Law Commons^™

The Effect Of The Pro Act On Secondary Activity And International Trade, Christopher R. Rodenbaugh

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

No abstract provided.

Enforcement Penalties At The Itc, Andrea R. Hugill, John C. Jarosz, Katherine D. Cappaert

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

The U.S. International Trade Commission (“ITC” or “Commission”) has grown in importance as a venue for U.S. companies to pursue intellectual property (“IP”) violators and to block the sale or importation of goods from overseas that infringe U.S. IP rights. Once a violation of the Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 is found, an order halting further infringement, including importation, is almost always entered. In theory, potentially sizeable penalties may be imposed on entities that do not comply with the terms of an import restriction. In practice, the terms of an import restriction are almost always honored, but …

Friendly Skies, Unfriendly Terms: Class Action Waivers And Force Majeure Clauses In Airline Contracts Of Carriage, Grant Glazebrook

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

The airline contract of carriage. These unassuming bits of language govern the relationship between passengers and their airlines. Over the past three years, a new term has sprouted in these agreements: the class action waiver. Before March 2020, only two of the ten largest United States-based airlines’ contracts of carriage had class action waivers. But as of April 2023, eight now have class action waivers. Why have airlines quickly adopted these copycat terms? What are the implications of this new contractual trend for flyers, airlines, and regulators? This note aims to contribute to the scholarship around these questions in three …

Trends In China-Africa Economic Relations And Dispute Settlement, Won Kidane

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

The rapid rise in the last two decades of China-Africa economic interactions in trade, investment, construction projects, and loans require sustained inquiry into the substantive rules of engagement and mechanisms of dispute settlement. Evidently, however, it would quickly emerge that the improvements in supranational legal frameworks have not kept pace with the growing scale and complexity of the economic interactions. While trade relations between China and Africa are theoretically subject to the same multilateral World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, they are in practice mostly based on informal unilateral concessions. Moreover, investment relations are partially governed by fragmented and mostly outdated …

Unraveling The Longstanding Riddle About The Doctrine Of Legitimate Expectation Under International Investment Law: Ascertaining Legal Tests For The Customary International Law’S Minimum Standard Of Treatment, Haneul Jung, Nu Ri Jung

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

In 2018, the ICJ rendered a judgment in Bolivia v. Chile that effectively denied the status of the doctrine of legitimate expectation as a customary international law. The ICJ’s judgment came as a surprise to many in the international arbitration community because a whole host of international tribunals established under various investment treaties have found that this doctrine, as well as the broader principle of “fair and equitable treatment,” has effectively attained the status as the “minimum standard of treatment” under customary international law. Given the lack of elaborated reasoning, however, the ICJ’s ruling fails to resolve the recurring debate …

The Disaster Chain: Counter-Mapping Global Value Chains, Peer Zumbansen

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Abstract: Prevailing accounts by consultancies and logistics scholars present global value chains [GVCs] as an expression of contemporary international economic integration and connectivity. As such, they are considered crucial to the pursuit of economic growth and prosperity. At the same time, GVCs are deemed susceptible to “disruptions” through natural catastrophes, restrictive trade policies or pandemics. Left out of the standard narratives, even in light of the experience of the global Coronavirus pandemic, is the actual, as such disruptive impact of global value chain capitalism on human and natural lives. Dominant depictions of global value chain governance treat labor, environment and …

Private Equity And Venture Capital In Germany: How Europe’S Heartland Is Poised To Become The Next Bay Area, Jake Besanceney

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Abstract

This note examines the current state of private equity and venture capital activity and investment in Germany, and specifically in Berlin, in relation to the state of such activity and investment that existed in the San Francisco Bay Area prior to and following its tech explosion in the late twentieth century. Numerous factors such as political and ethnic diversity, a comparatively lower cost of living, and proximity to higher education institutes are propelling Berlin’s startup and tech scenes, and are eerily reminiscent of similar factors that fueled the Bay Area’s growth and attracted private equity and venture capital activity …

Protection Of Test Data Under Article 39.3 Of The Trips Agreement: Advancements And Challenges After 25+ Years Of Interpretation And Application, Eric M. Solovy

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Among the types of intellectual property rights covered by the TRIPS Agreement, WTO Members must, pursuant to Article 39.3, protect certain test and other data submitted “as a condition of approving the marketing of pharmaceutical or of agricultural chemical products.” Such protection provides the incentives necessary for the biopharmaceutical industry to conduct the lengthy, expensive multi-phased clinical testing that is required to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of a new drug or vaccine.

