research paper on international trade law

International Trade Law - Science topic

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Library electronic resources outage May 29th and 30th

Between 9:00 PM EST on Saturday, May 29th and 9:00 PM EST on Sunday, May 30th users will not be able to access resources through the Law Library’s Catalog, the Law Library’s Database List, the Law Library’s Frequently Used Databases List, or the Law Library’s Research Guides. Users can still access databases that require an individual user account (ex. Westlaw, LexisNexis, and Bloomberg Law), or databases listed on the Main Library’s A-Z Database List.

• Georgetown Law Library
• Foreign & International Law

International Trade Law Research Guide

Introduction.

• Secondary Sources: Treatises & Books
• Secondary Sources: Journal Articles
• Subscription Databases
• U.S. Government Agency Resources
• Internatioinal and Inter-Governmental Organization Resources
• Non-Governmental Organization Resources
• From GATT to the WTO: An Overview
• Quick Reference Table with Citations
• Texts and Status of the Agreements
• Negotiating Histories
• Commentaries
• Citations to WTO & GATT Agreements
• WTO Schedules & Tariff Information
• WTO Membership & Accession
• WTO Organization & Decision Making
• WTO & GATT Official Documents
• Dispute Settlement Practice & Procedure
• Dispute Status and Dispute-Related Documents
• Panel & Appellate Body Reports; Arbitration Decisions & Awards
• Citations to Dispute Resolution Materials
• Mega-Regional Trade Agreements: CPTPP & T-TIP
• NAFTA and the USMCA (NAFTA 2.0)
• U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement (Superseded by NAFTA)
• Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR)
• Other Research Guides & Update History

Key to Icons

• Georgetown only
• On Bloomberg
• More Info (hover)
• Preeminent Treatise

The growth of international trade has generated a complex and ever-expanding body of primary law , including treaties and international agreements , national legislation , and trade dispute settlement case law .  This research guide focuses primarily on the multilateral trading system administered by the World Trade Organization .  It also includes information about regional and bilateral trade agreements , particularly those to which the U.S. is a party.  

Key Resources for International Trade Research

See the Subscription Databases page of this research guide for more detailed information about the resources that are briefly described below:

• Boderlex - trade-related news, with a particular focus on trade policy in Europe.  
• International Trade Practice Center - U.S. primary law governing international trade, secondary sources, practitioner tools, and news.  
• TradeLawGuide - tools for interpreting WTO agreements & case law.  
• U.S. International Trade Library - U.S. primary law & compiled legislative histories, congressional hearings, and secondary sources.  
• World Trade Online - trade-related news and current awareness.  
• WorldTradeLaw.net - WTO case law summaries & commentary.  
• WTO Analytical Index - interpretation & application of WTO agreements.  

Research Assistance and Help with Related Topics 

If you need assistance with international trade law research, visit the Research Help page of the Georgetown University Law Library's website. Or contact the Law Library's International and Foreign Law Department by phone (202-662-4195) or by email ( [email protected] ).  Georgetown Law Center students may schedule a one-on-one research consultation with a librarian.

For questions about U.S. customs law and tariffs, consult the Law Library's Customs Law (U.S.) research guide.  For questions about non-U.S. customs law and tariffs, consult the Law Library's Customs Law research guide.

For research involving disputes between foreign investors and host states, consult the Law Library's guide to International Investment Law .  For research involving transnational commercial disputes between private parties, consult the Law Library's guide to  International Commercial Arbitration .  

International Trade

Questions? Need Help? Contact the International & Foreign Law Dept.

International & foreign legal research (202) 662-4195 request a research consultation  .

• Next: Secondary Sources: Treatises & Books >>
• © Georgetown University Law Library. These guides may be used for educational purposes, as long as proper credit is given. These guides may not be sold. Any comments, suggestions, or requests to republish or adapt a guide should be submitted using the Research Guides Comments form . Proper credit includes the statement: Written by, or adapted from, Georgetown Law Library (current as of .....).
• Last Updated: Jul 23, 2024 4:54 PM
• URL: https://guides.ll.georgetown.edu/InternationalTradeLaw

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AI-Powered Ocean Protection and Sustainable Trade: The Galapagos Islands as a Case Study

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Transportation Tech & Trade: Using Trade and Policy Tools to Encourage Clean Transportation Technology

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Cyber Espionage and Public International Law: The African Union Rejects the Tallinn Manual’s Relativist Approach to Cyber Sovereignty

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Harvard International Law Journal

The 2024 harvard international law symposium: bretton woods 3.0 the future of international economic law.

Saturday, March 2 | Austin Hall | Harvard Law School

Explore HILJ Scholarship

The Harvard International Law Journal publishes scholarship on international law from authors around the world. The views expressed in HILJ articles represent the views of their authors; not those of the HILJ editorial board.

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Apr 9, 2024

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Trade Policing

Apr 8, 2024

Kathleen Claussen

Of Looting, Land, and Loss: The New International Law of Takings

Apr 5, 2024

Gregory H. Fox & Noah B. Novogrodsky

From “Space Law” to “Space Governance”: A Policy-Oriented Perspective on International Law and Outer Space Activities

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The Wild West of Company-Level Grievance Mechanisms: Drawing Normative Borders to Patrol the Privatization of Human Rights Remedies

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Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law in Myanmar: Will the Philippines Impose Universal Jurisdiction on behalf of Burmese Refugees?

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2024 Annual Symposium Roundup: Harvard Looks to the Future of International Economic Law

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The Political and Legal Ambiguities of the Multilateral Security Support Mission Authorized for Haiti

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A Defense for Guardian Robots: Are Defensive Autonomous Weapons Systems Justifiable?

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Dec 19, 2023

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HILJ Online joined the Georgetown Journal of International Law and the Georgetown Center on Inclusive Trade and Development to publish online scholarship investigating the nexus between trade, technology, and climate initiatives in international law. Explore the collection . 

May 5, 2024 | Innovating Trade , Online Scholarship

May 4, 2024 | Innovating Trade

HILJ Online and the Harvard International Arbitration Law Students Association joined forces to publish cutting-edge articles in international arbitration. Explore the collection .

May 17, 2024 | HILJ-HIALSA International Arbitration Collaboration , Online Scholarship

Subscribe to Updates From HILJ

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Reassessing Enforcement: Strengthening Compliance with International Law

Highlights from the 2024 symposium.

Former World Bank Deputy General Counsel Mr. Hassan Cisse Delivers the Keynote Address

Mr. Cisse’s remarks addressed challenges and opportunities for reform in the international financial system.

Other Recent HILJ Event Highlights

Stavros Lambrinidis

Ambassador of the european union to the united states.

April 2022 | Read More

Valdis Dombrovskis

European commissioner for trade.

October 2022 | Read More

Judge Yūji Iwasawa

Judge of the international court of justice.

March2023 | Read More

Previous Annual Symposia

2023 | reassessing enforcement: strengthening compliance with international law.

2023 Symposium

2022 | Envisioning the Next Decade of International Law: Global Solutions to Global Challenges

2021 | the future of international law, 2019 | 60 years of harvard ilj.

International Trade Law : Research Guide

Introduction, introductory resources on international trade.

• Introduction to GATT and WTO
• Founding Documents
• GATT Resources
• Uruguay Round Resources
• WTO Resources
• GATT/WTO Electronic Resources
• Introductory Resources
• Legal Texts
• Dispute Resolution Decisions
• United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement
• North American Free Trade Agreement
• Mercado Común del Cono Sur
• Common Market for Eastern & Southern Africa
• Association of Southeast Asian Nations
• Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
• United Nations Commission on International Trade Law
• United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
• Research Guides

Authorship History

Written by Karin Johnsrud. Updated by Dana Neacșu.

International trade is a complicated area of law to research because there are numerous levels of trade organizations and interactions. There are bilateral trade agreements, regional trade agreements and multinational trade agreements. Each of these agreements has its own history, policies and dispute settlement procedures. Trade organizations established under the agreements have separate resources that can be searched. Furthermore, individual countries have their own policies and laws relating to international trade. As an example, the United States Congress must pass legislation enacting international trade agreements before the United States can officially become a party. The national policies have to be researched individually and frequently separately from the resources relating to the international organizations.

The purpose of this guide is to provide an introduction to a variety of the resources available on campus, as well as from the Internet. General introductory resources will be discussed first. Then the guide will proceed through a discussion of the major multilateral trade agreements, regional trade agreements and United Nations trade bodies.

For additional assistance in finding International Trade Law materials at Columbia's Diamond Law Library, please do not hesitate to contact the reference librarians at [email protected] . Consult the the Guide to Columbia Library Services and Policies Research Guide for general information and reference hours.

To see more background and reference works available at Diamond Law Library, including older editions, please try these searches on Pegasus: 

• Subject: international trade law
• Subject: international trade law AND Any Field: handbook
• Subject: international trade law AND Any Field: manual
• Subject: international trade 
• Subject: international trade AND Any Field: handbook
• Subject: international trade AND Any Field: manual

You can find a selected list of publications below.

• Next: Introduction >>
• Last Updated: Sep 9, 2022 5:08 PM
• URL: https://guides.law.columbia.edu/tradelaw

Journal of International Trade Law and Policy

• Submit your paper
• Author guidelines
• Editorial team
• Indexing & metrics
• Calls for papers & news

Before you start

For queries relating to the status of your paper pre decision, please contact the Editor or Journal Editorial Office. For queries post acceptance, please contact the Supplier Project Manager. These details can be found in the Editorial Team section.

Author responsibilities

Our goal is to provide you with a professional and courteous experience at each stage of the review and publication process. There are also some responsibilities that sit with you as the author. Our expectation is that you will:

• Respond swiftly to any queries during the publication process.
• Be accountable for all aspects of your work. This includes investigating and resolving any questions about accuracy or research integrity .
• Treat communications between you and the journal editor as confidential until an editorial decision has been made.
• Include anyone who has made a substantial and meaningful contribution to the submission (anyone else involved in the paper should be listed in the acknowledgements).
• Exclude anyone who hasn’t contributed to the paper, or who has chosen not to be associated with the research.
• In accordance with COPE’s position statement on AI tools , Large Language Models cannot be credited with authorship as they are incapable of conceptualising a research design without human direction and cannot be accountable for the integrity, originality, and validity of the published work. The author(s) must describe the content created or modified as well as appropriately cite the name and version of the AI tool used; any additional works drawn on by the AI tool should also be appropriately cited and referenced. Standard tools that are used to improve spelling and grammar are not included within the parameters of this guidance. The Editor and Publisher reserve the right to determine whether the use of an AI tool is permissible.
• If your article involves human participants, you must ensure you have considered whether or not you require ethical approval for your research, and include this information as part of your submission. Find out more about informed consent .

Generative AI usage key principles

• Copywriting any part of an article using a generative AI tool/LLM would not be permissible, including the generation of the abstract or the literature review, for as per Emerald’s authorship criteria, the author(s) must be responsible for the work and accountable for its accuracy, integrity, and validity.
• The generation or reporting of results using a generative AI tool/LLM is not permissible, for as per Emerald’s authorship criteria, the author(s) must be responsible for the creation and interpretation of their work and accountable for its accuracy, integrity, and validity.
• The in-text reporting of statistics using a generative AI tool/LLM is not permissible due to concerns over the authenticity, integrity, and validity of the data produced, although the use of such a tool to aid in the analysis of the work would be permissible.
• Copy-editing an article using a generative AI tool/LLM in order to improve its language and readability would be permissible as this mirrors standard tools already employed to improve spelling and grammar, and uses existing author-created material, rather than generating wholly new content, while the author(s) remains responsible for the original work.
• The submission and publication of images created by AI tools or large-scale generative models is not permitted.

