International economic law covers a vast range of rules and principles on economic conduct and relations between states, international organizations and private actors, both individuals and corporations. This chapter deals with the most fundamental areas of the law: the international law of trade, international investment law and international monetary law. It introduces the World Trade Organization and the most important principles governing international trade, including those contained in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. It presents international monetary law, with a particular emphasis on the role and activities of the International Monetary Fund. It also discusses the international regulation of international investments and the most important principles thereof, including those that govern expropriation of foreign property.
12
Chapter
Surya P Subedi
This chapter discusses the development and current state of international investment law, which encompasses international finance law, international trade law, international investment law, and regional economic trade agreements. Recent progressions in the area of international financial law, international trade law, and investment law demonstrate that other areas of international regulation have a decisive influence on international investment law. Moreover, international investment law is more increasingly focused on development concerns. International investment law is currently going through an exciting phase in its development. It has now become one of the fastest changing areas of international law with exciting and far-reaching implications for both investment-receiving and investment-exporting countries, thanks to enterprising claimants and innovative interpretations and expansive approaches adopted by international investment tribunals. This chapter seeks to capture the law and the recent trends in both State practice and jurisprudence in this area of international law.
Chapter
This chapter begins by defining international economic law. It then discusses the main international economic institutions: the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. It goes on to elaborate on the key principles of international trade law: tariffication, binding tariffs, most favoured nation treatment and the national treatment obligation and discusses exceptions to these principles, anti-dumping and subsidies, regional trade arrangements, and developing States and dispute settlement within the WTO. The chapter also discusses the key principles of international investment law (including foreign direct investment, protection standards, expropriation and dispute settlement); the international financial architecture; and international economic law and State sovereignty.
Chapter
This chapter introduces the key features of registered trade mark law, highlighting core aspects of registered trade mark protection and its differences to other IP rights. It discusses the theoretical underpinnings for registered trade mark protection and also the accompanying policy tensions, in the context of an increasingly visible place of brands in society. The chapter introduces the legal regime for the protection of trade marks from an international, EU, and national (UK) perspective. Reflecting relevant agreements and treaties, the chapter outlines various standards established for the protection of trade marks, along with the systems by virtue of which traders can register and protect marks in many countries throughout the world.
Chapter
This concluding chapter discusses international economic law. When discussing ‘international economic law’ one is addressing the international regimes that regulate international trade, investment, and economic development. The multilateral and bilateral treaties in these areas have become the focal point for the global economy today. International economic law developed rapidly since the end of the Second World War, when the 1944 Bretton Woods Accords established the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the World Bank), placing financial institutions at the heart of the post-war settlement. Meanwhile, the law on international trade grew around the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT), but today centres on the World Trade Organization in Geneva. International investment law has no equivalent overarching institution, but rather exists as a dense web of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) which have emerged in the last three decades.
Chapter
This concluding chapter discusses international economic law. When discussing ‘international economic law’ one is addressing the international regimes that regulate international trade, investment, and economic development. The multilateral and bilateral treaties in these areas have become the focal point for the global economy today. International economic law developed rapidly since the end of World War II, when the 1944 Bretton Woods Accords established the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the World Bank), placing financial institutions at the heart of the post-war settlement. Meanwhile, the law on international trade grew around the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT), but today centres on the World Trade Organization in Geneva. International investment law has no equivalent overarching institution, but rather exists as a dense web of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) which have emerged in the last three decades.
Chapter
Justine Pila and Paul L.C. Torremans
This chapter deals with the legal protection of trade secrets. Traditionally, trade secret protection was left to the national laws of Member States. These national regimes are rooted firmly in existing legal rules in the areas of unfair competition, tort, or breach of confidence. And there is also the “Directive on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets) against their unlawful acquisition, use, and disclosure”. The Directive seeks to impose on Member States a minimal form of harmonization and uniformity. It does not impose a (Community) right in relation to a trade secret, but it works with a common basic definition of a trade secret, the principle that there needs to be redress for the unlawful acquisition, use, or disclosure of a trade secret, and a catalogue of measures and remedies.
