Simon Lester

From the journal Trade, Law and Development: Call for Submissions Special Issue on Trade & Public Health Founded in 2009, the philosophy of Trade, Law and Development has been to generate and sustain a constructive and democratic debate on emergent issues in international economic law and to serve as a

Last week, I said that it wasn't clear to me how the "right to regulate" provision in the European Commission's proposed TTIP ISDS rules would function, or whether it would have any real impact.  Now I see that some people are worried it will

From NPR: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has come out against the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline. ... "I think it is imperative that we look at the Keystone XL pipeline as what I believe it is: a distraction from the important work we have to do to combat climate

This position looks like it could be very appealing to some of you out there: The Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin invites applicants to fill the newly endowed Victor Ramon Davila, Sr. Chair in International Trade Policy, beginning August 2016. The

The European Parliament's trade committee is having a fascinating discussion right now on ISDS: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/ep-live/en/committees/video?event=20150921-1500-COMMITTEE-INTA  I'm watching live; hopefully an archived version will be available later. Someone raised a point about the "right to regulate&

Now that the Commission has offered its reform proposal for ISDS in the TTIP, the politics of CETA get more interesting with regard to ISDS.  As I understand it, there is still some question about whether CETA needs only European parliamentary approval, or EU member state parliamentary approval as well,

This is from EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom, in the context of discussing the newly propsed TTIP ISDS investment court: “We want to establish a new system built around the elements that make citizens trust domestic or international courts”, said EU trade commissioner, Cecilia Malmstrom. Malmstrom, who is steering EU

Last year, I commented on a speech by U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman on the "values" driving U.S. trade policy.  With that post, I probably got myself taken off Froman's holiday card list, so I figure I can't make it any worse

Here are some details of an upcoming conference in Cancun: This year is the 20th anniversary of the WTO, and a round of conferences entitled 'Latin America & the Future of International Trade Law' will celebrate such an important event on December 2nd to 4th, 2015, in Cancun,

It is here. Explanation is here.  Here are a couple quick thoughts. First off, Article 2.1 states: The provisions of this section shall not affect the right of the Parties to regulate within their territories through measures necessary to achieve legitimate policy objectives, such as the protection of public