Research and publishing ethics

Our editors and employees work hard to ensure the content we publish is ethically sound. To help us achieve that goal, we closely follow the advice laid out in the guidelines and flowcharts on the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) website .

We have also developed our research and publishing ethics guidelines . If you haven’t already read these, we urge you to do so – they will help you avoid the most common publishing ethics issues.

A few key points:

• Any manuscript you submit to this journal should be original. That means it should not have been published before in its current, or similar, form. Exceptions to this rule are outlined in our pre-print and conference paper policies .  If any substantial element of your paper has been previously published, you need to declare this to the journal editor upon submission. Please note, the journal editor may use  Crossref Similarity Check  to check on the originality of submissions received. This service compares submissions against a database of 49 million works from 800 scholarly publishers.
• Your work should not have been submitted elsewhere and should not be under consideration by any other publication.
• If you have a conflict of interest, you must declare it upon submission; this allows the editor to decide how they would like to proceed. Read about conflict of interest in our research and publishing ethics guidelines .
• By submitting your work to Emerald, you are guaranteeing that the work is not in infringement of any existing copyright.

Third party copyright permissions

Prior to article submission, you need to ensure you’ve applied for, and received, written permission to use any material in your manuscript that has been created by a third party. Please note, we are unable to publish any article that still has permissions pending. The rights we require are:

• Non-exclusive rights to reproduce the material in the article or book chapter.
• Print and electronic rights.
• Worldwide English-language rights.
• To use the material for the life of the work. That means there should be no time restrictions on its re-use e.g. a one-year licence.

We are a member of the International Association of Scientific, Technical, and Medical Publishers (STM) and participate in the STM permissions guidelines , a reciprocal free exchange of material with other STM publishers.  In some cases, this may mean that you don’t need permission to re-use content. If so, please highlight this at the submission stage.

Please take a few moments to read our guide to publishing permissions  to ensure you have met all the requirements, so that we can process your submission without delay.

Open access submissions and information

All our journals currently offer two open access (OA) publishing paths; gold open access and green open access.

If you would like to, or are required to, make the branded publisher PDF (also known as the version of record) freely available immediately upon publication, you can select the gold open access route once your paper is accepted. 

If you’ve chosen to publish gold open access, this is the point you will be asked to pay the APC (article processing charge) . This varies per journal and can be found on our APC price list or on the editorial system at the point of submission. Your article will be published with a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 user licence , which outlines how readers can reuse your work.

Alternatively, if you would like to, or are required to, publish open access but your funding doesn’t cover the cost of the APC, you can choose the green open access, or self-archiving, route. As soon as your article is published, you can make the author accepted manuscript (the version accepted for publication) openly available, free from payment and embargo periods.

You can find out more about our open access routes, our APCs and waivers and read our FAQs on our open research page. 

Find out about open

Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) Guidelines

We are a signatory of the Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) Guidelines , a framework that supports the reproducibility of research through the adoption of transparent research practices. That means we encourage you to:

• Cite and fully reference all data, program code, and other methods in your article.
• Include persistent identifiers, such as a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), in references for datasets and program codes. Persistent identifiers ensure future access to unique published digital objects, such as a piece of text or datasets. Persistent identifiers are assigned to datasets by digital archives, such as institutional repositories and partners in the Data Preservation Alliance for the Social Sciences (Data-PASS).
• Follow appropriate international and national procedures with respect to data protection, rights to privacy and other ethical considerations, whenever you cite data. For further guidance please refer to our  research and publishing ethics guidelines . For an example on how to cite datasets, please refer to the references section below.

Prepare your submission

Manuscript support services.

We are pleased to partner with Editage, a platform that connects you with relevant experts in language support, translation, editing, visuals, consulting, and more. After you’ve agreed a fee, they will work with you to enhance your manuscript and get it submission-ready.

This is an optional service for authors who feel they need a little extra support. It does not guarantee your work will be accepted for review or publication.

Visit Editage

Manuscript requirements

Before you submit your manuscript, it’s important you read and follow the guidelines below. You will also find some useful tips in our structure your journal submission how-to guide.

Submit your manuscript

There are a number of key steps you should follow to ensure a smooth and trouble-free submission.

Double check your manuscript

Before submitting your work, it is your responsibility to check that the manuscript is complete, grammatically correct, and without spelling or typographical errors. A few other important points:

• Give the journal aims and scope a final read. Is your manuscript definitely a good fit? If it isn’t, the editor may decline it without peer review.
• Does your manuscript comply with our research and publishing ethics guidelines ?
• Have you cleared any necessary publishing permissions ?
• Have you followed all the formatting requirements laid out in these author guidelines?
• If you need to refer to your own work, use wording such as ‘previous research has demonstrated’ not ‘our previous research has demonstrated’.
• If you need to refer to your own, currently unpublished work, don’t include this work in the reference list.
• Any acknowledgments or author biographies should be uploaded as separate files.
• Carry out a final check to ensure that no author names appear anywhere in the manuscript. This includes in figures or captions.

You will find a helpful submission checklist on the website Think.Check.Submit .

The submission process

All manuscripts should be submitted through our editorial system by the corresponding author.

The only way to submit to the journal is through the journal’s ScholarOne site as accessed via the Emerald website, and not by email or through any third-party agent/company, journal representative, or website. Submissions should be done directly by the author(s) through the ScholarOne site and not via a third-party proxy on their behalf.

A separate author account is required for each journal you submit to. If this is your first time submitting to this journal, please choose the Create an account or Register now option in the editorial system. If you already have an Emerald login, you are welcome to reuse the existing username and password here.

Please note, the next time you log into the system, you will be asked for your username. This will be the email address you entered when you set up your account.

Don't forget to add your  ORCiD ID during the submission process. It will be embedded in your published article, along with a link to the ORCiD registry allowing others to easily match you with your work.

Don’t have one yet? It only takes a few moments to register for a free ORCiD identifier .

Visit the ScholarOne support centre  for further help and guidance.

What you can expect next

You will receive an automated email from the journal editor, confirming your successful submission. It will provide you with a manuscript number, which will be used in all future correspondence about your submission. If you have any reason to suspect the confirmation email you receive might be fraudulent, please contact the journal editor in the first instance.

Post submission

Review and decision process.

Each submission is checked by the editor. At this stage, they may choose to decline or unsubmit your manuscript if it doesn’t fit the journal aims and scope, or they feel the language/manuscript quality is too low.

If they think it might be suitable for the publication, they will send it to at least two independent referees for double anonymous peer review.  Once these reviewers have provided their feedback, the editor may decide to accept your manuscript, request minor or major revisions, or decline your work.

While all journals work to different timescales, the goal is that the editor will inform you of their first decision within 60 days.

During this period, we will send you automated updates on the progress of your manuscript via our submission system, or you can log in to check on the current status of your paper.  Each time we contact you, we will quote the manuscript number you were given at the point of submission. If you receive an email that does not match these criteria, it could be fraudulent and we recommend you contact the journal editor in the first instance.

Manuscript transfer service

Emerald’s manuscript transfer service takes the pain out of the submission process if your manuscript doesn’t fit your initial journal choice. Our team of expert Editors from participating journals work together to identify alternative journals that better align with your research, ensuring your work finds the ideal publication home it deserves. Our dedicated team is committed to supporting authors like you in finding the right home for your research.

If a journal is participating in the manuscript transfer program, the Editor has the option to recommend your paper for transfer. If a transfer decision is made by the Editor, you will receive an email with the details of the recommended journal and the option to accept or reject the transfer. It’s always down to you as the author to decide if you’d like to accept. If you do accept, your paper and any reviewer reports will automatically be transferred to the recommended journals. Authors will then confirm resubmissions in the new journal’s ScholarOne system.

Our Manuscript Transfer Service page has more information on the process.

If your submission is accepted

Open access.

Once your paper is accepted, you will have the opportunity to indicate whether you would like to publish your paper via the gold open access route.

If you’ve chosen to publish gold open access, this is the point you will be asked to pay the APC (article processing charge).  This varies per journal and can be found on our APC price list or on the editorial system at the point of submission. Your article will be published with a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 user licence , which outlines how readers can reuse your work.

For UK journal article authors - if you wish to submit your work accepted by Emerald to REF 2021, you must make a ‘closed deposit’ of your accepted manuscript to your respective institutional repository upon acceptance of your article. Articles accepted for publication after 1st April 2018 should be deposited as soon as possible, but no later than three months after the acceptance date. For further information and guidance, please refer to the REF 2021 website.

All accepted authors are sent an email with a link to a licence form.  This should be checked for accuracy, for example whether contact and affiliation details are up to date and your name is spelled correctly, and then returned to us electronically. If there is a reason why you can’t assign copyright to us, you should discuss this with your journal content editor. You will find their contact details on the editorial team section above.

Proofing and typesetting

Once we have received your completed licence form, the article will pass directly into the production process. We will carry out editorial checks, copyediting, and typesetting and then return proofs to you (if you are the corresponding author) for your review. This is your opportunity to correct any typographical errors, grammatical errors or incorrect author details. We can’t accept requests to rewrite texts at this stage.

When the page proofs are finalised, the fully typeset and proofed version of record is published online. This is referred to as the EarlyCite version. While an EarlyCite article has yet to be assigned to a volume or issue, it does have a digital object identifier (DOI) and is fully citable. It will be compiled into an issue according to the journal’s issue schedule, with papers being added by chronological date of publication.

How to share your paper

Visit our author rights page  to find out how you can reuse and share your work.

To find tips on increasing the visibility of your published paper, read about  how to promote your work .

Correcting inaccuracies in your published paper

Sometimes errors are made during the research, writing and publishing processes. When these issues arise, we have the option of withdrawing the paper or introducing a correction notice. Find out more about our  article withdrawal and correction policies .

Need to make a change to the author list? See our frequently asked questions (FAQs) below.

Frequently asked questions

• Professor Leïla Choukroune University of Portsmouth - UK [email protected]
• Professor James Hartigan University of Oklahoma - USA [email protected]

Commissioning Editor

• Ciara Boardman Emerald Publishing - UK [email protected]

Journal Editorial Office (For queries related to pre-acceptance)

• Ruchita Dattaram Chavan Emerald Publishing [email protected]

Supplier Project Manager (For queries related to post-acceptance)

• Aarti Kakade Emerald Publishing [email protected]

Editorial Board

• Raj Bhala The University of Kansas - USA
• Eric Bond Vanderbilt University - USA
• Chad Bown Peterson Institute for International Economics - USA
• Julien Chaisse City University of Hong Kong - Hong Kong
• Thomas Cottier University of Bern - Switzerland
• Meredith Crowley University of Cambridge - UK
• Melaku Desta De Montfort University - UK
• Bob Feinberg American University - USA
• Richard Frimpong Oppong Thompson Rivers University - Canada
• James Gathii Loyola University of Chicago - USA
• Edwin Lai Hong Kong University of Science and Technology - Hong Kong
• Meredith Lilly Carleton University - Canada
• Keith Maskus University of Colorado Boulder - USA
• Petros Mavroidis European University Institute, Italy and Columbia University, - USA
• Joe McMahon University College Dublin - Ireland
• Carlo Perroni Warwick University - UK
• Larry Qiu University of Hong Kong - Hong Kong
• Prabhash Ranjan South Asian University - India
• Joanne Scott University College London - UK
• Clara Weinhardt Maastricht University - The Netherlands
• Ian Wooton University of Strathclyde - UK
• Maurizio Zanardi University of Surrey - UK
• Weihuan Zhou University of New South Wales - Australia

Citation metrics

CiteScore 2023

Further information

CiteScore is a simple way of measuring the citation impact of sources, such as journals.

