International Trade Law Commons^™

Is International Arbitration Becoming Too American?, George M. Von Mehrem, Alana C. Jochum

Global Business Law Review

This article will discuss the emerging trend of Americanization of international arbitration. As American companies and law firms become more involved in international arbitration, the process has developed to include some of the procedural techniques common to the American courtroom. But other aspects of American litigation are not part of the process. Has this made international arbitration a more effective means of resolving disputes? What should American companies and their lawyers know about the process in order to participate successfully?

Freedom And Governance In U.S. Arbitration Law, Thomas E. Carbonneau

Global Business Law Review

Professor Carbonneau will discuss the possible impact of recent United States Supreme Court decisions on international arbitration. The opinions he will refer to could indicate a reversal of the Court’s position on arbitration that would undermine arbitration’s prominence as a means of resolving international commercial disputes. He will then discuss the negative effects international commerce could experience as a consequence.

Transnational Securities Fraud And The Extraterritorial Application Of U.S. Securities Laws: Challenges And Opportunities, Genevieve Beyea

Global Business Law Review

With globalization, securities markets have become increasingly interconnected, and securities fraud has frequently crossed borders, creating problems for national regulators seeking to deter and punish fraud. The United States’ well-developed private enforcement mechanism for securities fraud is very attractive to investors around the world who are harmed by transnational securities fraud, particularly those from countries where private enforcement mechanisms do not exist or fraud is under-regulated. The application of U.S. securities law to foreign investors, however, presents a number of challenges, creating the potential for both under and overregulation as well as possible conflict with the regulatory systems of other …

Jurisdiction Issues In International Arbitration, Mitchell L. Lathrop

Global Business Law Review

Arbitration, and particularly international arbitration, involves jurisdictional issues beyond those normally encountered in traditional judicial proceedings. This article will describe prominent jurisdictional issues in international arbitration based on recent pronouncements of judicial and arbitral authorities. From effecting notice of the arbitration proceedings to the improper composition of the arbitral authority, this article will discuss jurisdictional issues that can arise at any time during an arbitration proceeding, and how they can affect the enforcement of an award.

Internet Contracting And E-Commerce Disputes: International And U. S. Personal Jurisdiction , Anne Mccafferty

Global Business Law Review

In cases involving international defendants, a variety of bases have been deemed appropriate for a U.S. court to assert personal jurisdiction, including nationality, domicile, “purposeful availment,” and a number of federal statutes. With the explosion of the Internet and the resulting expansion of international business transactions via the Web, courts have struggled to adapt traditional modes of adjudication consistent with established common, statutory and international law. Internet transactions—now known as e-commerce—involve the “practice of buying and selling goods and services through online consumer services on the Internet.” In a sphere of commerce apparently limitless in its reach, this article explores …

Piercing The Corporate Veil In International Arbitration, Yaraslau Kryvoi Ph.D.

Global Business Law Review

This article examines the application of the piercing the corporate veil concept in international arbitration. Interpretation of this concept is inconsistent even within one domestic legal system, and it is even less predictable in international arbitration when several legal systems come into play. Piercing the corporate veil may help to give a concrete practical meaning to the purpose of an arbitration agreement or a bilateral investment treaty. However, there are downsides of such piercing because it negates many of the benefits which the corporate form offers. Domestic courts are likely not to recognize and enforce an arbitration award piercing the …

How Developing Countries Can Adapt Current Bilateral Investment Treaties To Provide Benefits To Their Domestic Economies, Joshua Boone

Global Business Law Review

Bilateral investment treaties (hereinafter "BIT") have been created with the goal of promoting economic prosperity through the facilitation of international investment flows. The idea was to facilitate these investment flows by the opening up of secure channels for foreign direct investment (hereinafter "FDI"), stabilizing the investment climate, granting protective investment guarantees, and providing neutral dispute mechanisms for "injured" investors. Since their inception in 1959, BITs have experienced a "massive and sudden proliferation . . . which has been . . . a 'remarkable' event in international law[,]" and as of the end of 2008, there were over 2,600 BITs in …

Acta's Constitutional Problems: The Treaty Is Not A Treaty, Sean Flynn

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

On the eve of the United States’ entry into the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (“ACTA”), there is considerable confusion as to just what legal effect the agreement will have. In written answers to Senator Ron Wyden, the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) went to lengths to describe ACTA as non-binding, asserting that “ACTA does not constrain Congress’ authority to change U.S. law,” and that it would operate only as an “Executive Agreement” that “can be implemented without new legislation.” But European negotiators have described the agreement to their legislature in very different terms, asserting that ACTA is “a binding international agreement …

