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Transparency: An Analysis Of An Evolving Fundamental Principle In International Economic Law, Carl-Sebastian Zoellner Jan 2006

Transparency: An Analysis Of An Evolving Fundamental Principle In International Economic Law, Carl-Sebastian Zoellner

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note will first sketch the theoretical underpinnings of transparency in an interdisciplinary overview of its possible meanings and advantages in the present context. It will then survey documents and instruments of international economic law in which language embracing the transparency principle is already present. The Note's main section proceeds to ask whether, in the actual application of those agreements, the transparency principle has had any notable impact on the interpretation of state obligations. Finally, in addressing transparency's future role in international economic law, this Note briefly discusses additional problems which might be resolved through a transparency-based approach.


Paper Dragon: Inadequate Protection Of Intellectual Property Rights In China, Omario Kanji Jan 2006

Paper Dragon: Inadequate Protection Of Intellectual Property Rights In China, Omario Kanji

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note will explore the extent to which China is in violation of its obligations under TRIPs. Section I surveys the current state of IPR infringement in China. Section II analyzes relevant TRIPs provisions, case law, and treaties that supplement TRIPs provisions. Section III analyzes Chinese criminal law, the December 2004 Judicial Interpretation of Chinese criminal law, and Chinese IP law as they pertain to IPR infringement. Section IV outlines enforcement efforts in China against the backdrop of the law analyzed in the previous section. Section V evaluates these enforcement efforts given China's capabilities and obligations, and Section VI concludes …


An Analysis Of Potential Conflicts Between The Stockholm Convention And Its Parties' Wto Obligations, D. Dean Batchelder Jan 2006

An Analysis Of Potential Conflicts Between The Stockholm Convention And Its Parties' Wto Obligations, D. Dean Batchelder

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Comment examines the compatibility of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants with parties' WTO obligations under the GATT Agreement. The Stockholm Convention represents a broad-based attempt to regulate persistent organic pollutants (POPs), some of the most damaging chemicals to the environment and human health. The commitments that parties to the Stockholm Convention have undertaken to control POPs may implicate international trade commitments. Hopefully the discussion in this Comment may also be relevant to other multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), especially those involving trade measures.


Power, Norms, And International Intellectual Property Law, Tai-Heng Cheng Jan 2006

Power, Norms, And International Intellectual Property Law, Tai-Heng Cheng

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article begins with the premise that international law is the net result of global processes of interactions among state and non-state participants in the international system. The Article builds on the author’s previous work by proposing a theory of international law that fills the interstices between private and public international law. Participants generally deploy power and invoke legal and social norms in pursuit of interests and in response to the strategies of other participants. Eventually, outcomes that reflect both power and norms result, and these outcomes in turn modify norms and reallocate power. New outcomes then follow in future …


Juridical Substance Or Myth Over Balance-Of-Payment: Developing Countries And The Role Of The International Monetary Fund In The World Trade Organization, Ugochukwu Chima Ukpabi Jan 2005

Juridical Substance Or Myth Over Balance-Of-Payment: Developing Countries And The Role Of The International Monetary Fund In The World Trade Organization, Ugochukwu Chima Ukpabi

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note attempts to chart the division of labor in respect of balance-of-payment between the Fund and the WTO. More importantly, it reflects on how the intertwined relationship between the Fund and the WTO over balance-of-payment might impact on developing countries in the unfolding architecture of trade.


The Promotion Of Free-Trade Areas Viewed In Terms Of Most-Favored-Nation Treatment And "Imperial Preference", Sydney M. Cone Iii Jan 2005

The Promotion Of Free-Trade Areas Viewed In Terms Of Most-Favored-Nation Treatment And "Imperial Preference", Sydney M. Cone Iii

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article will first examine the relevant WTO provisions that permit free-trade agreements as exceptions to MFN treatment. It will then situate current U.S. policy in the context of the history and purpose of those provisions. Next, the discussion of history and purpose will take up a key debate in the original GATT negotiations, in which the United States championed MFN treatment, while European countries, in particular, Great Britain, sought to retain preferential trading arrangements-arrangements once associated with the rubric of "imperial preference." Against this background, the article will explore the question of whether current U.S. policy represents a reversion …


