing with contracts in general, international sale of goods, transportation of sold goods, abbreviated terms, and resolution of disputes. In