scholarly journals On Legal Positivism’s Word and our ‘Form-of-(non-)Living’

Global Jurist ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Siliquini-Cinelli
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Legal Theory ◽  
Free Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Legal Positivism ◽  
Legal Validity ◽  
Political Form

AbstractThis paper is about two stories. The more reassuring one states that by establishing that a norm is valid because of its source, not its merit, legal positivism is, in its various forms, perhaps one of the greatest achievements in Western legal theory and practice. From constitutionalism to human rights policies, from criminal to international law and free trade agreements, from contracts to torts and e-commerce, legal validity, predictability, and coherence have found their most powerful ally in positivist thought. This contribution argues that it is time for a different, neorealist story: the metaphysical, ontological and biopolitical essence of its language demonstrates that legal positivism has in fact played a fundamental role in the substitution of action with behaviour, and consequently, in the normalisation of humankind’s self-annihilating animality as post-historical and post-political ‘form-of-(non-)living.’

Seoul’s next leader will prioritise global ambitions

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
South Korea ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
North Korea ◽  
Free Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Content Type

Significance Moon Jae-in’s preoccupations in his final year as president will remain local -- not least, coordinating policy on North Korea with the Biden administration. However, his successor, to be elected in March 2022, will have broader horizons. Impacts Ignoring Pyongyang may prompt new and potentially bloody provocations, as happened to President Lee Myung-bak in 2010. South Korea will pursue fresh free trade agreements. Its declared intention to join the CPTPP has not yet yielded a specific roadmap. Asia will remain Seoul’s main focus; South Asia, especially India, offers many untapped synergies. ‘Top table’ ambitions such as the G7 summit will make it more difficult for Seoul to ignore human rights in its diplomacy, as it used to.

scholarly journals Citizens and Transatlantic Free Trade Agreements: How to Reconcile American ‘Constitutional Nationalism’ with European ‘Multilevel Constitutionalism’?

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 349-391
Author(s):  
Ernst-Ulrich Petersmann
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Free Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
The European Union ◽  
External Relations ◽  
Eu Policies ◽  
Governance Institutions ◽  
The Eu

Abstract The free trade agreements (FTAs) of the European Union (EU) aim at protecting transnational public goods (PGs) – such as a rules-based, transatlantic market – that could be progressively extended to other European and North-American FTA members and serve as a model for reforming worldwide trade rules and governance institutions. International law and governance can protect PGs more effectively if citizens are empowered as ‘democratic principals’ to hold multilevel governance institutions legally, democratically and judicially accountable for governance failures. The Lisbon Treaty established a ‘cosmopolitan foreign policy constitution’ requiring ‘protection of its citizens’, ‘strict observance of international law’ and rights-based market regulations also in the EU’s external relations. This contribution criticizes EU policies of disempowering citizens in FTAs and undermining their fundamental rights. Without respect for rule of law, the EU cannot overcome its crises of legitimacy and the distrust of citizens vis-à-vis intergovernmental EU regulations.

The Evolution of Indirect Expropriation Clauses: Lessons from Singapore’s BITs/FTAs

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 319-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yvette ANTHONY
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Free Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Bilateral Investment Treaties ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
One Step ◽  
Investment Treaties ◽  
Exhaustive List

AbstractThis paper examines the evolution of expropriation provisions contained in Singapore’s bilateral investment treaties and free trade agreements from the 1970s until now. It will be seen that whilst earlier treaties contained skeletal expropriation provisions, the later treaties have sought to guide the exercise of tribunals’ discretion by providing a non-exhaustive list of factors to be taken into account when indirect expropriation is alleged. The consequences of this evolution in Singapore’s treaty-making practice are considered in the light of customary international law. The paper postulates a framework for analyzing Singapore’s treaty practice and this author concludes by submitting that the later treaties arguably go one step further in limiting the scope of indirect expropriation.

scholarly journals A critique of the extraterritorial obligations of the EU in relation to human rights clauses and social norms in EU free trade agreements

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clair Gammage
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Norms ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Free Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Labour Standards ◽  
The Eu

This article examines the nature of the EU’s obligations in relation to human rights and social norms in its free trade agreements (FTAs) with a view to problematising the extent to which such clauses are justiciable and enforceable. While human rights do not fall within the area of exclusive EU competence, it is widely accepted that the EU may be liable for contributing to human rights violations in the context of trade agreements under international law and EU law. Conversely, it will be shown that social norms, including labour standards and principles such as sustainable development and environmental protection, which are increasingly set out in the Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) chapters of FTAs, raise more complex questions regarding the territorial reach of EU law. It is submitted that EU FTAs are constructed in such a way as to exclude rights with the effect that the extraterritorial obligations of the EU in relation to human rights clauses and social norms are unlikely to be judicially enforceable in practice. However, in spite of the territorial limitations of EU law in relation to human rights clause and social norms, recent developments in the case law of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) suggest that the EU is nevertheless under an obligation to ensure its trade agreements with developing countries are conducted in a ‘development-friendly’ manner. To conclude, this article advances the argument that the obligation to engage in ‘development-friendly’ trade may serve to extend the territorial reach of EU further, albeit within the confines of trade and cooperation agreements.

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