Sources of International Trade Law

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald H. Regan
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Vienna Convention ◽  
Standard Source ◽  
Trade Law ◽  
International Trade Law ◽  
Treaty Interpretation ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Individual

International trade law is overwhelmingly treaty-based. For practical purposes, the unique traditional ‘source’ of WTO law is the WTO treaty. But treaties require interpretation, and there are many controversial questions about what might be called the ‘sources for treaty interpretation’. What materials can be used to interpret a treaty, and how are they to be used? The standard source for answering these questions, especially in the WTO, is the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT). This chapter discusses a fundamental, and largely overlooked, question about the structure of the VCLT—the rationale of the distinction between Articles 31 and 32 of the VCLT. The answer is central to understanding the individual provisions of these Articles.

scholarly journals Jednostrani raskid kupoprodajnog ugovora poslije dospijeća obveza strana prema Konvenciji UN o međunarodnoj prodaji robe

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 195-217
Author(s):  
Zvonimir Slakoper ◽  
Josip Dešić
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Vienna Convention ◽  
Legal Regime ◽  
Commercial Law ◽  
Breach Of Contract ◽  
Trade Law ◽  
Legal Traditions ◽  
International Trade Law ◽  
Creative Solutions

The paper deals with avoidance of a contract of sale after the maturity of the parties' obligations under the UN Convention on the International Sale of Goods (The Vienna Convention). The Vienna Convention is a multilateral treaty establishing a unified legal regime for cross-border sales of goods, which form the backbone of international trade. The Vienna Convention is therefore considered to be one of the fundamental conventions of international commercial law, that is in force in 93 countries from all legal traditions and levels of economic development, which together represent more than two thirds of the global economy, which has greatly contributed to the harmonization of international trade law and the increase degree of legal certainty in international trade. In an effort to be acceptable to different legal systems, the Vienna Convention has largely deviated from the solutions of national rights and legal circles and created autonomous concepts and solutions. Special creative solutions were foreseen for the avoidance of the contract. The paper specifically analyzes avoidance in case of fundamental breach of contract, avoidance in case of the failure to comply with the additional deadline, avoidance in case of non-compliance, as well as avoidance because of the rights or claims of third parties. Particular attention is paid to complete and partial avoidance and avoidance in successive deliveries.

International Trade

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Linarelli ◽  
Margot E Salomon ◽  
Muthucumaraswamy Sornarajah
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Multinational Enterprises ◽  
Trade Relations ◽  
Trade Law ◽  
Positive Law ◽  
International Trade Law ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Law ◽  
Principles Of Justice ◽  
Significant Attention

Despite significant attention in recent times, the law of international trade has been remarkably resilient in steering clear of compliance with the demands of justice. The history of the law governing international trade is rooted in forms of coercion and violence designed to promote the interests of powerful states and their multinational enterprises. The first norm of international trade law for the modern state, the principle of freedom to trade, was a rationalization to commit atrocities, including genocide, to promote the interests of European powers and their commercial interests. This problematic history of the law of international trade led governments to promote the wrong values in international trade relations between states. The chapter then examines the international trade order put in place when treaties and positive law became more important and industrial forms of capitalism became ascendant, based on notions of promised-based commitment, providing states with a rationale to ignore notions of justice, disparities in bargaining power, global inequality, and other values. With such norms in effect still today, power is permissibly exercised via a transactional model between states. In this model, trade treaties are all about bargaining. A national or mercantilist conception of market took absolute priority, a conception in which markets are divided up according to power imposed in bargaining. The chapter explains how the contemporary trade treaty suffers from various pathologies because of these historical rationalities imposed on it from these prior eras. The result is a failure of contemporary trade agreements to comply with principles of justice and relatively little concern expressed about this failure.

Fragmentation in international trade law: insights from the global investment regime

2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 621-652 ◽  
Author(s):  
ADRIAN M. JOHNSTON ◽  
MICHAEL J. TREBILCOCK
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
International Investment ◽  
Institutional Dynamics ◽  
Trade Regime ◽  
Trade Relations ◽  
Trade Law ◽  
International Trade Law ◽  
Treaty Interpretation

AbstractWith World Trade Organization negotiations stagnant, and preferential trade agreements (PTAs) rapidly proliferating, international trade relations are shifting markedly toward bilateralism. The resulting fragmentation in the international trade regime poses serious risks to economic welfare and the coherence of international trade law. Similar challenges have been faced in the international investment regime, which is comprised of a highly fragmented network of bilateral investment treaties (BITs). However, scholars have identified several mechanisms that promote harmonization in the international investment regime. Among these are cross-treaty interpretation in dispute settlement and the inclusion of most-favoured nation (MFN) clauses in BITs. This paper assesses the scope for these two mechanisms to emerge in the international trade regime by comparing the legal framework, institutional dynamics, and political economy of the trade and investment regimes. The analysis suggests that cross-treaty interpretation is likely to emerge in the trade regime as PTA dispute settlement activity increases and that greater use of MFN clauses in PTAs is a viable possibility. These developments would mitigate the effects of fragmentation and advance harmonization in the international trade regime.

John H. Jackson (1932–2015)

2016 ◽  
Vol 110 (2) ◽  
pp. 260-268
Author(s):  
Donald McRae
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
International Law ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Legal Scholar ◽  
Economic Law ◽  
Trade Law ◽  
International Trade Law ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Government

It is with the deepest regret that the Journal records the passing of John Jackson—teacher, scholar, contributor to this Journal and longtime member of its editorial board, and pioneer of international trade and economic law. The following is a tribute to John in recognition of his immense contribution to international law.In 1969, World Trade and the Law of GATT was published. In some sense, this was the beginning of what is known today as international trade law. Based on meticulous research into documents of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which hitherto had barely seen the light of day and certainly not the eyes of scholars, the work was to be”pragmatic” and designed to address the “intricate complexity” of the law of GATT and to be of use to “the government or GATT official, the private attorney and the legal scholar.” The scale was ambitious but characteristically expressed in modest terms.

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