International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Simon Lester

Simon Lester

Co-founder of WorldTradeLaw.net and China Trade Monitor. Non-resident fellow at the Baker Institute.

http://simonlester.com

What Do National High Court Judges think of ISDS?

This is from Chief Justice French of the Australian high court: So far as I am aware the judiciary, as the third branch of government in Australia, has not had any significant collective input into the formulation of ISDS clauses in relation to their possible effects upon the authority and

Director of the Trade Agreement Secretariat

With cases like the CAFTA labor complaint against Guatemala going on, this might be an interesting job: The Trade Agreement Secretariat, is looking for an energetic, innovative Director who will enjoy working in a dynamic and mission-driven organization. The ideal candidate will be responsible for overseeing the impartial administration

The CAFTA Labor Complaint Against Guatemala

The U.S. complaint against Guatemala for failure to enforce labor laws -- mentioned here -- seems to be going forward. The first U.S. written submission is now online here. Here's an excerpt: 2. This submission demonstrates that Guatemala has breached its obligation under Article 16.2.1(a)

What Will Republicans Do on Trade with Control of Congress?

The big, and not unexpected, news of yesterday is that Republicans now control both houses of Congress, for the first time since 2006. One thing this will do is help the GOP to set the agenda on trade policy and trade negotiations. So what will they do with their newfound

Nit-Picky Comment on India - Agricultural Products

This is from the recent panel report in India - Agricultural Products: 7.791. In its panel request, the United States claimed that India acted inconsistently with Annex B(5)(a) to (5)(d) because it failed to, inter alia, identify the parts of its AI measures which, in substance, deviate

The Role of the EU and the Member States in Trade Policy

From the European Commission: The Commission decided today to request an opinion of the EU Court of Justice on the competence to sign and ratify a trade agreement with Singapore. Commissioner De Gucht said: 'I have been saying for months that we need to clarify the interpretation of the

Trade Law Case Notes

From the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies and Oxford University Press: Dear colleagues, We are writing to invite you to join an exciting new project undertaken by the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies and Oxford University Press. The Oxford Reports on International Law (ORIL) brings together decisions on

WTO Legal Jobs Available

As you may have heard, WTO dispute settlement is getting pretty busy these days, which explains why the WTO Secretariat is looking for lawyers to work on these cases: -- Grade 9 lawyers (at least 8 years experience) -- Grade 7 lawyers (at least 3 years experience) There are positions in Rules,

Who Should Be Able To Sue a Government in an International Tribunal?

As this blog's readers all know, under most investment treaties and investment chapters of trade agreements, foreign investors can sue a host government directly in an international tribunal, based on various obligations imposed on the government (fair and equitable treatment, etc.). For those who support this system, I&

Reliving the Loewen NAFTA Case: Is a Court Ruling a Measure?

Following up on the post yesterday regarding U.S. government documents relating to the Loewen NAFTA case, turns out there was a lot of repetition in those documents. The main substantive issue was whether court rulings constitute "measures," and how the U.S. should approach this issue as