International Economic Law and Policy Blog

Sign in Subscribe

Simon Lester

Investment Treaties and International Rights

A few posts ago, I asked: Of all the individuals, groups and other entities that are out there in the world, why do only "foreign investors" have access to this special international remedy? In the comments to my post, Mark Kantor said: Your question "why do only

Investor-State after the Australian Policy Change

In this paper, Luke Nottage is concerned that Australia's recent policy change with respect to investor-state might lead to a decline in investor-state provisions all around Asia. Here's the abstract: Treaty-based investor-state arbitration (ISA) has gradually become a more established part of the legal landscape in

Understanding PPMs at the WTO

In the Peter Fitzgerald paper mentioned in the last post, I saw a reference to this sentence in "Understanding the WTO": The WTO agreements are interpreted to say ... [that] trade restrictions cannot be imposed on a product purely because of the way it has been produced. See p.

The Seal Products Dispute and a Public Morals Defense

In a new paper, Peter Fitzgerald is skeptical of a GATT Article XX(a) "public morals" defense being successfully invoked by the EU as a justification for its seal products ban. Here's a key excerpt: Moreover, since import prohibitions are among the most trade disruptive measures

Dictionaries and Legal Interpretation

Speaking of the Appellate Body, which is known for (among other things) its use of dictionaries, here's an interesting NY Times piece on the U.S. Supreme Court's increasing use of dictionaries: In a decision last week in a patent case, Chief Justice John G. Roberts

More on Appellate Body Nominations

From Gary Hufbauer: The office of the US Trade Representative has taken the little noticed but highly unfortunate step of blocking Jennifer Hillman’s second term on the WTO Appellate Body. This is a bad omen, both for the World Trade Organization and the United States. ... The United States has

The Politicization of the Appellate Body Nomination Process

With two Appellate Body appointments coming soon, this paper -- entitled "Agents, Trustees, and International Courts: The Politics of Judicial Appointment at the World Trade Organization" -- by Manfred Elsig and Mark Pollack is very well-timed. From the intro: We present a view of an AB selection process

Is Chinese Investment in Africa Neo-Colonialism?

From an interview with Hillary Clinton on an African TV show, here was a question asked by the host: MR. MAROLENG: Madam Secretary, one of the things around the African Growth and Opportunity Act is that it’s also based on the notion that conditionality around good governance will lead

TRIPS and Australia's Draft Law on Plain Packaging of Cigarettes

From yesterday's TRIPS Council meeting: ... the Dominican Republic objected to a draft Australian law requiring cigarettes to be sold in plain packaging without logos or trademarks. The brands would be identified simply in a standard typeface with large graphic health warnings. Australia originally notified the draft and the

Is Investment Treaty Arbitration Biased Against Developing Countries?

In a short paper, Kevin Gallagher and Elen Shrestha discuss the issue of whether investment treaty arbitration is biased against developing countries. They first note the argument of those who say there is no bias: Defenders claim that the system does not unfairly subject developing countries to arbitral panels. When