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Articles 1 - 9 of 9

Full-Text Articles in Law

Democracy, Science, And Free Trade: Risk Regulation On Trial At The World Trade Organization, Robert Howse Jun 2000

Democracy, Science, And Free Trade: Risk Regulation On Trial At The World Trade Organization, Robert Howse

Michigan Law Review

Among the most common critiques of globalization is that it increasingly constrains the ability of democratic communities to make unfettered choices about policies that affect the fundamental welfare of their citizens, including those of health and safety, the environment, and consumer protection. Traditionally, free trade rules were about constraining border measures such as tariffs and quantitative restrictions on imports. Increasingly, however, such rules include requirements and constraints addressed directly to domestic regulation. For example, a country's policies with respect to intellectual property rights or its regulatory approach to network industries, such as telecommunications, may now be fundamentally shaped by rules …


Women's Rights And The Public Morals Exception Of Gatt Article 20, Liane M. Jarvis Jan 2000

Women's Rights And The Public Morals Exception Of Gatt Article 20, Liane M. Jarvis

Michigan Journal of International Law

The public morals exception in Article XX of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) could and should be interpreted in accordance with evolving human rights law on women's rights. This clause provides an exception to the general rule that members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) cannot take measures against other Members that would restrict trade. Under Article XX, WTO members may restrict trade for a variety of social reasons, including protecting the environment, preventing prison labor, and otherwise promoting "public morals.” This Note will argue in particular that a nation should be allowed to invoke the public …


The Problems With Scorecards: How (And How Not) To Measure The Cost-Effectiveness Of Economic Sanctions, Richard W. Parker Jan 2000

The Problems With Scorecards: How (And How Not) To Measure The Cost-Effectiveness Of Economic Sanctions, Richard W. Parker

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article looks "beneath the bridge" of sanctions law and policy to investigate these foundational questions. Part I will look briefly behind the currently prevailing estimate for the direct economic cost of high foreign policy export sanctions for the U.S. economy. It will demonstrate that the most widely reported aggregate cost estimate of $15-20 billion per year and 200,000 U.S. jobs lost is unsubstantiated. Moreover, the evidence is clear that environmental trade sanctions, i.e., import restrictions deployed for environmental purposes, have cost U.S. companies and workers virtually nothing. Trade sanctions may impose very significant costs on individual companies, and these …


Trade And Inequality: Economic Justice And The Developing World, Frank J. Garcia Jan 2000

Trade And Inequality: Economic Justice And The Developing World, Frank J. Garcia

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article attempts to lay the foundation for such a framework in the area of international trade law. More specifically, this Article develops the argument that the principle of special and differential treatment, a key element of the developing world's trade agenda, plays a central role in satisfying the moral obligations that wealthier states owe poorer states as a matter of distributive justice. Seen in this light, the principle of special and differential treatment is more than just a political accommodation: it reflects a moral obligation stemming from the economic inequality among states.


The Desirability Of Agreeing To Disagree: The Wto, Trips, International Ipr Exhaustion And A Few Other Things, Vincent Chiappetta Jan 2000

The Desirability Of Agreeing To Disagree: The Wto, Trips, International Ipr Exhaustion And A Few Other Things, Vincent Chiappetta

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article proposes a procedural and substantive approach specifically designed to achieve this result. Concerning process, interim national and regional decisionmaking and the multilateral debate must expressly broaden and clarify the values and interests at stake. Three basic operational principles advance this objective. First, comparisons based on IPR labels (patent, copyright, and the like) confuse rather than illuminate. Instead, focus must be on the actual underlying policy justifications and objectives. Second, the full range of implicated justifications (economic and otherwise), including those outside the decision-makers' own norms, must be expressly identified and considered. Finally, any position taken or decision reached …


Labor Rights, Globalization And Institutions: The Role And Influence Of The Organization For Economic Cooperation And Development, James Salzman Jan 2000

Labor Rights, Globalization And Institutions: The Role And Influence Of The Organization For Economic Cooperation And Development, James Salzman

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article has four sections. The first recounts the history of the OECD, from its creation as the overseer of the Marshall Plan to its current prominence as global economic analyst, and explains its operations. The second section explores its influence on the development of labor rights, examining the well-known OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, publications on trade and labor by the Employment, Labor and Social Affairs Directorate, and the events surrounding South Korea's accession to the OECD. Each of these activities, though quite different from one another (and, in combination, very different from the activities of other IGOs), provided …


Cultural Resistance To Global Governance, Joel Richard Paul Jan 2000

Cultural Resistance To Global Governance, Joel Richard Paul

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article maps out the terrain in which state actors and legal scholars make claims premised on a cultural exception to justify derogating from international legal norms. The author’s aim is to understand why some of these claimed cultural practices displace international legal norms, while other practices are dismissed as violating international legal norms. Part II will examine this discourse in relation to the rights of women and sexual minorities. This article will show that the international community generally regards gender norms as cultural and the international legal norm of gender equality usually defers to national cultural practices. Part III …


The New Rules On Cross-Border Tender And Exchange Offers, Business Combinations And Rights Offerings: Competition Or Harmonization?, Julian T. Perlmutter Jan 2000

The New Rules On Cross-Border Tender And Exchange Offers, Business Combinations And Rights Offerings: Competition Or Harmonization?, Julian T. Perlmutter

Michigan Journal of International Law

This note introduces the Cross-Border Rules in the context of the rapidly changing securities markets and highly competitive regulatory systems noted above. It addresses the elements and impact of internationalization on cross-border tender offers and the modern U.S. regulatory response. The SEC has avoided any public moves to harmonize the U.S. system with those of other major capital markets and has instead made incremental changes aimed at maintaining the system's perceived strengths. The Cross-Border Rules represent a somewhat ungainly attempt to placate U.S. investors by bending the Williams Act tender offer rules using exemptions for certain transactions.


The Product/Process Distinction - An Illusory Basis For Disciplining 'Unilateralism' In Trade Policy, Robert L. Howse, Donald H. Regan Jan 2000

The Product/Process Distinction - An Illusory Basis For Disciplining 'Unilateralism' In Trade Policy, Robert L. Howse, Donald H. Regan

Articles

It has become conventional wisdom that internal regulations that distinguish between products on the basis of their production method are GATT-illegal, where applied to restrict imports (although possibly some such measures might be justified as 'exceptions' under Article XX). The aim of this article is to challenge this conventional wisdom, both from a jurisprudential and a policy perspective. First, we argue there is no real support in the text and jurisprudence of the GATT for the product/process distinction. The notion developed in the unadopted Tuna/Dolphin cases that processed-based measures are somehow excluded from the coverage of Article III (National Treatment) …