What role does world trade law and practice play in the global economic order? Does it help address or contribute to socio-economic inequalities between and within countries? Is the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in crisis and if so, what are the alternatives for governing global trade relations?
The establishment of the WTO in 1995 was supposed to signal the beginning of a new era in international economic relations. Unlike the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), whose main purpose was the reduction of barriers on trade in goods, the WTO legal regime reaches deeper into more areas of policy-making - ranging from the regulation of services and investments to the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights - posing considerable environmental and developmental challenges for states and the international community. Furthermore, through its Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) the WTO generates case-law on the resolution of disputes under the agreements it covers. You will carry out a detailed study of WTO law and practice and the contribution it makes to the development of international economic law. You will appreciate the challenges it faces, in light of competing theories and ideologies of economic and social globalisation, and inter-state and inter-regional economic conflicts.regulatory order.
Lecture/seminars 16 hours
Workshops 8 hours
Written- Extended writing- Short Essay (1000 words). Worth 20% of the total marks for the module 20%.
Written-Extended writing- Essay (3000 words). Worth 80% of the total marks for the module. This Assessment is Pass Compulsory.
Reassessment methods: Like for like
For current reading list see the detailed module information on moodle.
See the library reading list for this module (Canterbury)
On successfully completing the module, students will be able to:
1. Comprehensively identify and explain the main provisions of the GATT 1994, covering the main concepts and legal questions raised by them
2. Systematically describe and analyse in detail the legal and regulatory order created by the WTO; and its relationship with other multilateral, regional and sub-regional economic groupings, especially where this involves the interpretation of similar regulatory concepts;
3. Critically appraise the legal and regulatory order created by the WTO.
4. Formulate an original, reasoned and creative argument, articulate and justify a point of view on the relative merits of differing approaches to regulation, and undertake comprehensive independent research on WTO law.
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