In its ten years of existence, the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement system has continued to differentiate itself in many ways from more conventional international judicial proceedings such as those before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or regional integration courts. The regular participation of third parties, the emphasis at all levels of the ordinary meaning of the text of WTO rules, and the raft of proposed amendments to the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) all characterize WTO jurisprudence. In twenty-six incisive contributions, this book covers both the legislative and (quasi) judicial activities encompassed by the WTO dispute settlement system. Essays concerned with rules emphasize proposed improvements and clarifications in such areas as special and differential treatment of less-developed countries, surveillance of implementation, compensation, and suspension of concessions. Other contributions discuss such jurisprudential and practical issues as discrimination, trade-related environmental measures, subsides and countervailing measures, and trade-related intellectual property rights. The authors refer frequently to the panel, Appellate Body and arbitration reports, a chronological list of which appears as an annex. The contributors include WTO arbitrators, members of the WTO Appellate Body, WTO panelists, and academics from a broad spectrum of countries engaged as legal advisers by the WTO, by governments, or by non-governmental organizations. More than a mere snapshot of the current status of the WTO dispute settlement system, this outstanding work represents a comprehensive analysis that brings a fast-moving and crucially significant body ofinternational law into sharp focus.

The interpretation and application of the rules of international and regional trade is becoming an increasingly specialized field. This study provides an in-depth analysis of the core legal concepts characterizing the two most prominent and successful efforts in the regulation of international trade to date. Adopting a comparative method, it analyzes the basic legal instruments employed by the EU and the WTO for the purpose of liberalizing trade in goods among their respective Members. To this end, this study offers a fresh look at the principles underlying the basic rules of international trade law, including the prohibition of border measures, the principle of non-discrimination on grounds of nationality, and the principle of reasonableness.

The proliferation of regional trade agreements, including both free trade agreements and customs unions, over the past decade has provoked many new legal issues in WTO law, public international law, and an emerging law of regional trade agreements. The various Parts of this book chart this development from a number of perspectives. Part 1 introduces the economic and political underpinnings of regional trade agreements, their constitutional functions, and their role as a locus for integrating trade and human rights. Part 2 examines the WTO rules governing regional trade agreements, focusing on a number of areas in which regional trade agreements prove problematic, such as trade remedies, regulatory standards and rules of origin. Part 3 investigates areas in which regional trade agreements go beyond WTO rules, in areas such as intellectual property, investment, competition, services, sustainable development and mutual recognition, while Part 4 is devoted to the dispute settlement mechanisms of regional trade agreements, and includes illuminating case studies. Part 5 explores the interrelationship between regional trade agreements and the WTO system from the perspective of public international law, involving questions with significance beyond the trade community.

This book provides a conceptual and legal analysis of the core of investment protection guarantees that emerge from international treaties signed since 1959 for the promotion and protection of foreign investment. It focuses on both the origin and evolution of investment treaty standards. Beginning with origins, the work considers the broader context at the time when the first modern investment treaty was concluded. It goes on to examine the many decisions of ad hoc arbitral tribunals that have since been called upon to apply these treaties in order to resolve the several hundred investor-State disputes. It also looks at some of the recent investment treaties that have attempted to clarify and/or reform the content and scope of investment protection guarantees. Federico Ortino posits that the key investment protection provisions in investment treaties, and thus much of the controversy associated with such treaties, revolve around three concepts: legal stability, investment's value, and reasonableness. He argues that, from the very beginning, the protections afforded to foreign investments by modern investment treaties have been exceptionally broad, and as such restrictive of host States' ability to regulate. And whilst a growing number of investment treaty tribunals, as well as new investment treaties, have to some extent reined in such broad protections, the evolution of key investment protection standards has been marred by inconsistency and uncertainty.

The Oxford Handbook series is a major new initiative in academic publishing. Each volume offers an authoritative and state-of-the-art survey of current thinking and research in a particular subject area. Specially commissioned essays from leading international figures in the discipline give critical examinations of the progress and direction of debates. Oxford Handbooks provide scholars and graduate students with compelling new perspectives upon a wide range of subjects in the humanities and social sciences.
The Oxford Handbook of International Investment Law aims to provide the first truly exhaustive account of the current state and future development of this important and topical field of international law.
The Handbook is divided into three main parts. Part One deals with fundamental conceptual issues, Part Two deals with the main substantive areas of law, and Part Three deals with the major procedural issues arising out of the settlement of international investment disputes.
The book has a policy-oriented introduction, setting the more technical chapters that follow in their policy environment within which contemporary norms for international foreign investment law are evolving. The Handbook concludes with a chapter written by the editors to highlight the major conclusions of the collection, to identify trends in the existing law, and to look forward to the future development of this field.

The proliferation of regional trade agreements, including both free trade agreements and customs unions, over the past decade has provoked many new legal issues in WTO law, public international law, and an emerging law of regional trade agreements.
The various Parts of this book chart this development from a number of perspectives. Part 1 introduces the economic and political underpinnings of regional trade agreements, their constitutional functions, and their role as a locus for integrating trade and human rights. Part 2 examines the WTO rules governing regional trade agreements, focusing on a number of areas in which regional trade agreements prove problematic, such as trade remedies, regulatory standards and rules of origin. Part 3 investigates areas in which regional trade agreements go beyond WTO rules, in areas such as intellectual property, investment, competition, services, sustainable development and mutual recognition, while Part 4 is devoted to the dispute settlement mechanisms of regional trade agreements, and includes illuminating case studies. Part 5 explores the interrelationship between regional trade agreements and the WTO system from the perspective of public international law, involving questions with significance beyond the trade community.

This Handbook brings together many of the key scholars and leading practitioners in international arbitration, to present and examine cutting-edge knowledge in the field. Innovative in its breadth of coverage, chapter-topics range from the practicalities of how arbitration works, to big picture discussions of the actors involved and the values that underpin it. The book includes critical analysis of some of international arbitrations most controversial aspects, whilst providing a nuanced account overall that allows readers to draw their own informed conclusions. The book is divided into six parts, after an introduction discussing the formation of knowledge in the field. Part I provides an overview of the key legal notions needed to understand how international arbitration technically works, such as the relation between arbitration and law, the power of arbitral tribunals to make decisions, the appointment of arbitrators, and the role of public policy. Part II focuses on key actors in international arbitration, such as arbitrators, parties choosing arbitrators, and civil society. Part III examines the central values at stake in the field, including efficiency, legal certainty, and constitutional ideals. Part IV discusses intellectual paradigms structuring the thinking in and about international arbitration, such as the idea of autonomous transnational legal orders and conflicts of law. Part V presents the empirical evidence we currently have about the operations and effects of both commercial and investment arbitration. Finally, Part VI provides different disciplinary perspectives on international arbitration, including historical, sociological, literary, economic, and psychological accounts.