Chapter
This chapter discusses the international and European aspects of trade marks. Trade mark law is based on the Paris Convention and the TRIPS Agreement, with the Madrid system offering an international registration system. Inside the EU, one can also register a single trade mark for the whole of the Community by means of the Community Trade Mark Regulation. Trade mark law also has a substantial interaction with the Treaty provisions on the free movement of goods, but minimal conflict with competition law.
Chapter
This chapter considers the EU’s relationship with third countries and international organisations. It discusses the legal basis and competence for the EU’s external action and offers examples of how the EU exercises this competence. This is followed by an overview of the types of agreements the EU enters into with third countries with a discussion on the treaty arrangements with Switzerland, the EEA (Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) and the UK. It then considers the EU’s relationship with a selection of international organisations.
Chapter
Celebrated for their conceptual clarity, titles in the Clarendon Law Series offer concise, accessible overviews of major fields of law and legal thought. This chapter presents a survey of international economic law. It discusses the creation of the Bretton Woods system, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and the Havana Conference. It considers the roles of the World Bank, the International Development Association, the International Finance Corporation, the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organization. It also looks into commodity and energy agreements and regional economic arrangements.
Chapter
D Fox, RJC Munday, B Soyer, AM Tettenborn, and PG Turner
This chapter examines the rules of English law governing international commercial sales, a subject of disproportionate importance because of the surprisingly large proportion of international trade carried on under contracts governed by English law by choice of the parties. Contracts of this type expose the parties to greater risks than purely domestic sales. The chapter gives detailed coverage of typical export transactions and INCOTERMS, both marine and non-marine, including FOB contracts, FAS contracts, CIF contracts and variants of the CIF contract, and DAP contracts as well as FCA, CIP, and similar contracts. Likely future developments are also mentioned.
Book
Alan Boyle and Catherine Redgwell
Birnie, Boyle, and Redgwell's International Law and the Environment places legislation on the protection of the environment firmly at the core of its argument. It uses sharp and thorough analysis of the law, sharing knowledge and experience. The chapters provide a unique perspective on the implications of international regulation, promoting a wide understanding of the pertinent issues impacting upon the law. The text starts by looking at international law and the environment. It looks at the rights and obligations of states concerning the protection of the environment. The text also considers interstate enforcement which includes state responsibility, compliance, and dispute settlement. It moves on to consider non-state actors such as environmental rights, liability, and crimes. Climate change and atmospheric pollution are given some consideration. The text also examines the law of the sea and protection of the marine environment. Conservation is dealt with in detail, including the conservation of nature, ecosystems, and biodiversity and marine living resources. Finally, the text looks at international trade.
Chapter
Ross Cranston, Emilios Avgouleas, Kristin van Zweiten, Theodor van Sante, and Christoper Hare
This chapter discusses two distinct but inter-related issues. The first part considers the general ways in which payment may be effected internationally or across borders in respect of any type of consumer or commercial contract. In many ways, the analysis builds upon the discussion in the earlier chapter dealing with domestic payment systems and limits itself to highlighting the additional issues or concerns that arise when such systems are used to effect an international or cross-border payment. The second part analyses the specialist mechanisms designed to facilitate payment in the trade finance context in particular. Some of the issues surrounding international messaging and transfer systems, such as SWIFT and TARGET, have already been considered.
Chapter
This chapter relates at toxic and persistent substances such as chemicals, plastics, industrial wastes, and agricultural pesticides to international environmental law. These substances certainly create an environmental risk which has an international dimension. The chapter outlines the reasons for this. First, the release of persistent and potentially toxic substances into the environment may have long-term and cumulative effects on human and animal health over a wide area, including the marine environment. Secondly, international trade in wastes and chemicals poses a potential risk of accidental pollution of the marine environment and of transit states. The chapter aims to illustrate the importance of adequate institutional machinery for supervising implementation of environmental protection treaties and ensuring their continued development.