Staying Within The Negotiated Framework: Abiding By The Non-Discrimination Clause In Trips Article 27, Kevin J. Nowak Jan 2005

Staying Within The Negotiated Framework: Abiding By The Non-Discrimination Clause In Trips Article 27, Kevin J. Nowak

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note argues that the Panel in Canada-Generic Medicines correctly decided that the non-discrimination clause in Article 27 applies to the exceptions of Articles 30 and 31. Because Article 27 is the guiding force of Section 5, any exceptions to the rights granted under Section 5 must comply with the requirements set forth in Article 27. Although extreme applications of the non-discrimination clause could be limiting upon some exceptions, Articles 30 and 31 were not placed into TRIPs as complete escape clauses from the framework of Section 5. Additionally, the application of the non-discrimination clause to Articles 30 and 31 …


Balancing Judicial Economy, State Opportunism, And Due Process Concerns In The Wto, Ana Frischtak Jan 2005

Balancing Judicial Economy, State Opportunism, And Due Process Concerns In The Wto, Ana Frischtak

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note will focus on an aspect of the dispute settlement proceeding that has not been officially proposed for reform: the withdrawal of and amendments to measures being challenged by a complaining Member during the course of the proceedings. This aspect raises issues of judicial economy, state opportunism, and due process. In particular, this practice, where the respondent country to a dispute withdraws or amends the measure being challenged during the course of proceedings, threatens to undermine the legitimacy of the dispute settlement system as a fair and transparent adjudicating body.


Supporting Sustained Economic Development, Steven Radelet Jan 2005

Supporting Sustained Economic Development, Steven Radelet

Michigan Journal of International Law

There is no magic formula for sustained economic development in poor countries. Strategies that succeed in one country may not be appropriate in another. Yet there are several broad similarities across the countries that have been most successful in achieving development over the past forty years. This Article takes a very broad overview of economic development in low-income countries over this period and makes three basic points.


Legal Institutions And International Trade Flows, Daniel Berkowitz, Johannes Moenius, Katharina Pistor Jan 2004

Legal Institutions And International Trade Flows, Daniel Berkowitz, Johannes Moenius, Katharina Pistor

Michigan Journal of International Law

Why do domestic legal institutions matter, and why can trading parties-in particular exporters of complex goods-not easily opt-out of their domestic legal institutions? The authors argue that domestic institutions remain important even in a globalized world, because they are the final option for enforcing a claim against a party in the event of a breach of contract. International contracts take place in the shadow of the parties' home institutions. Unless parties can negotiate a settlement, or the losing party voluntarily complies with a foreign court or arbitration ruling, the winning party must seek enforcement against the assets of the losing …


Investment Protection In Bilateral And Free Trade Agreements: Implications For The Granting Of Compulsory Licenses, Carlos M. Correa Jan 2004

Investment Protection In Bilateral And Free Trade Agreements: Implications For The Granting Of Compulsory Licenses, Carlos M. Correa

Michigan Journal of International Law

Can the exercise of any of the key provisions in investment agreements lead to rights and practices that deviate from the terms of the TRIPS Agreement? This issue is specifically explored in relation to compulsory licenses, one of the "safeguards" contemplated in the TRIPS Agreement that developing countries have actively tried to preserve in order to mitigate the powers conferred to patent owners. Despite this attention and interest, no single compulsory license has been granted in a developing country after the adoption of the TRIPS Agreement. This article explores the extent to which investment protection may add another barrier for …


Methods Of Power For Development: Weapons Of The Weak, Weapons Of The Strong, John Braithwaite Jan 2004

Methods Of Power For Development: Weapons Of The Weak, Weapons Of The Strong, John Braithwaite

Michigan Journal of International Law

Peter Drahos and John Braithwaite conducted a study during the 1990s on global business regulation, interviewing more than five hundred key players in approximately twenty globalizing business regulatory regimes. Results from that study are used in this paper to inform the identification of seven elements of American power in global governance. The paper then poses the question whether those elements can be acquired by developing countries.