Test data protection has become increasingly more important to the development of new medicines in the past several years. That is in significant part because biologics (i.e., …

Bridging Separate Worlds— Application Of Human Rights Law In Investment Treaty Arbitration, Raymond Yang Gao

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

With the proliferation of investor-state treaty arbitration, international investment law has been increasingly caught in a “legitimacy” crisis, with concerns looming large over resultant disruptive effects on human rights. Amid existing scholarship seeking to recalibrate the balance between investment protection and public interests, what is relatively undertheorized is a public international law dimension. In this regard, this Article explores the role of human rights law in integrating human rights considerations into investment tribunals’ decision-making, bridging the normative divide between international investment law and human rights. It makes three contributions. First, it systemizes the normative tensions and potential conflicts between international …

The Efficient Breach Theory In International Investment Law, Sangwani Patrick Ng’Ambi

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

When a State unilaterally abrogates its contractual obligations, it is under a duty to compensate the investor. The aim of the compensation regime under International Investment Law is to restore the investor to a position he or she would have been in had the breach not taken place. Thus, the award of compensation should not only include sunk costs (damnum emergens) but also lost future profits (lucrum cessans).

In this article it is argued that the rules relating to compensation promote efficiency, as per the ‘efficient breach theory’ because they dissuade governments from unilaterally abrogating concession agreements, unless they can …

Forget Bit: The Impact Of Rta On Fdi And Economic Growth – A Comparison Of Brazil And Mexico, Rosa Meguerian-Faria

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

This article explores the relationship between international trade law, foreign direct investment (FDI), and economic growth of developing countries. Here, I argue that a developing state needs to capture the right combination of the different types of FDI to promote domestic growth. I apply principles of law, economics, and finance to my analysis of the importance of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs), compared to Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) to FDI inflow, and how it can impact economic growth in developing countries. I show that the RTAs give a signal that the country is open to foreign investment, and therefore it promotes …

Between Backlash And The Re-Emerging “Calvo Doctrine”: Investor-State Dispute Settlement In An Era Of Socialism, Protectionism, And Nationalism, Ylli Dautaj

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

The Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) regime stands on shaky ground. Its legitimacy is heavily questioned by critics and a “backlash debate” has ensued. As a result, a contested and infected debate has been on-going for some years now and multiple reform proposals have been offered, ranging from (a) moderate (and sensible) reform proposals—e.g., increased transparency; the inclusion of state counterclaims; the inclusion of higher ethical standards; reformulating deference standards; applying human rights and environmental law when interpreting international investment treaties; etc.—to more (b) radical reform proposals—e.g., the elaboration of either an Appellate System or an Investment Court System (ICS). Such …

Alibaba, Amazon, And Counterfeiting In The Age Of The Internet, Daniel C.K. Chow

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

The advent of e-commerce marketplaces such as Alibaba and Amazon in the new millennium has led to the proliferation of the sale of counterfeit goods around the world through the Internet. Brand owners find that Internet counterfeiters operating in the digital world present even more challenges than those using only brick-and-mortar operations. Internet counterfeiters have unprecedented access to consumers. They use false identities and addresses and vanish into cyberspace at the first sign of trouble. Brand owners seeking help from Alibaba and Amazon to remove listings of counterfeits have become frustrated by their convoluted and labyrinthine notice and take-down procedures. …

Can Smart Contracts Enhance Firm Efficiency In Emerging Markets?, Kevin J. Fandl

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Blockchain technology has the potential to eliminate one of the most significant barriers to economic growth through private business transactions in developing countries—lack of trust. In a typical developed country, individuals and firms conduct transactions within an institutional environment that offers security through the enforcement of agreements. Transparent and effective courts, while imperfect to be sure, enable parties to feel secure in their transactions even if their level of trust in the other party is low. This security, in turn, facilitates transactions far afield from high-trust relationships (e.g., immediate relatives), generating transactions based upon economic value rather than party trust …

Do You Accept These Cookies? How The General Data Protection Regulation Keeps Consumer Information Safe, Jayne Chorpash

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Abstract:

This note examines the General Data Protection Regulation implemented in the EU in 2018. The GDPR was the result of a long history of data privacy laws that have been met with varying levels of success. While the GDPR has retained many characteristics that have made past privacy laws successful, it has also made some important changes. Most notably, the GDPR gives generous rights to consumers to guard and protect their data, which is of growing concern in light of how easy it is to share information in our modern age. Additionally, the GDPR has a much broader territorial …