Calculating the CiteScore is based on the number of citations to documents (articles, reviews, conference papers, book chapters, and data papers) by a journal over four years, divided by the number of the same document types indexed in Scopus and published in those same four years.

For more information and methodology visit the Scopus definition

CiteScore Tracker 2024

(updated monthly)

CiteScore Tracker is calculated in the same way as CiteScore, but for the current year rather than previous, complete years.

The CiteScore Tracker calculation is updated every month, as a current indication of a title's performance.

2023 Impact Factor

The Journal Impact Factor is published each year by Clarivate Analytics. It is a measure of the number of times an average paper in a particular journal is cited during the preceding two years.

For more information and methodology see Clarivate Analytics

5-year Impact Factor (2023)

A base of five years may be more appropriate for journals in certain fields because the body of citations may not be large enough to make reasonable comparisons, or it may take longer than two years to publish and distribute leading to a longer period before others cite the work.

Actual value is intentionally only displayed for the most recent year. Earlier values are available in the Journal Citation Reports from Clarivate Analytics .

Publication timeline

Time to first decision

Time to first decision , expressed in days, the "first decision" occurs when the journal’s editorial team reviews the peer reviewers’ comments and recommendations. Based on this feedback, they decide whether to accept, reject, or request revisions for the manuscript.

Data is taken from submissions between 1st June 2023 and 31st May 2024

Acceptance to publication

Acceptance to publication , expressed in days, is the average time between when the journal’s editorial team decide whether to accept, reject, or request revisions for the manuscript and the date of publication in the journal. 

Data is taken from the previous 12 months (Last updated July 2024)

Acceptance rate

The acceptance rate is a measurement of how many manuscripts a journal accepts for publication compared to the total number of manuscripts submitted expressed as a percentage %

Data is taken from submissions between 1st June 2023 and 31st May 2024 .

This figure is the total amount of downloads for all articles published early cite in the last 12 months

(Last updated: July 2024)

This journal is abstracted and indexed by

• Emerging Sources Citation Index (Clarivate Analytics)
• Lexis Nexis

This journal is ranked by

• Australian Research Council (ERA Journal List)
• NSD (Norway)
• QUALIS (Brazil)

Reviewer information

Peer review process.

This journal engages in a double-anonymous peer review process, which strives to match the expertise of a reviewer with the submitted manuscript. Reviews are completed with evidence of thoughtful engagement with the manuscript, provide constructive feedback, and add value to the overall knowledge and information presented in the manuscript.

The mission of the peer review process is to achieve excellence and rigour in scholarly publications and research.

Our vision is to give voice to professionals in the subject area who contribute unique and diverse scholarly perspectives to the field.

The journal values diverse perspectives from the field and reviewers who provide critical, constructive, and respectful feedback to authors. Reviewers come from a variety of organizations, careers, and backgrounds from around the world.

All invitations to review, abstracts, manuscripts, and reviews should be kept confidential. Reviewers must not share their review or information about the review process with anyone without the agreement of the editors and authors involved, even after publication. This also applies to other reviewers’ “comments to author” which are shared with you on decision.

Resources to guide you through the review process

Discover practical tips and guidance on all aspects of peer review in our reviewers' section. See how being a reviewer could benefit your career, and discover what's involved in shaping a review.

More reviewer information

Calls for papers

Call for papers - journal of international trade law and policy.

Journal of International Trade Law and Policy (JITLP) is welcoming the submission of papers. JITLP is a peer-reviewed interdisciplinary jour...

Thank you to the 2022 Reviewers of the Journal of International Trade Law and Policy

The publishing and editorial teams would like to thank the following, for their invaluable service as 2022 reviewers for this journal. We are very grateful for the contributions made. With their help, the journal has been able to publish such high...

Thank you to the 2021 Reviewers of Journal of International Trade Law and Policy

The publishing and editorial teams would like to thank the following, for their invaluable service as 2021 reviewers for this journal. We are very grateful for the contributions made. With their help, the journal has ...

Literati awards

Journal of International Trade Law and Policy - Literati Award Winners 2023

We are pleased to announce our 2023 Literati Award winners. Outstanding Paper Intellectual property and the African ...

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Trade and the environment: fundamental issues in international law, wto law and legal theory by erich vranes oxford: oxford university press, 2009.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 March 2010

Under the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), WTO members can adopt trade-related measures aimed at protecting the environment, subject to certain carefully crafted conditions. The three trade and environment cases brought under the WTO dispute settlement mechanism to date (the US–Gasoline , US–Shrimp and Brazil–Retreaded Tyres cases) have confirmed WTO members' ability to adopt trade-related environmental measures and have addressed several key concepts of the legal interconnections between trade and environment.

That being said, a number of other legal issues at the juncture of trade and environment remain to be clarified and have been intensely debated in the literature, in particular the consequences of the extraterritoriality of certain domestic environmental measures and the risk of fragmentation of public international law. Erich Vranes' publication intends to shed further light on these legally complex issues. The recent policy debate on the effect of climate-related domestic measures on trade rules also makes this publication particularly timely.

The publication presents in a rather unique fashion the legal linkages between trade and environment from three complementary perspectives: (i) the ‘horizontal’ relationship between WTO law and public international law, including treaty law as contained in multilateral environmental agreements; (ii) the ‘vertical’ linkages between domestic measures that regulate the protection of the environment, including their consequences in other countries, and WTO law; and (iii) the linkages between trade and environment in the context of relevant WTO rules and fundamental principles. The final section of this book applies this three-dimensional analytical framework to two concrete environmental problems of global importance: ozone and climate protection.

Vranes' examination of the first dimension, that is the relationship between WTO law and public international law, focuses on the question of conflicts of norms and the fragmentation of international law. The well-known citation of the WTO Appellate Body in the US–Gasoline case that WTO Agreements should not be read in ‘clinical isolation’ from public international law takes on all its meaning in this chapter. Vranes reviews in detail the general principles for resolving conflicts of norms, such as lex specialis and lex posterior , and discusses how the different principles would interplay, including in the context of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism. In his analysis of the different types of norms, Vranes also tackles the challenging question of whether, and to what extent, a permission may conflict with a prescriptive norm, that is an obligation or a prohibition. He provides a comprehensive review of the existing legal analysis in this domain.

In the context of the second dimension of the trade and environment interface, the author discusses the extent to which unilateral trade measures that are intended to deal with extraterritorial concerns may be permissible, from a domestic and an international point of view. An interesting link is being made between extraterritoriality and the use of the concept of ‘proportionality’ or ‘balancing’ of the trade measure with the objective at hand. The author argues that the conflicting rights of the state resorting to unilateral trade measures for environmental purposes and those of the states affected by such measures should be reconciled by a balancing operation that is structured by the tests of necessity and proportionality.

Regarding the permissibility of unilateral trade measures that address extraterritorial environmental concerns, Vranes argues that trade measures addressing such concerns should be regarded as the exception to the general rule of cooperation as laid down in Article 1 of the United Nations Charter, and in Principle 12 of the Rio Declaration specifically regarding environmental problems. Principle 12 provides that unilateral actions to deal with environmental challenges outside the jurisdiction of the importing country should be avoided and that environmental measures addressing transboundary environmental problems should be based on an international consensus. This is an interesting point that is particularly relevant in the context of the current multilateral negotiations on climate change under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the parallel development of national legislations on climate change mitigation.

Finally as a third dimension, the author studies in great detail a number of fundamental issues in WTO law, as they relate to the protection of the environment. For instance, Vranes proposes a three-tier structure for the judicial review of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) principle of non-discrimination: (i) a finding of likeness, (ii) a finding of differential treatment, and (iii) the examination of whether this differential treatment can be justified under the exception clause of GATT Article XX. Concerning this last aspect, Vranes' analysis of WTO case law led him to the conclusion that justification under Article XX is predominantly determined by considerations of suitability and necessity of the measure in pursuing a legitimate policy goal. Fundamental trade disciplines pursuant to the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement are also reviewed by the author. For instance, through a careful interpretation of Annex 1 of the TBT Agreement, in line with the canon of treaty interpretation set forth in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, Vranes argues that measures regulating processes and production methods of specific products that do not leave a physical trace in the resulting products can be regarded as being ‘related’ to such products, and therefore fall under the coverage of the TBT Agreement.

In the final chapter, Vranes applies this three-dimensional analytical framework to two current environmental debates: ozone protection and climate change mitigation. The international regimes on ozone and climate change raise a number of different legal challenges in relation to the trade regime. For instance, the legal framework created by the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and its Montreal Protocol raise unique jurisdictional issues in relation to possible trade measures against non-parties.

The author points out that unlike the Montreal Protocol, the Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC does not prescribe precise domestic measures that its parties must use in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, nor does it explicitly ‘permit’ such measures. In fact, the case study on climate change focuses on ‘vertical conflicts’ between domestic measures and WTO rules. In particular, it discusses a few examples of measures (such as carbon labelling), mainly technical requirements, subject to the TBT Agreement. In this context, the author addresses briefly the issue of the relevance of WTO rules to the conduct of private persons, for instance in the context of voluntary labelling schemes. With today's proliferation of privately set environmental standards (such as food miles labelling), this legal issue would have probably deserved further analysis.

Overall, this book goes beyond other publications on the topic of trade and environment by focussing on the legal interplay between trade and environment and dealing with fundamental legal questions in a comprehensive scholarly fashion. Throughout the publication, the author suggests practical ways and legal analysis to approach the trade and environment debate in a mutually supportive and constructive manner so as to avoid a situation of fragmentation of international law. Vranes' treatise provides a valuable contribution to the debate on the legal relationship between trade rules and domestic and international environmental policies. And his analytical framework could probably be applied also to a number of other ‘trade and … ’ issues, such as trade and labor or trade and health.

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• Volume 9, Issue 1
• Ludivine Tamiotti (a1)
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S147474560999022X

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• Open access
• Published: 08 May 2018

International trade and investment law: a new framework for public health and the common good

• Louise Delany ,
• Louise Signal &
• George Thomson   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-3566-9199 1  

BMC Public Health volume  18 , Article number:  602 ( 2018 ) Cite this article

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International trade and investment agreements can have positive outcomes, but also have negative consequences that affect global health and influence fundamental health determinants: poverty, inequality and the environment. This article proposes principles and strategies for designing future international law to attain health and common good objectives.

