Law Commons^™

The Sps Agreement Within The Framework Of Wto Law. The Rough Guide To The Agreement’S Applicability, Lukasz A. Gruszczynski

Lukasz A Gruszczynski

The Duty Of Treatment: Human Rights And The Hiv/Aids Pandemic, Noah B. Novogrodsky

Noah B Novogrodsky

This article argues that the treatment of HIV and AIDS is spawning a juridical, advocacy and enforcement revolution. The intersection of AIDS and human rights was once characterized almost exclusively by anti-discrimination and destigmatization efforts. Today, human rights advocates are demanding life-saving treatment and convincing courts and legislatures to make states pay for it. Using a comparative Constitutional law methodology that places domestic courts at the center of the struggle for HIV treatment, this article shows how the provision of AIDS medications is reframing the right to health and the implementation of socio-economic rights. First, it locates an emerging right …

On Breaking Patents: Separating Strands Of Fact From Fiction Under Trips, Cynthia M. Ho

Cynthia M Ho

This article provides the first comprehensive analysis of when compulsory licensing of patents is permissible as a matter of international law under the Agreement of Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS). Thailand’s recent compulsory licenses of patents on a variety of medications provide a convenient vehicle to analyze the limits of compulsory licensing under TRIPS. Thailand’s actions are unique; most countries hesitate to issue compulsory licenses in the wake of legal uncertainties regarding TRIPS requirements as well as political pressure. This article capitalizes on the many issues involved in Thailand’s licenses to provide an authoritative interpretation of the scope of …

Toward An Identity Theory Of International Organizations, Sungjoon Cho

Sungjoon Cho

Toward an Identity Theory of International Organizations

Abstract

Today, we live in an era of international organizations (IOs). With more than two hundred IOs existing, they touch our everyday lives, ranging from air travel to flu shots. Such paramount significance notwithstanding, conventional international relations (IR) theories, such as realism, have failed to take IOs seriously. Conventional IR scholars view an IO as nothing but passive machinery created and controlled by states for their functional need. Under this position, while an IO may facilitate inter-state cooperation and reduce transaction costs, it would never have a life of its own. Conventional IR …

A Study Of Interest, John Gotanda

John Y Gotanda

In recent years, a number of tribunals, mainly those deciding investment disputes, have re-examined traditional practices concerning the awarding of interest, particularly whether interest should be awarded at market rates and on a compounded basis. However, many tribunals deciding transnational contracts disputes continue to follow the practice of applying national laws on interest, which often results in the application of domestic statutory interest rates calling for a fixed rate of interest to accrue on a simple as opposed to compound basis. These statutory rates often do not change to reflect economic conditions and thus may under compensate or over compensate …

Sps Measures Adopted In Case Of Insufficiency Of Scientific Evidence – Where Do We Stand After Ec-Biotech Products Case?, Lukasz A. Gruszczynski

Lukasz A Gruszczynski

Reaffirming The Rights Of Foreign Investors To The Protection Of Icsid Arbitration: Sempra Energy International V. The Argentine Republic, Daniel Krawiec

Daniel A Krawiec II

Earlier this decade, the Argentine government responded to a substantial domestic economic crises by passing several emergency laws and unilaterally changing the terms of its investment agreements with foreign investors. Sempra v. Argentine Republic is an important case because the tribunal decisively reaffirmed the right to ICSID arbitration for American investors harmed by Argentina’s actions. Furthermore, the tribunal held that the U.S.-Argentina bilateral investment treaty provided substantial substantive investment protection.

Can We Talk?, Don Peters

Don Peters

CAN WE TALK: OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO MEDIATING PRIVATE TRANSBORDER COMMERCIAL DISPUTES IN THE AMERICAS Don Peters

This article examines cognitive and cultural barriers creating the comparatively infrequent use of mediation to resolve private, transborder commercial disputes in the Americas. It begins by analyzing the challenges of transborder commercial litigation. It then develops and supports the claim that international arbitration, the most frequently used transborder commercial dispute resolution method , suffers from many of litigation’s disadvantages, including excessive expense and delay, sacrificing outcome control, damaging or ending rather than preserving and improving commercial relationships, and using legalistic, rights based perspectives which …

Foreign Tax Credit Arbitrage, Eric Silver

eric silver

Within the sophisticated world of international finance, there exists an inherent tension in characterizing particular tax strategies as either savvy investments or imprudent tax avoidance. At the center of this struggle are the proposed amendments to regulation section 901 of the Internal Revenue Code. Both the Internal Revenue Service (the IRS) and the Treasury Department claim that the proposed regulations will guide tax strategists in determining the appropriate amount of domestic and foreign taxes paid and the claiming of foreign tax credits. More specifically, the updates to the legislation concern transactions involving U.S.-owned foreign entities and certain structured passive investment …

Governing Guns, Opposing Opium: A Theory Of Internationally Regulated Goods, Asif Efrat

Asif Efrat

The paper examines a significant phenomenon overlooked by the trade literature: internationally regulated goods. Contrary to the general trend of trade liberalization, specific goods, such as drugs, small arms, and antiquities, have come under increasing international control in recent decades through a set of global regulatory agreements. I argue that these goods are unique in that they involve transnational negative externalities. Whereas certain countries benefit from the trade in these goods, the trade inflicts negative effects on other countries. Examples of such negative externalities include fatalities and refugee flows resulting from rampant gun violence, high crime rates associated with widespread …

Legitimacy And Law-Making Alliances, Claire R. Kelly

Claire R. Kelly

Abstract Law-making institutions seek legitimacy to secure compliance with the norms that they generate. In the international setting this quest is made more difficult by the lack of both an identifiable public that international organizations represent and competing normative prescriptions for international law-making. In light of these obstacles, various legitimacy theories attempt to evaluate the law-generating efforts of international organizations. These theories consider whether the organizations are representative, inclusive, procedurally fair, or effective. Law-making organizations that satisfy the legitimacy criteria articulated in these theories can claim legitimacy and expect greater compliance as a result.

Although these theories are helpful, a …

Food Fight At The Wto: Can The Precautionary Principle Reconcile Liberalization And Public Fear?, Sophie Clavier

Sophie M Clavier

No abstract provided.

A Meating Of The Minds: Possible Pitfalls And Benefits Of Certified Organic Livestock Production And The Prodigious Potential Of Brazil, Adam C. Schlosser

Adam C. Schlosser

Certified organic food represents the fastest growing segment of food production in both the United States and throughout the entire world. This article examines the issues and opportunities facing both large and small scale farmers wishing to engage in organic livestock production. Organic regulations cover everything involved in production, starting with the organic certification process and concluding with slaughter and the subsequent shipping and sale of the end organic product. The final section of this article addresses the unique ability of Brazil – described alternatively as “the world’s warehouse” and the “world’s [future] source of food” – to increase the …