The Indian Securities Fraud Class Action: Is Class Arbitration The Answer?, Brian T. Fitzpatrick, Randall S. Thomas

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Abstract:

In 2013, India enacted one of the most robust private enforcement regimes for securities fraud violations in the world. Unlike in most other countries, Indian shareholders can now initiate securities fraud lawsuits on their own, represent all other defrauded shareholders unless those shareholders affirmatively opt out, and collect money damages for the entire class. The only thing missing is a better financing mechanism: unlike the United States, Canada, and Australia, India does not permit contingency fees, so class action lawyers cannot front the costs of litigation in exchange for collecting a percentage of what they recover. On the other …

A New Development In Private Equity: The Rise And Progression Of Special Purpose Acquisition Companies In Europe And Asia, Brandon Schumacher

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

This comment presents a comparative study of Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPAC) in the international context and the United States. In the course of examining international SPACs, it is necessary to first discuss and analyze the history and development of private equity and how SPACs became established players in the domestic and international markets. This comment will examine the impact that these short-term investment devices have had for investors, SPAC management, and private companies. The paper will evaluate the perceived advantages and disadvantages of using a SPAC as an acquisition form, as well as reflect on potential future developments pertaining …

Establishing Economic Independence In Haiti Through Public-Private Partnerships And Foreign Direct Investment, Jasmine Armand

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

In 1804, the Caribbean island of Haiti became the first black republic in the world after leading the only successful slave rebellion in history to result in the formation of an independent nation. Overflowing with valuable natural resources and equipped with a strategic Caribbean location, Haiti was positioned to remain one of the most prosperous territories in the world. But the price of independence was steep, and the country failed to thrive under crushing foreign intervention. But its story does not end there.

This note examines the opportunities for Haiti to establish economic independence through public-private partnerships and foreign direct …

How Countries Seek To Strengthen Anti-Money Laundering Laws In Response To The Panama Papers, And The Ethical Implications Of Incentivizing Whistleblowers, Carmina Franchesca S. Del Mundo

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

The Panama Papers is currently the world’s largest whistleblower case that involved 11.5 million leaked documents and over 214,000 offshore entities. It all linked back to one Panamanian law firm, Mossack Fonseca. In 2016, over 400 investigative journalists collaboratively and simultaneously published stories that exposed the money laundering and tax-evading schemes committed by the rich and powerful. This included political figures and heads of states, celebrities, sports figures, criminal organizations, and terrorist groups.

This article aims to dissect the innerworkings of Mossack Fonseca’s asset-shielding strategy and investigate how the Panamanian law firm was able to circumvent the tax and anti-money …

Embracing Non-Icsid Investment Arbitration? The Chinese Perspective, Meng Chen

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

This article introduces and examines Chinese arbitration institutions’ recent movements to expand non-ICSID investment arbitration services, which could potentially contravene existing relevant Chinese laws and judicial practice, and it explores the prospects for non-ICSID investment arbitration in China. The article first compares ICSID and non-ICSID investment arbitration to determine the differences between them and their respective selling points for stakeholders in investment disputes. Next, the article examines the diverse mechanisms involved and highlights the different rules that govern non-ICSID arbitration, including the rules established by Chinese arbitration institutions in recent years. The article then further analyzes the obstacles in existing …

Investor-State Dispute Settlement In The Digital Economy: The Case For Structured Proportionality, Robert Ginsburg

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

The surge of economic nationalism and cross-border technology investments foreshadows disputes between inbound investors and host governments. While cross-border technology transfer is essential for economic development in many countries, host governments retain the right to safeguard citizens against potential consequences of such investments. The tension between these two concepts provides a significant challenge to the future of foreign direct investment and the global economy. For these reasons, legislators and arbitrators must develop and enforce regulations that protect public interests while enabling investors to successfully operate in the host country. In anticipation of these disputes, this article will explain how arbitral …

The Next Global Disruptive Innovation: Can Mobile Money Make The Journey Upmarket To Disrupt The Financial Services Industry?, David Myerson

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

No abstract provided.