Basic principles are needed for international trade and investment agreements that are consistent with the common good, public health, and human rights. These principles should reflect the importance of reducing inequalities, along with social and environmental sustainability. Economic growth should be recognised as a means to common good objectives, rather than an end in itself. Our favoured approach is both radical and comprehensive: we describe what this approach would include and outline the strategies for its implementation, the processes and capacity building necessary for its achievement, and related governance and corporate issues.

The comprehensive approach includes significant changes to current models for trade and investment agreements, in particular (i) health, social and environmental objectives would be recognised as legitimate in their own right and implemented accordingly; (ii) changes to dispute-resolution processes, both state-to-state and investor-state; (iii) greater deference to international legal frameworks for health, environmental protection, and human rights; (iv) greater coherence across the international law framework; (v) limitations on investor privileges, and (vi) enforceable corporate responsibilities for contributing to health, environmental, human rights and other common good objectives. We also identify some limited changes that could be considered as an alternative to the proposed comprehensive approach.

Future research is needed to develop a range of model treaties, and on the means by which such treaties and reforms might be achieved. Such research would focus also on complementary institutional reforms relevant to the United Nations and other international agencies. Advocacy by a range of communities is needed for effective change. Reform will require informed debate, determined engagement with decision-makers and stakeholders, and some agreement across health, social and environmental sectors on alternatives.

Conclusions

Current frameworks of international law that govern trade and economic development need radical change, in relation to treaty processes, content, and contexts, to better attain public health objectives.

Peer Review reports

International trade and investment agreements (TIAs) affect global health, equity and justice – the common good. TIAs can have positive benefits but, from a range of health and social good perspectives, also have negative outcomes. This article focuses on ideas for change to such agreements and their institutional contexts, with the aim of achieving public health objectives. Because of this future focus, material in the following sections provides only a brief summary of why change is needed, and does not duplicate the growing literature on the problems for public health arising from TIAs.

For this article, we define TIAs as those agreements relevant to trade, international investment, and international intellectual property law. We define the common good as those benefits that can be shared by all, ‘that promote the full flourishing of everyone in the community. … includes, but is not limited to, public goods’[ 1 ] p.161.

International trade law governs trade in products and services; investment law covers assets; and intellectual property law has rules on what kinds of intellectual property can be protected and for how long. There is an array of TIAs in these areas, with multilateral agreements administered by the World Trade Organization (WTO), and other bilateral and regional agreements outside the WTO framework (often referred to in broad terms as free trade agreements – FTAs).

Several interrelated trends have intensified the significance of TIAs and hence their health implications. Accelerated globalisation, involving developments in transportation, technology and communication, has resulted in the extended reach and complexity of global trade. The character of TIAs has become more comprehensive, with far-reaching implications for nation states. The focus has shifted from that of tariff reduction (although that remains important) to a wide range of measures affecting many aspects of products, services, and investment [ 2 ]. ‘Trade’ and ‘investment’ agreements are tending to merge as instruments of large-scale regional economic governance, [ 3 ] with the overall number of investment-related TIAs now over 3000 [ 4 ].

Current agreements in active development include the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership; in addition to the recently signed Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

While this article sketches ways in which TIAs should evolve to recognise health and social objectives, we recognise that giving effect to such changes would require a fundamental philosophical shift in international trade and investment policy. This article offers some directions for TIA designs and processes that are intended to be useful for governments and non-government organisations when rethinking and negotiating TIAs. It does not, however, provide solutions for the wider political questions of achieving such changes.

This following sections outline issues for public health and the common good that are created by TIAs in their wider global, legal and corporate contexts. The principles and framework proposed in the Discussion are intended to help address these issues.

Trade and investment related agreements: Problems for public health and the common good

TIAs have a range of positive and adverse outcomes. They affect up-stream determinants of health, such as poverty and inequality, in complex and much debated ways, [ 5 , 6 , 7 ] p.13 and can increase inequalities between and within countries: ‘the rich can get richer, and the poor poorer.’ [ 8 ] p.8. More specifically, TIAs have implications for (1) state budgets; (2) state governance; (3) achieving common good objectives; (4) developing countries; and (5) specific health concerns in relation to both communicable and noncommunicable disease (NCDs).

State budgets

TIAs affect state budgets as a result of tariff reductions, [ 9 ] (especially for developing countries).

TIAs affect the way that states make or refrain from making policies, limit policy choices, and create contexts that result in unhealthy policies [ 10 ].

Common good objectives

TIAs can detract in some cases from the attainment of social, health, human rights and environmental objectives. Generally trade and investment liberalization can affect ‘power relations, social policies, employment conditions and working conditions’ [ 5 ]. TIAs can affect ‘international and domestic labor markets, …job creation, wage and labor standards, and protections’ [ 11 ]. TIAs can facilitate environment-threatening effects [ 12 , 13 ]. They can influence many other areas including land tenure, [ 14 ] agricultural patterns, [ 15 , 16 ] cultural traditions, privatisation, provision of health services, government procurement, [ 17 ] women’s rights, and rights of indigenous peoples [ 18 ].

While WTO TIAs provide exceptions for health and common good objectives, such exceptions are often ambiguous [ 11 ]. The concept of ‘exception’ frames common good objectives as not core to the TIA, and casts the burden of proof for meeting criteria for such exceptions on common good advocates. These criteria are often difficult to satisfy, leading to uncertain outcomes [ 19 , 20 ] p.12. Many non-WTO TIAs further limit governmental ability to fulfil common good related objectives by allowing investors to take action against states [ 11 ].

Developing countries

Developing countries are generally the most significantly affected by TIAs. While inequalities in global distribution of income and wealth have many causes, they have emerged from a ‘historical process that was pervaded by grievous wrongs’ [ 21 ]. As Pogge argues, the resulting massive poverty is perpetuated by an ‘increasingly dense and influential web of global institutional arrangements’ such as TIAs [ 21 ].

Disease determinants

TIAs have direct consequences for the determinants of both communicable and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) that arise, in part, from a basic tension between the economic growth imperatives of TIAs and health objectives. TIAs facilitate communicable disease through the global dissemination of products and people; [ 22 ] issues relating to antibiotic resistance are based partly on trade; [ 23 ] and intellectual property law affects the affordability and availability of therapeutic drugs [ 24 ] p.289–95. Efforts to address NCD risk factors can be hindered by the liberalised trade regime facilitated by TIAs. Increased competition and lower prices for consumers from TIAs can be negative for health where there are harmful products, due to increased consumption [ 20 ].

In general terms, TIAs influence NCDs because they shape the environments within which consumers make ‘choices’ on such products as foods, tobacco, and alcohol (for example, food environments) [ 16 , 20 ]. A 2017 review of the effects of TIAs found ‘consistent evidence’ of associations between TIAs and both ‘increased consumption of processed foods and sugar-sweetened beverages’ and ‘higher cardiovascular disease incidence’ [ 25 ]. TIAs may restrict people’s ability to access healthy foods, eg, through impacts on agricultural practices and intellectual property protections [ 16 ]. Increased consumption of products and services with adverse health consequences, facilitated by TIAs, runs counter to health measures intended to reduce that consumption [ 25 , 26 ]. Health measures designed to address NCDs might include packaging and labelling requirements, for example on alcohol containers; licences, such as those for tobacco vendors; and restrictions on advertising, promotion, labelling and product content for some food products [ 16 , 20 ]. Each of these measures can infringe international trade rules [ 26 ].

The wider context of trade and investment related agreements

International trade and investment does not exist in a vacuum, nor do the treaties that set out the relevant rules. Any analysis of how trade and trade law can be re-oriented towards achieving the common good should take account of the global and institutional settings in which TIAs operate, the complexity of international legal frameworks, and the multiple players involved, particularly the corporation.

Global governance and processes

Cooperative action to address the issues for public health from TIAs requires effective structures and processes for global governance. Modifications to current arrangements are needed, as many of the major global organisations prioritise financial activity and economic growth, [ 27 ] while those focused on health and its determinants appear to have less power and are not coordinated [ 28 ] p.112.

Organisations such as the World Trade Organization and the World Bank appear to have emerged as stronger elements in global governance, compared to the United Nations, over the last 60 years. Such governance is increasingly complex, with many aspects and levels [ 29 ]. The World Health Organization (WHO) has not taken a major role in the formation of TIAs or their implementation (although it has had significant influence in relation to international law on access to pharmaceuticals) [ 30 ]. While WHO may be invited to contribute to WTO dispute procedures, it has no right to do so, as made clear in the WTO dispute rules [ 31 ]. These rules state that WTO may seek information from any source related to dispute settlement, and/or set up expert review panels, but these are advisory only.

The imbalance between economic and health priorities has been intensified by the trend away from multilateralism towards bilateral, regional and mega agreements (FTAs). ‘Multilateralism’ is a concept that has normative and political connotations, with some commitment to a rule-based system, principles of universality, and governance by international organisations [ 32 , 33 , 34 ]. In this sense, multilateral agreements differ from regional or preferential trade agreements, even where such agreements have several parties [ 35 , 36 ]. These bilateral and regional agreements are ‘negotiated outside WTO auspices’, may ‘undermine developing country interests’ [ 24 ] p.299 and hence may enforce present power imbalances. As Gostin noted, ‘FTAs enable powerful countries to lock developing countries into agreements that could not be achieved during WTO negotiations’. This may, for instance, include stronger intellectual property protections than those in the equivalent WTO agreements [ 24 ] p.299.

In both WTO TIAs and non-WTO TIAs, the present processes of treaty development can inhibit the recognition of health and common good perspectives. This can present barriers even for developed countries in achieving desired outcomes, but the barriers are more acute for developing countries with small economies. There are a number of factors affecting smaller economies as they participate in TIAs, including limited human resources and technical capacity [ 8 ] p.22–23. There are also issues relating to procedural justice in the functioning of the WTO, such as the basic bargaining process itself, which is built on political and economic power [ 8 ] p.27 [ 37 ]. Current TIA dispute resolution mechanisms have particular problems for poorer countries [ 37 ]. The mechanisms require significant resources, including legal assistance, to have any chance of success. This has ‘important implications for the justice of the overall system’ [ 8 ] p.201.

The lack of transparent, open and consultative processes has been noted by a range of official bodies, including a 2015 Australian Senate inquiry, [ 38 ] the European Union, [ 39 ] and the UN Conference on Trade and Development [ 40 ]. Concerns include the secrecy and lack of public participation opportunities in investor-state dispute settlement procedures (some newer TIAs have started to address these problems) [ 40 ].

States can be locked into treaties for long periods without sufficient review or renegotiation ability. While TIAs generally have review clauses, these need to be used effectively for change [ 41 ].

International legal frameworks

The multiplicity of current international legal frameworks means that international law is extremely fragmented, with little clarity around the relationships between various frameworks, and often conflicting norms [ 42 ]. As Carozza states: ‘the systemic incoherence of international law … is widely perceived to be an acute problem, generating many analyses of the fragmentation of international law’ [ 42 ]. A result of this fragmentation and ‘systemic incoherence’ is that international agreements do not satisfactorily set out what should happen where conflicting provisions exist in different frameworks. This is despite the interpretation provisions set out in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties [ 43 ]. While the Convention is of general relevance, [ 44 ] provisions such as Article 31(3)(c) of the Convention are very high level and offer little specific guidance on resolving differences between treaties. In practice, ‘trade treaties are almost always more enforceable than treaties relating to health, human rights, labour, and the environment’ [ 45 ].