The Role Of Trade & Foreign Direct Investment In Development, Kevin A. Hassett Jan 2004

The Role Of Trade & Foreign Direct Investment In Development, Kevin A. Hassett

Michigan Journal of International Law

Foreign direct investment (FDI) has been a key component of trade for decades, and has been the focus of a tidal wave of academic research as well. Conceptually, FDI must have an important role in providing welfare gains associated with trade. One of the key differences between countries, after all, is the relative quantity of capital available to its citizens. In these remarks, the author intends to provide a bird's eye view of the literature on FDI with a focus on the developing country's perspective.


Financing For Development, The Monterrey Consensus: Achievements And Prospects, Abdel Hamid Bouab Jan 2004

Financing For Development, The Monterrey Consensus: Achievements And Prospects, Abdel Hamid Bouab

Michigan Journal of International Law

The International Conference on Financing for Development, held in Monterrey, Mexico, in March 2002, marked the beginning of a new international approach to dealing with issues of development finance. It resulted from a unique process that broke new ground in bringing together all relevant stakeholders in a manner that was unprecedented in inclusiveness. Under the umbrella of the United Nations, all parties involved in the financing for development process contributed to creating a policy framework, the Monterrey Consensus of the International Conference on Financing for Development, to guide their respective future efforts to deal with issues of financing development at …


Wto And Gmos: Analyzing The European Community's Recent Regulations Covering The Labeling Of Genetically Modified Organisms, Brian Schwartz Jan 2004

Wto And Gmos: Analyzing The European Community's Recent Regulations Covering The Labeling Of Genetically Modified Organisms, Brian Schwartz

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note explores the compatibility of the EC's GMO regulations within the framework of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures ("SPS Agreement"), the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade ("TBT Agreement"), and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 ("GATT 1994" or "GAT"), all integral parts of the WTO Agreement. Part II presents arguments for or against the use of GM-products. Part III explores the concept of ecolabeling by analyzing the general goals of such programs, including the economic theory behind green consumerism and the characteristics necessary for effective schemes. Part IV describes the core …


The New Codex Alimentarius Commission Standards For Food Created With Modern Biotechnology: Implications For The Ec Gmo Framework's Compliance With The Sps Agreement, Aaron A. Ostrovsky Jan 2004

The New Codex Alimentarius Commission Standards For Food Created With Modern Biotechnology: Implications For The Ec Gmo Framework's Compliance With The Sps Agreement, Aaron A. Ostrovsky

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note makes two assertions. First, despite the fact that the Codex guidelines do not specifically invoke the Precautionary Principle in name, it can indeed be read into the guidelines in the amount of deference given to states in how they assess risk. This in turn means that the E.C.'s Deliberate Release Directive should be enjoy a presumption of compliance with both the SPS Agreement and the GATT. The second assertion is that even if the adjudicating body of the WTO finds that the Deliberate Release Directive, in relying on the Precautionary Principle, prescribes a higher level of protection than …


The Varied Policies Of International Juridical Bodies- Reflections On Theory And Practice, John H. Jackson Jan 2004

The Varied Policies Of International Juridical Bodies- Reflections On Theory And Practice, John H. Jackson

Michigan Journal of International Law

It can be seen that "fragmentation" can have several dimensions, and that the difference between juridical approaches as well as legislative approaches to treaty or other norm stating documents can result not only from different institutional settings, but also from different policy goals assumed for differing dispute settlement systems.


