International Trade Law Commons^™

Proportional Pragmatism: A Defense Of International Arbitration Agreements In The Face Of Asymmetrical Paternalism, Rusty O'Kane

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

With foreign direct investment's increasingly important role in the global market, a more comprehensive regulatory system has emerged to guide key participants. Bilateral investment treaties have developed as an essential piece of the emerging regulatory system. Bilateral investment treaties are "[international investment] agreements between two countries for the reciprocal encouragement, promotion and protection of investments in each other's territories by companies based in either country." These treaties have drastically affected the way foreign investors interact with host countries, especially in the area of dispute resolution. A distinctive feature of many BITs is that they provide for alternative dispute resolution procedures …

Rethinking The Foreign Direct Investment Process And Incentives In Post-Conflict Transition Countries, Kojo Yelpaala

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Burdened by the remnants of conflict, continuing threats of security lapses, significant market failures and weak institutions, post-conflict transition countries can hardly be described as normal economies. The task of transforming them into vibrant, productive, and self-sustaining economies is no simple assignment. Constructing the blueprint for reconstruction and economic development requires creativity of the first order. Conventional theories or pure neo-liberal market driven policy levers preached by the Washington Consensus Group are not likely to be productive. The design of the investment regime for development should therefore focus on non-conventional policy constructs. Contrary to the received theories, the history and …

Of All Things Made In America Why Are We Exporting The Penn Central Test, Anthony B. Sanders

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Developing countries enter into bilateral investment treaties ("BITs") in order to increase foreign direct investment ("FDI"). Ignoring this straightforward fact has led to a great deal of confusion in the assessment of BITs and their protection of regulatory takings. This article addresses the question of how a BIT should approach regulatory takings with the purpose of increasing FDI in mind. It explores the background of the United States Supreme Court's Penn Central test and the test's incorporation into the post-NAFTA round of U.S. BITs. Then, the article examines whether an uncertain and flexible test such as Penn Central is suitable …

The Significance Of South-South Bits For The International Investment Regime: A Quantitative Analysis, Lauge Skovgaard Poulsen

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Initially, bilateral investment treaties ("BITs") were intended as legal instruments to promote and protect investments from rich capital exporting states to the developing world. While BITs signed between developing countries (hereinafter South-South BITs) began to emerge from the mid-1960s onwards with the 1964 Kuwait-Iraq BIT, a typical BIT was until recently negotiated between a developed and a developing country (hereinafter North-South BITs). In order to examine these questions, this paper will investigate whether there are systematic differences in investment-rule making between South-South and North-South BITs. As noted by UNCTAD in its cursory review of South-South BITs, such an analysis has …

Enhancing The Wto Tool Kit: The Case For Financial Compensation, Rebecca Ullman

Richmond Journal of Global Law & Business

World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement Understanding 160 represents an intersection of domestic law and international law. The subject of Dispute Settlement Understanding 160 (“DSU 160”) is the Fairness in Music Licensing Act, an American legislative act that extended copyright protection terms and carved out significant exemptions for commercial establishments. The exemptions set forth in the Fairness in Music Licensing Act (“FMLA”) conflict with U.S. international intellectual property obligations such that one must question whether there should be new and different remedies available to assist parties in meeting their international obligation.

World Trade Organization Agreements And Principles As A Vehicle For The Attainment Of Energy Security, Dennis J. Hough Jr.

Richmond Journal of Global Law & Business

Do you remember how you felt on Wednesday, January 7, 2009? Perhaps you do not. I know how some Europeans felt — cold. That was the day that Russia stopped all natural gas exports to Ukraine. By itself, this was a serious course of action. However, because Ukraine is the main transmission corridor for natural gas pipelines shipping gas to Europe, the situation commanded worldwide attention.

The Effect Of The Financial Crisis On The Middle East, Isam Salah

Global Business Law Review

The impact of the world economic crisis on the Middle East, and in particular on the countries of the GCC, was similar to the impact elsewhere in the West − collapse of the real estate sector, credit constraints, and economic contraction. The reaction of governments of the GCC was similar to the reaction of governments in the West − support of financial institutions and provisions of liquidity to the financial markets. Islamic finance has established itself as an important component of the commercial and financial sectors in these countries, so it is interesting to examine whether this segment of the …

Foreword, Mark J. Sundahl

Global Business Law Review

No abstract provided.

Recurring Storms: Weathering The Future By Understanding The Past , Robert L. Brown Ph.D.

Global Business Law Review

In this article, I describe the major financial crises that evolved into economic crises during the past four hundred years in Europe, the United States, and Asia, before turning to the 2007-10 global financial and economic crisis. My focus will be Tulipmania of 1637, Mississippi Scheme of 1720, South Sea Bubble of 1720, Great Crash of 1929, Crash of 1987, Asian Financial Crisis of 1997, Dot-com Bubble of 2000, and Financial Crisis of 2007-10. I identify commonalities as well as distinguishing characteristics among the events. In the discussion and description that follows, I note that the tendency is for more …

Piigs, Itraxx Soyx, Neoliberalism, And Unshackled Finance Capital, Tayyab Mahmud Ph.D.