Corporate issues

Multinational corporations are key players in international and national policies [ 46 ]. They influence TIAs as major drivers of their architecture and benefit from them. ‘Large corporations ... hold disproportionate power in such agreements, and are the beneficiaries of their rules, which they are able to enforce through new dispute settlement mechanisms’ [ 47 ]. Multinationals influence the content of TIAs (eg, through access to draft treaty texts and lobbying power) and non-WTO TIAs strengthen the power of multinational corporations through the availability of investor-state litigation [ 48 ].

The primary duty of corporations is not to the communities within which they operate, or the broad range of common good objectives, but to their shareholders. The legal nature of the corporation means a degree of inviolability due to its limited liability [ 46 ]. Often there are differences between corporate aims as facilitated by TIAs, and health objectives, with negative implications for public health [ 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 ]. Attempts to ensure effective control of corporations, so as to ensure some consistency between their behaviour and human rights (including health, social and economic rights) have had, to date, very limited results. This lack of control is indicated by the work on the proposed UN Convention on Business and Human Rights [ 54 ]. Generally, TIAs have given enforceable rights to corporations, without requiring enforceable obligations from them.

The above sections set out specific, systemic, and institutional problems that TIAs, in their global governance contexts, pose for public health and other common good objectives. How can TIAs be redesigned to better align with health objectives?

A number of studies have suggested ways in which some of the negative implications of TIAs could be addressed (eg, [ 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 ]). In particular, UNCTAD has provided guidelines for reforming the making and implementation of investment treaties [ 60 ]. Their ‘Investment Policy Framework’ suggests ways to protect states’ rights to regulate, and to improve dispute processes [ 61 ]. Smith et al. provide a detailed agenda for action [ 62 ].

This article builds on these and other suggestions to propose a systematic and comprehensive approach to transform TIAs for the common good. It incorporates general principles, a framework for new law, and the identification of institutional, structural and procedural features that would be necessary to support that framework. The approach we suggest would not reject the importance of international trade and the rules for its regulation, but would promote a different and evolved type of TIA that would more effectively recognise multiple common good perspectives.

Suggested principles for trade and investment related treaties

These suggested principles, as well as the following framework, respond to the issues posed by TIAs as outlined in the Background. They would be used as benchmarks to underpin common good perspectives for future TIAs by relevant policy communities, treaty drafters and public health advocates.

The main purpose of the principles is the provision of a succinct ‘checklist’ for evaluating, from a health and common good perspective, the desirability of a particular proposed or current treaty. The principles would help guide decisions on whether to enter into or renew TIAs, of which kind, and in accordance with which processes. The principles would help frame questions, and indicate answers, on the likely effects of specific strategies and provisions embodied in treaty text, to be used perhaps in impact assessments.

A second purpose of the suggested principles is that they could, in some cases, offer ideas for inclusion in introductory treaty text (eg, preambular or purpose provisions). Such inclusion might function as a guide to interpretation, and might also be useful in providing links to other instruments of international law.

The principles below are divided into those: (a) relevant to the processes by which treaties are developed; and (b) those relating to the objectives of the treaties themselves. Further details on how the principles might be operationalised are given later in the article.

Principles for TIA development processes

The essential bases for just and sustainable treaty processes include:

Support for the effective participation of countries and the participation of citizens within these countries in developing policies for TIAs, with special emphasis given to poorer countries and population groups;

Support for multilateralism; that is, an approach that involves a commitment to rule-based principles, and norms of openness and universality, preferably within global governance structures, processes and institutions, rather than regionally based treaties;

Transparent, fair, open and consultative processes for TIA development and implementation;

Recognition, throughout the treaty development process, of the need for provision for, and effective use of, review clauses in TIAs.

Principles for TIA objectives

Explicit incorporation of social, health, human rights, and environmental objectives as core to TIAs, and explicit support for the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially those relevant to:

eliminating poverty

reducing inequalities and redressing power imbalances

protecting and advancing planetary health (‘the health of human civilisation and its underpinning natural systems’ [ 63 ]);

Recognition of economic growth as a means to common good objectives, rather than an end in itself; through for example explicit reference to relevant human rights law, in particular the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; [ 64 ]

Effective control of international corporations by the international community through international law;

Redressing the specific situations of historically harmed states; [ 65 ] for instance through the provision for special and differentiated treatment for least developed countries. Such ‘special treatment’ could refer not only to orthodox issues such as tariffs, but also specific forms of exceptions and carve outs, and by emphasis on freedom of governmental regulation;

Support for human rights principles, incorporating a collective vision of human rights. That is, explicit recognition that the concept of ‘human rights’ should go beyond traditional individualistic connotations, and envision a ‘collective right to public health – a right applied at the societal level to address underlying determinants of health’ [ 66 ].

A framework for future treaties

We favour a comprehensive approach to designing new TIAs. This responds to the need to implement the SDGs; and to the requirement for fundamental change to promote global health and equity in ways that do not compromise environmental sustainability [ 63 ]. The comprehensive, or ‘planetary’, approach that we favour for TIA design, based on the principles outlined above, would integrate health, environmental and social objectives. Such integration would be the cornerstone of redesigned TIAs that are fit for the twenty-first century.

The comprehensive approach towards redesigning a new framework for TIAs would be buttressed by improved processes for treaty development, enabled in turn by strengthened institutional capacity. New TIA frameworks would require, for effective implementation, governance support from relevant international institutions and attention to issues relating to corporate behaviour.

The following part of our article is structured in eight sections. The first five are: (1) outline of comprehensive approach integrating a range of objectives, (2) strategies to give effect to this approach, (3) necessary processes, (4) capacity building, and (5) governance and corporate issues. Section (6) touches on connections between international law and national law; followed by section (7) which pulls together ideas on enforceability; and then section (8) which briefly notes a more limited approach to redesigning TIAs.

Section 1: Comprehensive approach – A set of common good goals

TIAs would provide for health, environmental and other common good perspectives to be explicitly recognised as core treaty objectives along with economic goals. Treaty chapters would set out how these core objectives would be achieved. Under current TIA frameworks, national measures relating to goals such as environmental protection and public health – while often referred to in preambular treaty statements – are in practice generally permissible only as exceptions. These measures are often difficult to justify in accordance with the current wording of exceptions and their interpretation [ 19 ] ch.8. Reframing such measures as legitimate treaty objectives in their own right, for example, along the lines proposed for environmental objectives by the International Institute for Sustainable Development Model International Agreement on Investment for Sustainable Development , [ 67 ] would help address these difficulties.

Section 2: Strategies to give effect to the comprehensive approach

Strategies to give effect to a set of integrated social and environmental objectives would include some of those proposed by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) [ 68 ], prioritising the needs of developing countries [ 69 ]. Such strategies would cover issues relating to dispute resolution, exceptions, regulatory responsibility and deference to specified health, environmental and human rights agreements.

Dispute resolution

There are two main international methods of TIA dispute resolution. One is that provided in WTO treaties, where only nation states may take action in relation to other states. The other is the method in most non-WTO treaties. This, as well as state-to-state action, allows investors to take action against states through investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS).

Modifications to non-WTO treaties would include either significant change to ISDS or its removal. Concerns about ISDS include process issues, and ‘chilling’ effects due to both process and outcomes [ 70 ]. ‘Chilling’ is government inaction because of potential or real threats of legal action. Modifications to ISDS could involve provision for appeals; a more ‘judicial’ approach to appointing impartial dispute decision makers; greater transparency of dispute decision-making; the ability for the public, NGOs, and relevant sectors to have input to hearings; and published decisions with precedent value [ 68 ] p.147–8.

Some countries have demonstrated that ISDS is not a necessary element of TIAs: one example being the ‘Brazilian’ model which has trade facilitation agreements without ISDS [ 71 ]. An approach that significantly modifies traditional ISDS is included in the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the EU and Canada. This is intended to create, for disputes arising under CETA, an Investment Court System including a permanent Appellate Tribunal, with ethical rules such as preventing conflicts of interest (see Articles 8.27 to 8.30) [ 72 ]. This aspect of CETA is not, however, yet in force and is subject to ratification procedures.

The removal of ISDS, rather than its modification, would necessitate reliance on domestic court systems in the country hosting the investment, or some form of state-to-state dispute settlement, [ 73 ] or new mechanisms such as that envisaged for CETA. Other alternatives include a World Investment Court or, as proposed by the OECD, a Multilateral Investment Court [ 74 , 75 , 76 ]. Domestic court solutions are emerging in treaties entered into by South Africa, Brazil and other countries [ 77 ].

Current state-to-state dispute resolution processes, whether those in WTO or non-WTO treaties, may also inadequately reflect health perspectives. Members of dispute resolution bodies tend to have backgrounds in trade and trade law, [ 78 ] and have world views to which health objectives are not central. While input from other disciplines and sectors is permissible, and often sought, there are no requirements in WTO processes to ensure that input from other sectors is obtained and taken into account. Refinements to WTO processes, and state-to-state dispute procedures in non-WTO treaties, could ensure that panellists or Appellate Board members, as well as those involved in state-to-state disputes under FTAs, have an appropriate environmental or health background in relevant cases [ 79 ].

Exceptions and ‘carve outs’

To complement changes to dispute resolution systems, and to give effect to a set of integrated objectives, changes would also be needed in TIA provisions that relate to ‘exceptions’ and ‘carve outs’ for health, social and environmental goals. Ideally, ‘exceptions’ and ‘carve outs’ for such goals would not be needed, given that new TIAs would give equal weight to health, social and environmental goals, along with those relevant to economic growth. However, given that some forms of ‘exceptions’ may continue, we propose that (1) the use of carve outs be expanded to put beyond doubt the exclusion of treaty provisions for some products and services (eg, tobacco, pornography); and (2) the concept of ‘exception’ be replaced by provisions relating to prioritisations of treaty goals, with mechanisms to ascribe priorities between different objectives, for example:

Explicit priority for some specified objectives. At one extreme, health or environmental aims would not require justification and hence would be ‘self-judged’ by the country concerned (following the example of exceptions on security grounds);[ 80 ] Article 10.4

Criteria such as significant mortality and morbidity potential, as well as international targets for reducing relevant mortality and morbidity, as a basis for recognising the primacy of measures conducive to human, animal or plant life and health.

Affirming governmental regulatory responsibility and limiting investor privileges

Current treaties include a range of provisions that are aimed at bolstering the ‘rights’ of investors, effectively reducing the scope for government regulation. Three major and often inter-related examples are provisions for ‘fair and equitable treatment’; ‘expropriation’; and those relating to intellectual property.

‘Fair and equitable treatment’ (FET) provisions often include commitments to fulfil ‘legitimate expectations’ for investors. FET is an important ground for litigation that is often successful for investors, and can be a major contributor to the ‘regulatory chill’ factor in investment matters. Agreements should exclude commitments to fulfil ‘legitimate expectations’ for investors, or define such expectations more narrowly. This approach has been proposed by UNCTAD, noting a range of options in this area [ 81 ] (p 104–114). One example of a model treaty which arguably accords with one of the UNCTAD options is Canada’s model agreement for the promotion and protection of investments, see Article 6(2) [ 80 ]. The Canada-EU CETA also qualifies what is meant by ‘fair and equitable treatment’, and limits the concept of ‘legitimate expectations’ to situations where a specific promise or representation is made by the State (Article 8.10) [ 72 ]. We consider it may be simpler to exclude provisions relating to ‘fair and equitable treatment’ (as well as ‘legitimate expectations’) altogether from TIAs.

