I'm coming across quite a few people on twitter and elsewhere who seem eager to defend ISDS/investment treaties/investment chapters in FTAs. This blog post will give them another opportunity, in the context of one particular aspect of the current international investment system.  Investment rules typically have

One day, the Appellate Body will be presented with just the right measure and legal obligation to fully elaborate all of the contours of the mandatory/discretionary distinction. Last week's EU - Biodiesel report was not the case to do that, but nonetheless the Appellate Body said some

In recent posts, I've tried to address whether and to what extent the backlash against globalization is about tribalism and xenophobia-or rather about jobs, equality, and democracy.  According to Ross Douthat in today's New York Times, the new "post-liberal" politics is all about existential

In response to my post about the German constitutional complaint against CETA, focusing on the ISDS issues, Chris Riffel sends the following thoughts: It is contested whether the envisaged establishment of the CETA Tribunal is at variance with the German constitution, notably Art. 3(1) Basic Law, because legal standing

Recently, I mentioned that Trump's advisers had raised the issue of how the use of VAT taxes in some countries but not others might distort trade, if the VAT exempts exports but is applied to imports.  I was thinking about writing something more detailed about this, but thankfully

As I've mentioned before, the Court of Justice of the EU is hearing an important case on the EU - Singapore FTA related to the competence of the EU over trade policy, which will have important implications for EU trade policy going forward. The hearing in the case

The Deplorables sounds like the name of a band that might have been playing clubs in the Bowery in the early 80s.  Now it's been used, notoriously, by presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to denote a sub-set of Trump supporters whose attitudes and beliefs are, in liberal democratic terms,

The award in the Allard vs. Barbados investment arbitration was just recently made public.  Here were the basic facts and the legal claims: 33. In 1994, Mr. Allard decided to acquire and develop land in Barbados for an eco-tourism attraction. To this end, in October 1996, he incorporated the Barbadian

This is from his farewell speech at the DSB: Most importantly, the outcome of cases must never be an acceptable reason for opposing reappointment. And similarly, an Appellate Body Member’s adjudicatory performance relating to case-management, including her “judicial style,” should not be recognized as a legitimate reason for opposing

This is from SIEL/JIEL/OUP: " A prize has been established by the Society of International Economic Law (SIEL), Journal of International Economic Law (JIEL) and Oxford University Press (OUP) for the best essay submitted on any topic in any field of international economic law. The 2016-2017 SIEL/JIEL/