Mending The Wound Or Pulling It Apart? New Proposals For International Investment Courts And Fragmentation Of International Investment Law, Jaemin Lee

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Robust discussions on standing investment courts are currently taking place at various fora. In particular, negotiations to include bilateral investment courts in IIAs are in full swing and leading to the creation of such courts. On the other hand, negotiation for a multilateral investment court has yet to start. Even if negotiation begins, it is not clear how long it will take and whether it will indeed lead to a successful conclusion. As such, for a significant amount of time in the future, it is bilateral investment courts that states administer to resolve investment disputes. Bilateral investment courts, however, will …

The Next Generation Of Trade And Environment Conflicts: The Rise Of Green Industrial Policy, Mark Wu, James Salzman

Northwestern University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Cleared For Landing: Airbus, Boeing, And The Wto Dispute Over Subsidies To Large Civil Aircraft, Jeffrey D. Kienstra

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Competition between Airbus and Boeing in the large civil aircraft industry grew contentious as Airbus began to overtake Boeing in its long-held position as the world‘s leading producer of large civil aircraft. Airbus and Boeing had also each embarked on multi-billion dollar investments into the development of new aircraft, further raising the stakes. The United States and European Communities in turn increasingly scrutinized the subsidies provided by their counterpart to its respective aircraft manufacturer. This conflict over subsidies, which had persisted between the United States and European Communities since the inception of Airbus in 1970, reached a head in 2004 …

Why Does The Complainant Always Win At The Wto?: A Reputation-Based Theory Of Litigation At The World Trade Organization, Matthew C. Turk

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

World Trade Organization (WTO) litigation presents an empirical puzzle: complaining parties "win" close to 90 percent of cases, while standard theories of litigation predict a strong tendency towards a 50 percent plaintiff win-rate. This Article explains the high win-rate by examining the reputational costs and benefits of filing a case. The WTO's lack of centralized enforcement means that the consequence of a judgment is merely to disseminate information that alters a party's reputation for compliance with its trade obligations. Such a "reputational sanction" applies to both losing respondents and complainants. The result is that only cases with a very high …

Making Wto Sps Dispute Settlement Work: Challenges And Practical Solutions, Eric Gillman

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

The Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) represents an effort by the Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to balance competing interests in liberalizing trade, on one hand, and protecting human, animal, and plant life from risks posed by the free flow of goods on the other. SPS disputes center around a core question: Does the imported product at issue present a sufficiently serious threat to national health to warrant the imposition of trade-restrictive measures? Over twelve years and six disputes, panels and the Appellate Body (AB) have addressed this question by evaluating respondents' risk assessments. The …

Efficient Contracting Between Foreign Investors And Host States: Evidence From Stabilization Clauses, Sam Foster Halabi

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Bilateral investment treaties are agreements between sovereign states that give broad protections to investors and investments made within the jurisdiction of the other state. The prevailing view in the academy and practice is that developing countries sign bilateral investment treaties in order to reassure investors from developed states that their investments will be safe from changes in domestic law. Without these "credible commitments," investors would be deterred from making investments, depriving developing countries of foreign capital. This Article disputes that view by demonstrating that foreign investors and host states effectively contract around the risk of changes in the law. This …

Beyond Culture Vs. Commerce: Decentralizing Cultural Protection To Promote Diversity Through Trade, Sean A. Pager

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

For the past three decades, culture defenders and free traders have fought a pitched battle over global regulation of audiovisual industries, a collision of seemingly incompatible worldviews whose destructive repercussions policy-makers and scholars have struggled to contain. The battle has played out at multiple levels of international trade law, investment treaties, and UNESCO conventions. Now, the culture-trade war threatens to engulf e-commerce. Fortunately, there is a better way. The extraordinary flowering of Korean popular culture in recent decades—commonly known as the "Korean Wave"—can be traced directly to a set of decentralized policies enacted by South Korea's government in the 1990s. …

The Trade Litigant's Gauntlet: The Hanging Judge And The Teflon Tribunal, Jay Charles Campbell

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

The two U.S. agencies charged with conducting antidumping investigations may justifiably be labeled a "hanging judge" and a "Teflon tribunal." The Department of Commerce (DOC) investigates whether foreign firms have engaged in "dumping" exports to the United States. Since assuming responsibility for dumping investigations in 1980, the DOC has found that over 90% of the firms it investigated were "guilty." Such one-sided results subject far too many foreign firms to antidumping duty orders - which impair their ability to sell to the U.S. market - and send the wrong message to the United States' trading partners. Because the U.S. antidumping …