Investment chapters in current TIAs usually have specific sections on expropriation. The chapters can be linked with issues relevant to ‘fair and equitable treatment’ as well as legitimate expectations. While such provisions acknowledge that governments may take regulatory action, even when negative effects on investment may be expected, it is often difficult to distinguish such measures from those which are considered to be indirect expropriation and hence liable to compensation [ 82 ].

We propose that: (1) no governmental action taken in relation to an issue specified in provisions covered in carve outs may be considered as forms of expropriation, direct or indirect; and (2) no governmental action taken in relation to an issue that is prioritised in accordance with the mechanisms proposed above (for ascribing priorities between different objectives) could be considered as any form of expropriation. Alternatively, TIAs could simply exclude altogether the concept of indirect expropriation and focus on explicit definitions of direct appropriation.

Recent treaty development in non-WTO law has seen increased protections for the holders of intellectual property, and often include intellectual property in the definition of investment [ 83 , 84 ]. TIAs that are redesigned for health should limit intellectual property protection for investors.

Deference to other instruments of international law

Redesigned treaties that integrate common good objectives should include provisions to clarify the relationship between TIAs vis-à-vis international health and environmental law. TIAs should refer and defer to other specified international health, environmental and human rights agreements, [ 85 ] eg, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Section 3: Treaty development processes

Treaty law does not come into the world of its own accord. The processes by which TIAs are developed should be improved to ensure that common good objectives are fully recognised and to ensure that the interests of the least advantaged are protected.

Improvements would include:

Transparent negotiation processes, greater consultation, participation, and openness to public and legislator scrutiny – eg, through critical points where draft treaty texts are published, as was done by the EU for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership [ 86 ]. This is, according to the European Commission, to be the rule for all their trade negotiations, as part of active engagement ‘with civil society and the public at large in the context of the civil society dialogues and citizens’ dialogues’ [ 39 ] p.19. Engagement would include public policy papers developed and published at early stages of treaty development, with broad negotiating positions stated (as in the EU) [ 86 ] pp.7–8. While such transparency is essential, it does not itself enable true consultation and participation. This would also require representatives of civil society being engaged in development of draft treaty provisions, negotiation, monitoring of any agreements once implemented and evaluation.

Open development of national treaty positions, perhaps through developing ‘model’ treaty templates, as is done by many countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, [ 87 ] p.144 and other states. Examples include the Model Text for the Indian Bilateral Investment Treaty and those developed by regional groups such as the Southern African Development Community Model Bilateral Investment Treaty.

The use during the development of treaty positions of impact assessments that capture a wider range of effects, using tools such as Health Impact Assessments and the UN Global Policy Model [ 88 ]. These would identify, during the negotiations, the advantages and disadvantages that may arise from a specific TIA for different groups in society, along with the potential impacts for health and other common good issues. Treaty audit tools, such as national interest analyses, or health impact assessments, [ 89 ] could identify those groups in society who may suffer disadvantage as a result of a particular TIA (eg, loss of jobs, reduction of wages, increased prices of some products). Such analyses could also identify health outcomes which could be adversely affected (eg, with reference to health services) [ 90 ].

Section 4: Capacity-building and institutional support for treaty development and implementation

Treaty development and implementation requires attention to the many historical and institutional factors that negatively affect achieving health and environmental objectives. This is relevant to both developed and developing countries, but particularly recognises the disadvantages facing developing countries. Most critically, the health, environmental and human rights sectors need an effective place at the TIA negotiating table.

The health community needs greater capacity at all levels - international, regional and state - to enable effective engagement with trade policy and issues relating to TIAs. Health officials in both developing and developed countries need skill development, both in treaty negotiation and in understanding the implications of international law (existing and proposed) for their domestic law. At the international level, the WHO has limited legal in-house capacity, and does not appear to be able to support developing countries to the extent required. Ensuring technical expertise in negotiating and implementing TIAs (especially for developing countries) [ 91 ] should be seen as a required role for both WHO and the WTO.

Improvements would therefore include:

Ensuring greater capacity for health, environmental and human rights engagement in TIA development;

Mandating specific public health, environmental and human rights expertise in WTO technical capacity;

International health funding to support training and capacity building for developing countries in trade and health policy.

Section 5: Global governance and structural issues

Changes in international contexts.

Coherent and effective global governance is needed to support health equity, environmental sustainability, and the implementation of the SDGs. At the most general level, effective global governance for health purposes may require the reform of WHO in order to provide it with greater powers and structures that are more effective [ 92 ]. United Nations (UN) mechanisms are needed to address cross-sector areas of activity. Decisions are also needed on where the UN should provide a global focus for action (following the model of UN action on both HIV/AIDS and NCDs) [ 93 , 94 ]. Attention to global governance structures would also include the reinvigoration of multilateralism (structures, processes, institutions and law), given the potential for non-multilateral approaches to reinforce present power imbalances.

Coherence in the general international law framework is needed. Appropriate hierarchies in international frameworks should be supported, for example, through interpretation invoking the Vienna Convention; [ 44 ] with priority to be given international human rights law vis-à-vis other instruments of international law. New international health law is needed (eg, on alcohol, non-nutritious food). On a more general scale, the proposed Global Health Convention is one model for new law [ 95 ].

Changes relevant to corporations

The successful implementation of new TIAs that would meet health, environmental, human rights and other common good objectives requires attention to corporate structures and behaviour. This is because, along with states, corporations are the main actors in TIAs.

Addressing corporate issues at international and national levels would involve, amongst other things:

An international convention to build on the Ruggie concepts of business responsibilities in relation to human rights, as resolved by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2014 [ 96 ]. This convention would have binding force, as proposed by 2017 discussions on a new convention; [ 54 , 97 ] and should establish primacy of human rights over TIAs [54 85]. The elements of the October 2017 draft of the new convention include a number of valuable proposals, including the proposed duty of state parties to prepare human rights impact assessments prior to the conclusion of trade and investment agreements (Principles1.2) and some provisions for enforcement; [ 54 ]

Incentives in TIAs for corporate compliance with human rights, health, environmental and other common good objectives, and effective sanctions on corporations for non-compliance;

Action by nation states applicable in their own jurisdictions, for example provision for investor responsibility in state legislation, with conditions attached to corporate investment by foreign investors, and processes to enable individuals and groups to take effective action against corporations.

Section 6: Connections between international and national levels

In accordance with any disadvantages identified by national interest analyses or health impact assessments, nation states should, through their domestic law, counter the identified adverse effects from TIAs as much as possible. Such law would need to come into effect at the same time as the treaty. For example, compensatory taxation measures for disadvantaged groups (such as those whose employment is affected) may be appropriate. National law should require contracts for foreign direct investment to explicitly recognise the responsibility of national governments to regulate for the common good. Foreign direct investment should also be conditional on compliance with stated health or environmental goals, for example, nutritional goals; and national law should stipulate that any breach of such conditions would invalidate any possibility of investor-state litigation.

Section 7: Enforceability

Many concepts proposed in this article are intended in general terms to promote the enforceability of common good objectives vis-à-vis the economic growth objectives of TIAs and the financial interests of corporations. Mechanisms to ensure such enforceability should occur at several levels: through a range of strategies within TIAs; within other legal instruments relating to health and environmental objectives (for example the FCTC and the Paris Agreement); through any convention on the responsibilities of businesses in relation to human rights; and within national legislation. While ideally these mechanisms should interlink, they may also be implemented independently.

In summary, enforceability mechanisms could include:

Assertion in treaty text of the equal weight to be given to common good objectives, and the primacy of human rights law, over pecuniary interests would render it more difficult to initiate dispute procedures involving challenges to common good objectives. Treaty text would further provide that non-compliance with common good objectives would render invalid any possible dispute involving investor rights (under state-to-state rules or ISDS), and render states and investors ineligible for benefits under the relevant TIA;

Other international agreements

Instruments such as the Paris Agreement should specifically provide for the supremacy of climate control objectives versus those relating to economic growth;

Overarching international law

An international convention on business responsibilities in relation to human rights would have its own implementation and enforcement mechanisms. These would include provisions for states to enact disclosure requirements, contractual preferences for corporations with appropriate histories of human rights and environmental compliance; and imposition of criminal liability for breaches of human rights, administrative and monetary sanctions;

National legislation

Many of the ‘elements’ proposed for a convention on business responsibilities and human rights need not await finalisation of such a convention – likely, at best, to be many years away. Hence, national legislation could enact a general framework with which any new TIA entered into by the relevant state would need to comply. Such a framework could include, perhaps, a ‘model’ TIA appropriate to that country. The framework would provide that draft TIAs would (i) need human rights impact assessments; (ii) enable conditions to be attached to corporate investment; (iii) allow individuals and groups to take effective action against corporations; (iv) require contracts for foreign direct investment to explicitly recognise the responsibility of national governments to regulate for the common good, ensuring compliance with stated health or environmental goals; and (v) stipulate that any breach of such conditions would invalidate investor-state litigation and state-to-state dispute resolution procedures.

Section 8: Limited approaches to redesign of TIAs

A limited approach to redesigning TIAs could be adopted in the short term, instead of the proposed comprehensive framework. This limited approach could consist of integrated objectives, strategies to achieve them, and improved processes and capacity building. Individual features that could be implemented on their own might include:

Improvements to dispute resolution – eg, abolition of or modification to ISDS

Reductions in investor protections (eg, those relevant to ‘legitimate expectations’) and rolling back recent increases in investor intellectual property protections

Some deference to other instruments of international law

Greater technical capacity and skill building for health sector involvement in TIAs

A broadened scope for ‘exceptions’ or ‘carve outs’ could ensure less dependence on the present strict ‘necessity’ tests. Revised phrasing for exceptions could recognise that distinctions (such as the use of sustainable production methods) are legitimate for environmental protection.

This more limited approach, based on the adoption of one of more such elements, might address some issues posed by TIAs, but would not succeed in creating the fundamental framework change that we consider is needed.

Current TIAs have multiple adverse implications for health and the common good. Rethinking current frameworks of international law governing trade and economic development is possible, and is necessary to attain public health objectives and help give effect to the SDGs. We have put forward ideas for a comprehensive approach to the redesign of international trade law, consisting of integrated objectives, strategies to achieve them, and improved processes and capacity building. Such redesign would be facilitated by significant changes to global governance; and would address specific issues posed by corporate structures and practices. The redesign of TIAs, and improvements in general international and corporate contexts, should also be mirrored and given effect in national law.

Some of these ideas would be susceptible to a ‘mix and match’ or incremental approach. Nevertheless, we strongly favour a re-envisioning of basic frameworks, as implemented by the comprehensive approach outlined.

We conclude that ‘model’ treaties are needed to demonstrate how new TIA law could look in practice, as well as ideas on how new law might be realised. Research is needed to develop details of the range of models and the institutional underpinnings to ensure their efficacy.

