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1 - Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2010

Henrik Horn
Affiliation:
Stockholms Universitet
Petros C. Mavroidis
Affiliation:
Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland
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Summary

The project

This is the first annual report of the American Law Institute (ALI) project Principles of Trade Law: The World Trade Organization. The project's object of study hardly needs any motivation. The World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement is one of the most extensive international agreements ever. With 145 Members, ranging from the poorest to the richest countries on the globe, the Agreement covers the vast majority of international commerce in goods and services, and also contains an agreement on the protection of intellectual property.

The WTO contract contains a rarity in international relations – a compulsory third-party adjudication clause – embodying the idea that trade conflicts should be resolved through multilateral adjudication rather than through unilateral actions. As is the case with many contracts, many of the terms in the WTO Agreement are opaque, leaving much discretion to adjudicating bodies to determine the actual content of the obligations. The case law thus provides more than a mechanical execution of clear-cut rules.

The WTO contract and its interpretation by the WTO adjudicating bodies are subject to intensive policy debate, conducted largely by politicians and non-governmental organizations. There is also an ongoing debate among trade law practitioners and legal scholars concerning the appropriate interpretation of the law. Academic economists, on the other hand, with some notable exceptions, very rarely intervene in these discussions.

The aim of this project is to bridge this divide by providing systematic analysis of WTO law based in both Economics and Law.

Type
Chapter
Information
The WTO Case Law of 2001
The American Law Institute Reporters' Studies
, pp. 1 - 13
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2004

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  • Introduction
  • Edited by Henrik Horn, Stockholms Universitet, Petros C. Mavroidis, Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland
  • Book: The WTO Case Law of 2001
  • Online publication: 06 July 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511754449.003
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  • Introduction
  • Edited by Henrik Horn, Stockholms Universitet, Petros C. Mavroidis, Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland
  • Book: The WTO Case Law of 2001
  • Online publication: 06 July 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511754449.003
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction
  • Edited by Henrik Horn, Stockholms Universitet, Petros C. Mavroidis, Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland
  • Book: The WTO Case Law of 2001
  • Online publication: 06 July 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511754449.003
Available formats
×