The Human Element: The Impact Of Regional Trade Agreements On The Human Rights And The Rule Of Law, Claudio Grossman

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

Transparency And The Expansion Of The Wto Mandate, Padideh Ala'i

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

The Road To Nowhere: Caterpillar V. Usinor And Cisg Claims By Downstream Buyers Against Remote Sellers, Donald J. Smythe

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Acta's Constitutional Problem: The Treaty Is Not A Treaty , Sean Flynn

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Enforcing International Insurers’ Expectations: Can States Unilaterally Quash Commercial Arbitration Agreements Under The Mccarran-Ferguson Act?, Mary Pennisi

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

This Note examines the split in federal circuit courts created by Safety National Casualty Corp. on whether the MFA reverse-preempts the New York Convention and allows states to quash arbitration agreements in international insurance contracts.

"Consumer Choice" Is Where We Are All Going - So Let's Go Together, Neil W. Averitt, Robert H. Lande, Paul Nihoul

All Faculty Scholarship

Globalisation of business makes it important for firms to predict how their behaviour is likely to be treated in the roughly 200 nations that have competition laws. In that context, a crucial question is: are we in a position to develop a common intellectual framework that would give coherence to policy statements made on specific competition related issues and, at the same time, be acceptable, broadly, in a variety of legal systems, not necessarily based on identical assumptions? We believe that the answer is “yes.” A concept is emerging as a possible source of unification for competition policies around the …

The Remedy Gap: Institutional Design, Retaliation, And Trade Law Enforcement, Rachel Brewster

Faculty Scholarship

One of the major innovations of the World Trade Organization’s (“WTO”) Dispute Settlement Understanding (“DSU”) is the regulation of sanctions in response to violations of trade law. The DSU requires governments to receive multilateral approval before suspending trade concessions and limits the extent of retaliation to prospective damages. In addition, the DSU permits governments to impose only conditional sanctions: sanctions for violations that continue after the dispute resolution process is complete. This enforcement regime creates a remedy gap: governments cannot respond, even to obvious breaches, until the end of the dispute resolution process (and then only to the extent of …

Post-Wto China Tax Law System Reform And The Rule Of Law: Progress And Prospects, Tianlong Hu

SJD Dissertations

A close examination of China's accession commitments reveals that effective economic reform and trade liberalization call for substantiations from a matching legal infrastructure reform. For example, taxpayers' rights protection should be viewed in terms of broader political and civil rights reform. Indeed, a number of the values featured in the WTO principles and the rule of law framework encourage China's further integration into both the global trade network and the international human rights regime. This is particularly evident in the Chinese tax law context. WTO principles and the rule of law requirements must be introduced and evaluated together in tax …

Paul Timmermans On Invisible War: The United States And The Iraq Sanctions. By Joy Gordon. Cambridge, Ma: Harvard University Press, 2010. 359 Pp., Paul Timmermans

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Invisible War: The United States and the Iraq Sanctions. By Joy Gordon. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2010. 359 pp.

Taking Stock: China's First Decade Of Free Trade, Jun Zhao, Timothy Webster

Faculty Publications

China has established itself as a global economic presence in the past ten years. This article explains one important but overlooked aspect of this rise, China’s newfound interest in free trade agreements (FTAs). This paper situates the FTA boom within a framework of international political economy and China’s recent regional rise. This paper probes the question of how China selects its FTA partners, referencing US trade practice and policy as a framework by which to analyze China’s own preferences. This paper then explores the main features of China’s FTAs, finding that it has adopted a flexible FTA strategy that attends …

Rethinking The Commercial Law Treaty, John F. Coyle

Georgia Law Review

In international commercial transactions, it is not
always clear which state's law will apply to govern a
particular contract. Historically, states have sought to
address this problem by means of two types of treaties.
The first aims to solve the problem by bringing about the
substantive unification of commercial law across multiple
jurisdictions;once the law is everywhere the same, then it
no longer matters which state's law applies to govern the
contract. The second aims to solve the problem in part by
empowering the transacting parties to choose the law that
will govern their contract; once these parties know that …

International Arbitration Of Patent Disputes, 10 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 384 (2011), Wei-Hua Wu

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

This paper discusses the concept of using international arbitration as a method of resolving patent disputes. First, this paper examines the arbitrability of patent validity disputes from a public policy viewpoint. The question is whether, or to what extent, the subject matter of patent validity disputes may be settled by international commercial arbitration. Second, this paper provides suggestions on strategies for organizational decision-makers to consider whether it is proper to choose arbitration as a more favorable tool when confronted with a patent dispute. Finally, this paper discusses how to choose the seat of arbitral institution and the applicable law.