International law that is health promoting, sustainable, and supportive of the SDGs, will require advocacy for real change. Change will require informed debate, determined engagement with decision-makers and other stakeholders, some agreement on alternatives, and the development of alliances between health communities and other groups interested in the common good [ 98 , 99 , 100 ].

Abbreviations

Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement

Fair and equitable treatment

Free trade agreement

Health Impact Assessments

Investor-state dispute settlement

Sustainable Development Goals

Trade and investment agreement

United Nations

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

World Health Organization

World Trade Organization

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Many of the ideas in this article came from the work of, and conversations with, a range of experts around the world. We are indebted to them for giving generously of their time and wisdom.

Partial funding was received from a University of Otago Research Grant. The funder was not involved in the design of the study; the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; or in writing the manuscript.

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Delany, L., Signal, L. & Thomson, G. International trade and investment law: a new framework for public health and the common good. BMC Public Health 18 , 602 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5486-6

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International Law Research Paper Topics

This page presents a comprehensive collection of international law research paper topics , curated to aid students studying law in their research endeavors. International law is a multifaceted field with diverse areas of study, and this page aims to provide students with an extensive list of topics that can serve as a foundation for their research papers. By exploring these topics, students can delve into various aspects of international law, such as human rights, criminal law, environmental law, trade law, and humanitarian law, among others. This page also offers insights into how to choose compelling international law research paper topics, tips on writing a coherent and impactful paper, and highlights the custom international law research paper writing services provided by iResearchNet. The ultimate goal is to empower students to embark on an enriching and successful academic journey in the realm of international law research.

100 International Law Research Paper Topics

International law encompasses a vast array of subjects, reflecting the intricate and interconnected nature of global affairs. As students of law, exploring these topics can open new horizons and deepen their understanding of how international legal frameworks shape our world. This comprehensive list presents 10 categories, each comprising 10 diverse and thought-provoking international law research paper topics. Whether you are interested in human rights, environmental protection, trade regulations, or armed conflicts, these topics offer a wealth of opportunities for academic exploration and intellectual growth.

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• The Universality of Human Rights: A Global Perspective
• Human Rights and Armed Conflicts: Challenges and Protections
• Gender Equality and Women’s Rights in International Law
• The Role of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Promoting Human Rights
• Freedom of Speech and Expression in the Digital Age
• Human Rights Violations and the Responsibility to Protect (R2P)
• Children’s Rights and Child Protection Laws Internationally
• The Right to Asylum: Refugee Protection and International Law
• Combating Human Trafficking: International Legal Frameworks
• Indigenous Peoples’ Rights and Cultural Heritage Preservation
• Climate Change and Global Efforts for Environmental Protection
• Biodiversity Conservation and the Convention on Biological Diversity
• Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Environmental Justice
• Transboundary Pollution and International Liability
• The Role of International Courts and Tribunals in Environmental Disputes
• The Precautionary Principle in International Environmental Law
• Oceans Governance and the Protection of Marine Resources
• International Agreements on Wildlife Conservation and Endangered Species
• Indigenous Peoples and Environmental Rights: Perspectives and Challenges
• The Economics of Environmental Protection: Balancing Trade and Conservation
• World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Multilateral Trading System
• Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Regional Economic Integration
• Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) Mechanisms in Trade Agreements
• Intellectual Property Rights and International Trade
• Trade and Labor Standards: Addressing Social Issues in Global Commerce
• Environmental Protection in International Trade: Conflicts and Synergies
• Trade Remedies: Anti-dumping, Countervailing, and Safeguard Measures
• Trade Liberalization and Economic Development: Case Studies
• Cross-Border E-Commerce and Digital Trade Regulations
• Challenges of Trade in Services: Legal and Regulatory Perspectives
• The International Criminal Court (ICC) and Its Role in Ending Impunity
• Prosecuting War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity: Legal Challenges
• Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Prosecute
• The Evolution of International Criminal Law: From Nuremberg to the ICC
• The Principle of Universal Jurisdiction: Holding Perpetrators Accountable
• Truth and Reconciliation Commissions in Post-Conflict Societies
• The Role of the United Nations in Combating International Crimes
• War Criminals and Refugees: The Intersection of Criminal and Migration Law
• Cyberwarfare and the Application of International Criminal Law
• Combating Terrorism: Legal Approaches and Human Rights Concerns
• The Geneva Conventions and the Protection of War Victims
• Targeted Killings and Drones: The Legal Challenges of Modern Warfare
• The Principle of Proportionality in Armed Conflicts
• War Crimes and Accountability in Non-International Armed Conflicts
• The Protection of Cultural Property in Armed Conflicts
• Autonomous Weapons and the Ethics of Lethal Autonomous Systems (LAS)
• The Role of National Courts in Prosecuting War Crimes
• The Humanitarian Impact of Economic Sanctions and Trade Embargoes
• Children in Armed Conflicts: From Recruitment to Rehabilitation
• Humanitarian Assistance and the Challenges of Providing Aid in Conflict Zones
• Comparative Constitutional Law: Analyzing Different Legal Systems and Their Impact on Global Governance
• The Role of International Law in Shaping Domestic Constitutions
• Constitutional Design and State Building in Post-Conflict Societies
• Human Rights and Constitutional Protections: Assessing the Impact of International Treaties
• Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law: Ensuring Effective Governance in International Relations
• Judicial Independence and the Enforcement of Constitutional Rights in International Contexts
• The Impact of International Institutions on National Constitutions
• The Right to Privacy in the Digital Age: Balancing National Security and Civil Liberties
• Federalism and the Division of Powers in Constitutional Design
• The Role of Constitutional Courts in Protecting Democratic Principles
• Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions: Legal and Regulatory Challenges
• International Commercial Arbitration: Enforcement and Recognition of Awards
• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Multinational Corporations
• Foreign Investment Protection and Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs)
• International Contract Law and Choice of Law Clauses
• Dispute Resolution in International Trade: Litigation vs. Arbitration
• Intellectual Property Rights and International Business Transactions
• International Trade Law and the World Trade Organization (WTO)
• Corporate Governance and Compliance in International Business
• Environmental and Social Responsibility in International Business
• Double Taxation Treaties: Legal Implications and Challenges
• Transfer Pricing and Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS)
• Tax Havens and Their Impact on Global Taxation
• Taxation of Digital Economy and E-commerce Transactions
• Taxation of Multinational Corporations: Fairness and Equity Concerns
• Tax Avoidance vs. Tax Evasion: Legal Distinctions and Consequences
• Taxation of Foreign Source Income and Territorial vs. Worldwide Tax Systems
• Developing Countries and International Taxation: Bridging the Gap
• The Role of International Organizations in Shaping Global Tax Policies
• Addressing Tax Challenges Arising from the COVID-19 Pandemic
• The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and Its Implementation
• Maritime Boundaries and Dispute Resolution in the South China Sea
• Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) and Marine Resource Management
• Freedom of Navigation and Maritime Security in the Indian Ocean
• Environmental Protection in the High Seas: Addressing Pollution and Overfishing
• Piracy and Armed Robbery at Sea: Legal Responses and Jurisdictional Challenges
• Submarine Cables and Cybersecurity in International Waters
• The Role of International Tribunals in Resolving Maritime Disputes
• Deep Sea Mining and the Regulation of Exploitation of Marine Resources
• Indigenous Rights and Traditional Knowledge in Marine Conservation
• Diplomatic Negotiations and Conflict Resolution in International Relations
• The Role of Mediation in Resolving International Disputes
• International Arbitration: Institutional Frameworks and Best Practices
• The Use of Force and Armed Conflict: Legal Perspectives on Peacekeeping
• Compliance with International Court Judgments and Decisions
• The Settlement of Territorial Disputes: Case Studies and Legal Approaches
• The Role of Non-State Actors in International Conflict Resolution
• The Legality of Targeted Sanctions and Economic Coercion
• The Use of International Courts and Tribunals in Human Rights Disputes
• The Role of Regional Organizations in Conflict Mediation and Resolution

In conclusion, the field of international law offers a vast array of research topics that delve into critical global issues, ranging from human rights and environmental protection to trade and business regulations. Scholars and students of law can explore the complexities of international relations, the challenges of cross-border disputes, and the ever-evolving legal frameworks that shape the international community. The comprehensive list of international law research paper topics provided above serves as a starting point for students to delve deeper into their areas of interest and contribute to the understanding and development of international law. Through diligent research and critical analysis, they can further advance the principles of justice, equality, and cooperation on the global stage.

Exploring the Range of International Law Research Paper Topics

International law is a complex and dynamic field that governs the interactions between nations and other actors in the global community. As a crucial component of the global legal system, international law encompasses a diverse range of topics that have significant implications for peace, security, human rights, trade, and cooperation among nations. Researching international law research paper topics offers students a unique opportunity to delve into the intricacies of international relations, diplomatic relations, and the role of international organizations in promoting peace and stability.

• The Sources of International Law : This topic explores the various sources of international law, including treaties, customary international law, general principles of law, and decisions of international courts and tribunals. Students can investigate the hierarchy of these sources and their application in resolving disputes between states.
• International Human Rights Law : This area of international law deals with the protection and promotion of human rights on a global scale. Research topics may cover issues like the role of international human rights organizations, the enforcement of human rights treaties, and the impact of human rights violations on international relations.
• International Humanitarian Law : Also known as the law of armed conflict or the law of war, this branch of international law governs the conduct of parties during armed conflicts. Students can explore topics such as the protection of civilians in armed conflicts, the use of force in self-defense, and the prosecution of war crimes.
• International Environmental Law : With growing concerns about climate change and environmental degradation, international environmental law has become increasingly relevant. Research topics may include international agreements on climate change, biodiversity conservation, and the responsibility of states for transboundary environmental harm.
• International Criminal Law : This field focuses on the prosecution of individuals for international crimes, such as genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. Students can investigate the role of international criminal tribunals, the challenges of obtaining evidence in international cases, and the pursuit of justice for victims of international crimes.
• International Trade Law : International trade is essential for global economic development and cooperation. Research topics in this area may cover international trade agreements, dispute settlement mechanisms in trade disputes, and the impact of trade policies on developing nations.
• Law of the Sea : This branch of international law governs the use and protection of the world’s oceans and resources. Students can explore topics such as the rights and responsibilities of states in their maritime zones, the protection of marine biodiversity, and the resolution of disputes over territorial waters.
• International Investment Law : As globalization continues to shape economic relationships, international investment law has gained prominence. Research topics may include the regulation of foreign direct investment, investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms, and the balance between investor rights and host state regulatory powers.
• International Arbitration and Mediation : International dispute resolution is essential for maintaining peaceful relations among states. Students can explore topics such as the effectiveness of international arbitration and mediation in resolving conflicts, the role of international organizations in facilitating dispute resolution, and the enforcement of arbitral awards.
• Cybersecurity and International Law : With the rise of cyber threats and cyber warfare, international law has grappled with issues of cyber sovereignty, cyber espionage, and the application of existing legal principles to cyberspace. Research topics may delve into the challenges of attributing cyber-attacks, the development of international norms for responsible state behavior in cyberspace, and the protection of human rights in the digital age.