Global Business Law Review

Banking and finance play a critical role in the economy by channeling savings towards productive investments. By the early twentieth century the lessons were learned that, left to its own devices, finance capital tends towards unbridled speculation and ends up playing havoc with the economy. The collective response was a Keynesian compromise whereby finance capital was regulated both nationally and internationally to put a check on speculation and to channel it to support the productive economy. The result was an extended period of economic growth and stability. Over the last thirty years, the neoliberal counter revolution reversed these regimes and …

Fighting Firearms With Fire In The Oas: A Critical Evaluation Of The Inter-American Convention Against The Manufacturing Of And Trafficking In Firearms, Ammunition, And Other Related Materials , Kierstan Lee Carlson

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Nature Or Nurture? Judicial Lawmaking In The European Court Of Justice And The Andean Tribunal Of Justice, Laurence R. Helfer, Karen J. Alter

Faculty Scholarship

Are international courts power-seeking by nature, expanding the reach and scope of international rules and the courts’ authority where permissive conditions allow? Or, does expansionist lawmaking require special nurturing? We investigate the relative influences of nature versus nurture by comparing expansionist lawmaking in the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the Andean Tribunal of Justice (ATJ), the ECJ’s jurisdictional cousin and the third most active international court. We argue that international judges are more likely to become expansionist lawmakers where they are supported by substate interlocutors and compliance constituencies, including government officials, advocacy networks, national judges, and administrative agencies. This …

International Movement To Deter Corruption: Should China Join?, Paul D. Carrington

Faculty Scholarship

Global concerns over the corruption of weak governments by firms engaged in transnational business are the source of an international movement that emerged in 1997. Special concern is presently directed at the weakness of enforcement of laws enacted in recent times to deter corrupt business practices in international trade that were enacted in response to that movement. One cause of weakness in law enforcement is the failure of China to share actively in those concerns and the efforts to address them. This essay will briefly record steps taken in other nations to address the concerns and the limited effectiveness of …

Is The Wedding Of Trade And Human Rights A Marriage Of Convenience Or A Lasting Union?, Susan Ariel Aaronson

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Forced to Be Good: Why Trade Agreements Boost Human Rights. By Emilie Hafner-Burton. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2009. 220pp.

A Look At The Compulsory License In Investment Arbitration: The Case Of Indirect Expropriation, Christopher Gibson

American University International Law Review

This article covers a timely set of issues concerning the relationship between intellectual property rights (“IPRs”) associated with foreign investments, state-authorized compulsory licenses, trade law (in particular, the TRIPS Agreement), and claims for indirect expropriation that might be brought in investment arbitration. I focus, as a case study, on compulsory licenses and claims of indirect expropriation. Compulsory licenses bear an inherently contentious character. This government authorized license often presents a clash between significant opposing interests – on one side, the legitimate expectations of patent based foreign investors founded on the international investment agreement (“IIA”) and a patent regime that, for …

How To Best Protect Party Rights: The Future Of Interim Relief In International Commercial Arbitration Under The Amended Uncitral Model Law, Dana Renée Bucy

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.

International Sale Of Goods 2009, Gregory M. Duhl

Faculty Scholarship

This is a survey of key cases decided by U.S. courts in 2009 interpreting the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods ("CISG"). Courts interpreted the scope, formation, warranty, avoidance, and remedies provisions of the CISG.

The Inherent Jurisdiction Of Wto Tribunals: The Select Application Of Public International Law Required By The Judicial Function, Andrew D. Mitchell, David Heaton

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article explores whether World Trade Organization (WTO) panels and the Appellate Body (WTO Tribunals) have the power to apply certain rules of public international law by reason of their judicial character, and because the application of these rules is necessary for the proper exercise of their judicial function. In other words, it seeks to answer the following questions: Do WTO Tribunals have inherent jurisdiction? And, if so, what are some of the rules applicable under and limitations on this jurisdiction?

The Effects Of "Blue Magic": A Call To Punish Criminal Organizations That Benefit From The Use Of Trademarks, 9 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 912 (2010), Thomas J. Kelley

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

Throughout history, criminal organizations have produced, packaged, transported, marketed, and sold illegal products. These organizations and their individual members can be punished for all of the steps in this process, except one: marketing. These groups routinely market their products with trademarks affixed to the illegal products they sell, and benefit from these trademarks the same way a company like the Coca-Cola Company benefits from its trademarks. Criminal organizations should not be free to use trademarks without fear of any additional punishment for doing so. Congress and the United States Sentencing Commission should look at this issue to determine an appropriate …

The New Ontologies: The Effect Of Copyright Protection On Public Scientific Data Sharing Using Semantic Web Ontologies, 10 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 181 (2010), Andrew Clearwater

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

The semantic web is going to become an important tool for scientists who need to accurately share data given context through structured relationships. The structure that defines contextual relationships on the semantic web is known as an ontology; which is a hierarchical organization of a knowledge domain that contains entities and their relations. This paper seeks to answer whether semantic web ontologies are protectable by copyright, and regardless of the outcome, what the best practices are for the scientific community. The best practices for the scientific community should include the adoption of a machine readable ontology license which disclaims copyright …