JJUC00016U World Trade Organization
The course however also covers the "policy" issues and thus enables the students to understand MORE than the legal texts of the WTO, but also the more general and underlying policy issues, including how the WTO functions as an organization, what is being negotiated under the Doha Round, politically sensitive issues, etc. The WTO covers more than 90% of world trade – and not only governs trade in goods, but also trade in services and intellectual property. The WTO is also a controversial organization that is often blamed for marginalizing developing countries, being against the environment – and many other things.
The course will address some of the political issues/claims – as well as give the students an overview of the current negotiations under the Doha Mandate.
The topics covered are generally:
• Theory of Free Trade
• Institutional Framework
• Dispute Settlement Mechanism
• MFN, Tariff Bindings, National Treatment and Non-Tariff Barriers
• Trade and Development Issues
• Trade and Environment Issues
• Social Dimension and Human Rights in the WTO?
• National Security and Trade Sanctions
• Safeguards, Dumping and Subsidies
• Technical Barriers to Trade
• SPS-Measures
• Agriculture
• TRIPS
• TRIPS and health issues
• Services
BUT each year we chose a theme for 2-4 classes, which may lead to that certain of the above topics will not be covered. The themes can be environment, human rights, climate change, fisheries subsidies, etc. WE always "play" some cases in moot court style exercises, which the students have a lot of fun with and learn a lot from because it is very active learning. We do not have presentations by students at the black board but only group exercises. We try to speak the language that is spoken in the WTO and use the correct terminology. We try to make all lessons interactive and fun classes and keep the lecturing by the teacher very limited. We try to take up "real" questions in groups instead of lecturing. We usually have a guest.
Previous guests include former Appellate Body Member Giorgio Sacerdoti, Ambassador Svend Roed Nielsen, Ambassador Søren Kelstrup and Senior Vice President in Vestas, Peter C. Brun.
Bachelor level:
The objective of the course is to enable the students to:
- Explain the functioning of the multilateral trading
system in the WTO; the organizational structure, the trade policy
issues, daily functioning of the organization, purpose and history
- Analyze and apply the founding principles of
the multilateral trading system (non-discriminatory international
trade, MFN and national treatment) as laid down in the GATT 1947,
but also as repeated and being the founding principles for many
other WTO-agreements.
- Explain how the dispute settlement system of the WTO
functions
– including identifying the different types of reports,
legal status of reports, style of interpretation, retaliation,
compensation, etc. including analysis over these “core” legal
issues and functionings of the WTO dispute settlement system.
- Be able to “navigate” between the WTO-agreements and
identify which agreement(s) that is (are) the relevant for
a given trade-topic.
- Analyze WTO-cases assigned in the readings and relate
the analysis to similar and dissimilar facts as well as reflect
over the background for the case.
- explain and identify what the current negotiations are
about – on a very general level.
- explain and relate the legal issues to real-life issues
as well as trade policy. Including being able to relate the WTO and
trade issues to other areas of public international law.
- To show that they have a certain overview of the
multilateral trading system and present arguments, solutions, and
analysis of the topic – whilst utilizing the trade terminology.
- Communicate and formulate her/his knowledge and
arguments professionally and linguistically correct and in a
structured and coherent way.
Master level:
The objective of the course is to enable the students to:
- Explain the functioning of the multilateral trading
system in the WTO; the organizational structure, the trade policy
issues, daily functioning of the organization, purpose and history
- Analyze and apply the founding principles of
the multilateral trading system (non-discriminatory international
trade, MFN and national treatment) as laid down in the GATT 1947,
but also as repeated and being the founding principles for many
other WTO-agreements.
- Explain how the dispute settlement system of the WTO
functions
– including identifying the different types of reports,
legal status of reports, style of interpretation, retaliation,
compensation, etc. including analysis over these “core” legal
issues and functionings of the WTO dispute settlement system.
- Be able to “navigate” between the WTO-agreements and
identify which agreement(s) that is (are) the relevant for
a given trade-topic.
- Analyze WTO-cases assigned in the readings and relate
the analysis to similar and dissimilar facts as well as reflect
over the background for the case.
- explain and identify what the current negotiations are
about – on a very general level.
- explain and relate the legal issues to real-life issues
as well as trade policy. Including being able to relate the WTO and
trade issues to other areas of public international law.
- To show that they have a certain overview of the
multilateral trading system and present arguments, solutions, and
analysis of the topic – whilst utilizing the trade terminology.
- Communicate and formulate her/his knowledge and
arguments professionally and linguistically correct and in a
structured and coherent way.
In addition to the above master students will be required to critically reflect upon various elements of the mentioned topics. This will be specified in questions posed during the course.
- Andrew Guzmann & Joost Pauwelyn, International Trade Law,
Second Edition, Wolters Kluwer Law & Business, Aspen
Publishers, ISBN: 978-1-4548-0539-7.
-Students will be instructed in how to download cases from the WTO
homepage as part of the course.
-Legal Text: Can be downloaded from WTO homepage or: Cambridge
University Press: Legal Texts of the WTO
Readings are approximately 750 pages.
- Category
- Hours
- Lectures
- 48
- Total
- 48
- Credit
- 15 ECTS
- Type of assessment
- Written examination under invigilationWritten with supervision 4 hours
- Exam registration requirements
- Each student must participate in at least two mooting exercises and present orally during one exercise.
- Marking scale
- 7-point grading scale
- Censorship form
- External censorship
- Exam period
- Autumn: 9. - 13. december 2013 (preliminary dates)
Course information
- Language
- English
- Course code
- JJUC00016U
- Credit
- 15 ECTS
- Level
- Full Degree MasterBachelor choice,Full Degree Master choice
- Duration
- 1 semester
- Placement
- Autumn
- Schedule
- Please see timetable for teaching time
- Course capacity
- Autumn:
20 students bachelor level,
10 students master’s level - Study board
- Law
Contracting department
- Law
Course responsibles
- Laura Nielsen (13-796e827f6e3b7b76727980727b4d77827f3b78823b7178)
Lecturers
Ekstern lektor, Christina Blaunfeldt