Bridging Fragmentation And Unity: International Law As A Universe Of Inter-Connected Islands, Joost Pauwelyn Jan 2004

Bridging Fragmentation And Unity: International Law As A Universe Of Inter-Connected Islands, Joost Pauwelyn

Michigan Journal of International Law

The fragmentation of the international legal system is not new. The consent-based nature of international law inevitably led to the creation of almost as many treaty regimes, composed of different constellations of states, as there are problems to be dealt with. Traditionally, these different regimes operated in virtual isolation from each other. Most importantly, the Bretton Woods institutions (World Bank, IMF, and GATT, now WTO) focused on the world's economic problems, while the UN institutions tackled the world's political problems. Both the IMF and World Bank articles of agreement, for example, explicitly state that political factors cannot be taken into …


Interpreting The Wto Agreements- A Commentary On Professor Pauwelyn's Approach, Joshua Meltzer Jan 2004

Interpreting The Wto Agreements- A Commentary On Professor Pauwelyn's Approach, Joshua Meltzer

Michigan Journal of International Law

In his paper, Professor Pauwelyn argues that pursuant to Article 31(3)(c) of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (Vienna Convention), the Appellate Body should consider other rules of international law in the interpretation of the WTO Agreements, when that law reflects the "common intentions" of the parties to the WTO. He argues that this does not mean that "all the parties to the WTO treaty must have formally and explicitly agreed, one after the other, to the new non-WTO rule; nor even that this rule must be otherwise legally bind all WTO members; but rather, that this new …


Reply To Joshua Meltzer, Joost Pauwelyn Jan 2004

Reply To Joshua Meltzer, Joost Pauwelyn

Michigan Journal of International Law

A reply to Joshua Meltzer's comment on the author's paper Bridging Fragmentation and Unity: International Law as a Universe of Inter-Connected Islands


Development, Globalization, And Law, Robert L. Kuttner Jan 2004

Development, Globalization, And Law, Robert L. Kuttner

Michigan Journal of International Law

Is global commerce under essentially laissez-faire rules optimal for economic development? In this era of liberated and deregulated markets, and after the final collapse of communism, a great many commentators would consider that a self-evident question. Of course free global commerce is good for economic development, because we know that the freest possible markets produce the most efficient use of resources and the highest available rates of economic growth. And growth benefits development. How could it be otherwise? And what is the role of law in facilitating commerce and in contouring a particular regime of domestic and transnational commerce and …


The Importance Of Core Labor Rights In World Development, Jonathan P. Hiatt, Deborah Greenfield Jan 2004

The Importance Of Core Labor Rights In World Development, Jonathan P. Hiatt, Deborah Greenfield

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article discusses the meaning and significance of core labor standards and the importance of linking them to trade agreements. It explains why the "protectionist" label often attributed to such linkage efforts by their detractors is misleading, as the example of China illustrates, repression of labor rights constitutes a form of unfair competition which undermines efforts to create a more just and stable world economy.


Development: Domestic Constraints And External Opportunities From Glabalization, T. N. Srinivasan Jan 2004

Development: Domestic Constraints And External Opportunities From Glabalization, T. N. Srinivasan

Michigan Journal of International Law

In what follows, this Article first discusses the process of development in Section II. Section III is devoted to the external aspects of development, namely international trade, finance, and intergovernmental organizations. Section IV is concerned with the domestic dimensions and legal reform, drawing on the debate on legal reforms in India. The author offers a few concluding remarks in Section V.


Labor Standards And The Generalized System Of Preferences: The European Labor Incentives, Anthony N. Cole Jan 2003

Labor Standards And The Generalized System Of Preferences: The European Labor Incentives, Anthony N. Cole

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note offers an introduction to the history of the GSP system, and critiques India's claim that the particular GSP scheme enacted by the EC is unacceptable under WTO law. It ultimately concludes that while the EC’s GSP scheme does indeed raise issues not raised by the GSP scheme of any other country, it is nonetheless not inconsistent with the EC's WTO obligations. Part 2 discusses the development of the international GSP regime, as incorporated into the legal structure of the WTO, and thereby establishes what originally was and was not seen as permissible within such schemes. Part 3 then …


Like Father, Like Son: A Progeny Of The Antidumping Model For The Shipbuilding Industry, Seung Wha Chang Jan 2003

Like Father, Like Son: A Progeny Of The Antidumping Model For The Shipbuilding Industry, Seung Wha Chang

