Simon Lester

My chocolate-loving friends tell me this is outrageous and something needs to be done: Hershey filed a lawsuit in August against LBB Imports, a New Jersey company that sells specialty products from Britain, South Africa and Australia. LBB has since stopped importing the U.K. brands that Hershey objected to.

I don't read absolutely everything there is to read on ISDS, so maybe this proposal from U.S. Rep. Sander Levin is out there already and has been dicussed to death, but it was new to me: TPP should include several new provisions to protect the rights of

This is from University of Chicago law prof Brian Leiter: I propose to defend and explore three claims in this lecture. First, there is very little actual “law” in federal constitutional law in the United States, especially with respect to cases that end up at the U.S. Supreme Court:

The CAFTA panel set up to hear the U.S. complaint regarding Guatemala's enforcement of its labor laws has issued a procedural ruling.  The basic question was, "how the panel should address, as a matter of procedure, a request by Guatemala for a preliminary ruling"?  Guatemala

The European Commission issued its report today on the public consultations it carried out on ISDS.  (A fact sheet is here; press release is here). Commissioner Malmström held a press conference, but there didn't seem to be much interest.  (I think you can watch it here).  Only two

Here are some details on an upcoming event on ISDS here in DC: The Wilson Center will host a panel to examine practical suggestions for reform of the current system of resolving international investment treaty disputes. The increase in cases against States and their challenge to public policy measures has

The Utrecht Journal of International and European Law has issued a call for submissions for its 81st edition on "General Issues in International and European Law." The call is here, and says in part: The Utrecht Journal of International and European Law is issuing a Call for Papers

The EU is pushing transparency in the TTIP, and has now posted online some negotiating documents: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/press/index.cfm?id=1230 In my view, this is a positive development. There are some things you need to keep secret as part of a negotiation, but

Victoria Guida of Politico reports: Matthew Goodman, a former White House adviser on Asia-Pacific issues, said Monday that he expects the political fight over the Trans-Pacific Partnership to happen mostly in the context of a vote on legislation to renew trade promotion authority. “I don’t think a TPA vote