Book
Paola Gaeta, Jorge E. Viñuales, and Salvatore Zappalá
This book provides an authoritative account of international law. It preserves and extends Antonio Cassese’s exceptional combination of a historically informed, conceptually strong, and practice-infused analysis of international law, comparing the treatment of most issues in classical international law with the main subsequent developments of this constantly evolving field. Part I of the book covers the origins and foundations of the international community. Part II is about the subjects of the international community, including States, international organizations, individuals, and other international legal subjects. Part III examines the main processes of international law-making and the normative interactions between different norms, of both domestic and international law. Part IV studies the mechanisms of implementation of international law, including State responsibility, diplomatic and judicial means of dispute settlement, and enforcement mechanisms. Part V covers a number of areas which have undergone particular development and reached a high level of specialization, namely, UN law, the law governing the use of force, international humanitarian law, international human rights law, international criminal law, international environmental law, and international economic law (trade and investment).
Chapter
Paola Gaeta, Jorge E. Viñuales, and Salvatore Zappalà
This chapter discusses the historical development and contemporary operation of international economic law, with a focus on trade, development, and monetary and investment relations. It pays particular attention to the emergence of the system with the 1944 Bretton Woods Conferences establishing the IMF and the World Bank, the adoption of the GATT in 1947, the revindications and influence of developing countries on the evolution of the system (with the declaration of a New International Economic Order), and the contemporary law of international trade (under the World Trade Organization) and foreign investment transactions (under investment agreements protected by investment arbitration organized under the ICSID).
Chapter
D Fox, RJC Munday, B Soyer, AM Tettenborn, and PG Turner
This chapter focuses on bills of exchange, especially in the context of international trade. It first provides an overview of how bills of exchange are used as a method of payment before discussing the relevant provisions of the Bills of Exchange Act 1882. It then considers the definition of a bill of exchange, how a bill of exchange is transferred, and persons entitled to the benefit of the obligation on the bill. It also examines the general principles governing liability on the bill of exchange as well as the enforcement and discharge of the bill. Finally, it looks at mistaken payment, focusing on cases where the payment was received in good faith and in ignorance of the mistake.
Chapter
D Fox, RJC Munday, B Soyer, AM Tettenborn, and PG Turner
This chapter examines the methods used to finance international trade. The method chosen will in practice greatly depend on the seller’s confidence in the integrity and solvency of the buyer, as well as on the bargaining strengths of the respective parties. The chapter discusses the traditionally most common methods of payment, such as documentary bills, documentary credits, standby credits, performance bonds, and guarantees, together with more modern developments such as Bank Payment Obligations or BPOs. The coverage also includes other financing methods such as forfaiting and financial leasing before concluding with an overview of export credit guarantees.
Chapter
This chapter examines the ‘future relationship’ agreement(s) that will apply between the UK and the EU. Following the adoption of the Withdrawal Agreement, the UK will be looking to conclude what the EU terms a ‘future relationship’ agreement with the EU over the course of the transition period. That ‘future relationship’ will address both the conditions under which the UK trades with the EU in the future — or what replaces the internal market — and how the UK and the EU relate to each other diplomatically — or what replaces ‘membership’ of the EU as an institution. The EU Treaties set out clear processes for the conclusion of international agreements between the EU and other countries. The chapter explores what those processes are, considering what powers the EU has to conclude international agreements. It also looks at how decision-making relating to those international agreements takes place within the EU institutions.
Chapter
L. Bently, B. Sherman, D. Gangjee, and P. Johnson
This chapter focuses on the process of registration for trade marks in the United Kingdom, including changes introduced by the UK leaving the EU, as well as international protection. It begins by explaining the procedures and documentation needed in filing trade mark applications at the national and international levels, while outlining the examination process. After considering national registration, the international filing systems established under the Madrid Agreement on the International Registration of Marks of 1891 and the Madrid Protocol of 1989 are described. The chapter concludes by presenting possible avenues through which to acquire trade mark protection.
12