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article is organized in the following manner: Part II introduces the OECD Secretariat's proposed pricing mechanisms based on the IPC antidumping model, while Part III provides for a critical evaluation of the proposed pricing mechanisms. First, Part III explains the reasons why the IPC antidumping model does not fit the shipbuilding industry due to the unique characteristic of the shipbuilding market. This Part thereafter demonstrates why the antidumping regime, as well as the proposed pricing mechanism, cannot be justified under the competition policy standards. While criticizing defenses for the current antidumping regime, Part III demonstrates why the proposed pricing …


Inordinate Chill: Bits, Non-Nafta Mits, And Host-State Regulatory Freedom- An Indonesian Case Study, Stuart G. Gross Jan 2003

Inordinate Chill: Bits, Non-Nafta Mits, And Host-State Regulatory Freedom- An Indonesian Case Study, Stuart G. Gross

Michigan Journal of International Law

A number of structural factors, which are beyond the immediate scope of this Note, may influence less wealthy countries to cave in to investor threats of arbitration, as Indonesia appears to have done here. However, their hesitancy to fight may also be based, in part, on an inadequate understanding of the applicable law, which allows investors to inordinately influence host-State decisions through threats of arbitration that have little or no chance of success. In regard to the mining companies' threat, this at least appears to be the case. As this Note will demonstrate, the GOI could have likely beaten the …


Assessing Clashes And Interplays Of Regines From A Distributive Perspective: Ip Rights Under The Strengthened Embargo Against Cuba And The Agreement On Trips, Robert Dufresne Jan 2003

Assessing Clashes And Interplays Of Regines From A Distributive Perspective: Ip Rights Under The Strengthened Embargo Against Cuba And The Agreement On Trips, Robert Dufresne

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article examines the clash of the two regulatory frameworks from the angle of distributive justice. By doing so, I suggest that in addition to the important issues of legitimacy, substantive norms, and hierarchy of legal orders, clashes between potential regulatory frameworks should also be conceptualized in the way in which they allocate goods (here the rights associated with IP) or recognize claims to or interests in such goods. The reasons for being concerned with distributive justice are threefold.


Wto Compassion Or Superiority Complex?: What To Make Of The Wto Waiver For "Conflict Diamonds", Joost Pauwelyn Jan 2003

Wto Compassion Or Superiority Complex?: What To Make Of The Wto Waiver For "Conflict Diamonds", Joost Pauwelyn

Michigan Journal of International Law

In May 2003, the WTO granted a waiver for trade restrictions imposed on WTO members not participating in the Kimberley Certification Scheme combating so-called "conflict diamonds." This Article examines the implications of this waiver decision. It argues that GATT/TBT provisions may already excuse the trade restrictions at issue, especially now that the UN Security Council has explicitly supported them. The waiver, therefore, risks sending out the wrong signals, confirming a WTO "superiority complex." At the same time, by excluding restrictions between Kimberley participants from its scope, the waiver implies that WTO members considered the Kimberley scheme to be a non-WTO …


Disciplining Globalization: International Law, Illegal Trade, And The Case Of Narcotics, Chantal Thomas Jan 2003

Disciplining Globalization: International Law, Illegal Trade, And The Case Of Narcotics, Chantal Thomas

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article is the first in a series of studies of the globalization of illicit markets. My theses are as follows: First, the increase in international trade in illicit products and services parallels the growth in international trade more generally that accompanies the phenomenon of globalization. Second, at the same time that most international trade law has moved toward a posture of liberalization, there has been a movement to strengthen the prohibition and punishment of trade in illicit transactions. Third, the mechanisms that have developed to regulate this prohibition constitute a significant development in the international legal order.


Cross-Examining Expertise In The Wto Dispute Settlement Process, Christopher T. Timura Jan 2002

Cross-Examining Expertise In The Wto Dispute Settlement Process, Christopher T. Timura

Michigan Journal of International Law

Part I of this Note surveys some of the recent contributions that social theorists and social scientists have made to our understanding of the role of experts in society, and also the structure of expert communities. Experts are everywhere in modern life, and individuals are with increasing frequency asked to extend their trust to experts and bodies of knowledge that they have little or no opportunity to question. Part II highlights how the WTO Agreement deals with experts, using recent WTO panel reports to illustrate the ways in which the DSB has operationalized its various provisions. Part III suggests two …