In conclusion, international law offers a vast array of research paper topics that reflect the complexities and challenges of the global legal landscape. As students delve into these topics, they gain a deeper understanding of the intricacies of international relations, human rights, trade, and conflict resolution. Exploring the multifaceted nature of international law research allows students to critically analyze the role of law in shaping the conduct of states and the broader international community, fostering a deeper appreciation for the significance of international law in today’s interconnected world.

How to Choose International Law Research Paper Topics

Selecting a compelling and relevant research paper topic is essential to the success of any academic endeavor. In the context of international law, choosing the right research topic requires careful consideration of various factors that can shape the scope and impact of the research. Whether you are a law student, an aspiring international lawyer, or a researcher interested in global legal issues, the following guide provides valuable insights on how to choose international law research paper topics that are engaging, insightful, and contribute meaningfully to the field of international law.

• Identify Your Area of Interest : International law is a vast and diverse field encompassing numerous sub-disciplines, including human rights law, environmental law, international trade law, and more. Start by identifying your specific area of interest within international law. Reflect on the subjects that intrigue you the most and the issues you are passionate about. This will serve as the foundation for selecting a research topic that resonates with your academic and professional aspirations.
• Stay Abreast of Current Developments : International law is constantly evolving to address contemporary global challenges and opportunities. Keeping up to date with current international legal developments, landmark cases, and significant treaties and agreements can provide valuable inspiration for research topics. Consider exploring emerging issues and debates in the field, as these can offer unique opportunities for original research and innovative insights.
• Analyze Relevant Legal Frameworks : International law operates within a complex web of legal frameworks, including treaties, conventions, and customary international law. Analyzing these legal sources can help you identify gaps, contradictions, or areas where further research is needed. Topics that delve into the interpretation and application of international legal instruments can add depth and value to your research.
• Consider Timeliness and Relevance : A relevant and timely research topic is more likely to capture the attention of readers and contribute to ongoing discussions in the field. Consider the significance of your chosen topic in the context of current global events, policy debates, or emerging challenges. Topics that address pressing international issues, such as climate change, human rights violations, or cybersecurity threats, can have a significant impact on both academic and policy circles.
• Review Existing Literature : Conduct a thorough literature review to understand the existing body of research on your chosen topic. This will help you identify gaps in the literature that you can explore in your research. Additionally, reviewing existing studies can provide insights into the methodologies and approaches used by other researchers, informing your own research design.
• Balance Complexity and Feasibility : While it is essential to select a topic that reflects the complexities of international law, it is equally important to ensure that your research is feasible within the scope and limitations of your academic assignment or project. Avoid overly broad or ambitious topics that may be challenging to address comprehensively within the available time and resources.
• Consult with Professors and Experts : Seek guidance and advice from your professors, academic advisors, or experts in the field of international law. They can provide valuable insights into potential research topics, relevant literature, and methodologies. Engaging in discussions with experienced scholars can help refine your research question and add depth to your analysis.
• Focus on Practical Implications : Consider the practical implications of your research topic in the real world. How might your findings impact international relations, legal practices, or policymaking? Research that offers practical solutions to global challenges or sheds light on pressing legal issues can have a more significant impact on the field of international law.
• Address Controversial Issues : International law often involves contentious and complex topics that evoke strong opinions and debates. Embracing controversial issues can lead to thought-provoking research that challenges existing norms and perceptions. However, ensure that you approach such topics with sensitivity and a commitment to unbiased analysis.
• Conduct a Preliminary Study : Before finalizing your research topic, conduct a preliminary study to gather relevant information and assess the availability of data and resources. This will help you determine whether your chosen topic is viable and whether you can access the necessary materials to conduct a comprehensive study.

In conclusion, choosing the right international law research paper topic is a critical step in producing a successful and impactful piece of academic work. By identifying your area of interest, staying informed about current developments, analyzing legal frameworks, and considering the timeliness and relevance of your topic, you can select a research question that is both intellectually stimulating and practically significant. Engage with existing literature, seek guidance from experts, and balance the complexity and feasibility of your research to ensure a rewarding and insightful exploration of international law issues.

How to Write an International Law Research Paper

Writing an international law research paper requires careful planning, rigorous research, and a structured approach to presenting your arguments and findings. Whether you are a law student or a seasoned researcher, mastering the art of academic writing in the field of international law is essential to communicate your ideas effectively and contribute to the broader legal discourse. This section provides a comprehensive guide on how to write an international law research paper, from choosing a suitable research question to crafting a well-organized and persuasive paper.

• Define Your Research Question : The first step in writing an international law research paper is to define a clear and focused research question. Your research question should be specific, relevant, and aligned with your area of interest within international law. It should address a significant legal issue or gap in the literature and demonstrate your research objectives.
• Conduct a Thorough Literature Review : Before diving into your research, conduct a comprehensive literature review to understand the existing scholarship on your chosen topic. This will help you identify key debates, theoretical frameworks, and gaps in the literature that your research can address. A strong literature review serves as the foundation for your research paper and provides context for your study.
• Develop a Well-Structured Outline : Organize your research paper with a clear and logical structure. Create an outline that includes an introduction, literature review, methodology, main body sections, analysis of findings, and conclusion. Each section should flow seamlessly into the next, guiding the reader through your research process.
• Craft a Compelling Introduction : The introduction sets the tone for your research paper and should capture the reader’s attention. Start with a hook or a thought-provoking question related to your research topic. Provide background information on the issue at hand and clearly state your research question and objectives. Conclude the introduction with a strong thesis statement that outlines the main argument of your paper.
• Conduct Rigorous Research : International law research papers require a robust research methodology. Depending on your research question, you may use various methods, such as legal analysis, case studies, empirical research, or comparative analysis. Ensure that you use credible and authoritative sources for your research and cite them properly using the appropriate citation style (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago).
• Analyze and Present Your Findings : In the main body of your research paper, present your findings and analyze them in-depth. Use a clear and coherent structure to present your arguments and evidence. Use relevant case law, treaties, and legal principles to support your analysis and draw well-reasoned conclusions.
• Address Counterarguments : Acknowledge and address counterarguments to your research findings. Demonstrating that you have considered opposing viewpoints and providing a thoughtful rebuttal strengthens the credibility and persuasiveness of your research.
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Hallucinating Law: Legal Mistakes with Large Language Models are Pervasive

A new study finds disturbing and pervasive errors among three popular models on a wide range of legal tasks.

Pitiphothivichit/iStock

In May of last year, a Manhattan lawyer became famous for all the wrong reasons. He submitted a legal brief generated largely by ChatGPT. And the judge did not take kindly to the submission. Describing “an unprecedented circumstance,” the judge noted that the brief was littered with “bogus judicial decisions . . . bogus quotes and bogus internal citations.” The story of the “ChatGPT lawyer” went viral as a  New York Times story, sparking none other than  Chief Justice John Roberts to lament the role of “hallucinations” of large language models (LLMs) in his annual report on the federal judiciary. 

Yet how prevalent are such legal hallucinations, really? 

The Legal Transformation  

The legal industry is on the cusp of a major transformation, driven by the emergence of LLMs like ChatGPT, PaLM, Claude, and Llama. These advanced models, equipped with billions of parameters, have the ability not only to process but also to generate extensive, authoritative text on a wide range of topics. Their influence is becoming more evident across various aspects of daily life, including their growing use in legal practices. 

A dizzying number of legal technology startups and law firms are now advertising and leveraging LLM-based tools for a variety of tasks, such as sifting through discovery documents to find relevant evidence, crafting detailed legal memoranda and case briefs, and formulating complex litigation strategies. LLM developers proudly claim that their models can pass the bar exam. But a core problem remains: hallucinations, or the tendency of LLMs to produce content that deviates from actual legal facts or well-established legal principles and precedents. 

Until now, the evidence was largely anecdotal as to the extent of legal hallucinations. Yet the legal system also provides a unique window to systematically study the extent and nature of such hallucinations. 

In a  new preprint study by Stanford RegLab and Institute for Human-Centered AI researchers, we demonstrate that legal hallucinations are pervasive and disturbing: hallucination rates range from 69% to 88% in response to specific legal queries for state-of-the-art language models. Moreover, these models often lack self-awareness about their errors and tend to reinforce incorrect legal assumptions and beliefs. These findings raise significant concerns about the reliability of LLMs in legal contexts, underscoring the importance of careful, supervised integration of these AI technologies into legal practice.

The Correlates of Hallucination

Hallucination rates are alarmingly high for a wide range of verifiable legal facts. Yet the unique structure of the U.S. legal system – with its clear delineations of hierarchy and authority – allowed us to also understand how hallucination rates vary along key dimensions. We designed our study by constructing a number of different tasks, ranging from asking models simple things like the author of an opinion to more complex requests like whether two cases are in tension with one another, a key element of legal reasoning. We tested more than 200,000 queries against each of GPT 3.5, Llama 2, and PaLM 2, stratifying along key dimensions. 

First, we found that performance deteriorates when dealing with more complex tasks that require a nuanced understanding of legal issues or interpretation of legal texts. For instance, in a task measuring the precedential relationship between two different cases, most LLMs do no better than random guessing. And in answering queries about a court’s core ruling (or holding), models hallucinate at least 75% of the time. These findings suggest that LLMs are not yet able to perform the kind of legal reasoning that attorneys perform when they assess the precedential relationship between cases—a core objective of legal research.

Second, case law from lower courts, like district courts, is subject to more frequent hallucinations than case law from higher courts like the Supreme Court. This suggests that LLMs may struggle with localized legal knowledge that is often crucial in lower court cases, and calls into doubt claims that LLMs will reduce longstanding access to justice barriers in the United States. 

Third, LLMs show a tendency to perform better with more prominent cases, particularly those in the Supreme Court. Similarly, performance is best in the influential Second and Ninth Circuits, but worst in circuit courts located in the geographic center of the country. These performance differences could be due to certain cases being more frequently cited and discussed, thus being better represented in the training data of these models. 

Fourth, hallucinations are most common among the Supreme Court’s oldest and newest cases, and least common among later 20th century cases. This suggests that LLMs’ peak performance may lag several years behind current legal doctrine, and that LLMs may fail to internalize case law that is very old but still applicable and relevant law. 

Last, different models exhibit varying degrees of accuracy and biases. For example, GPT 3.5 generally outperforms others but shows certain inclinations, like favoring well-known justices or specific types of cases. When asked who authored an opinion, for instance, GPT 3.5 tends to think Justice Joseph Story wrote far more opinions than he actually did. 

Contrafactual Bias

Another critical danger that we unearth is model susceptibility to what we call “contra-factual bias,” namely the tendency to assume that a factual premise in a query is true, even if it is flatly wrong. For instance, if one queried, “Why did Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissent in  Obergefell ?” (the case that affirmed a right to same-sex marriage), a model might fail to second-guess whether Justice Ginsburg in fact dissented. 

This phenomenon is particularly pronounced in language models like GPT 3.5, which often provide credible responses to queries based on false premises, likely due to its instruction-following training. This tendency escalates in complex legal scenarios or when dealing with lower court cases. Llama 2, on the other hand, frequently rejects false premises, but sometimes mistakenly denies the existence of actual cases or justices.

Relatedly, we also show that models are imperfectly calibrated for legal questions. Model calibration captures whether model confidence is correlated with the correctness of answers. We find some divergence across models: PaLM 2 and ChatGPT (GPT 3.5) show better calibration than Llama 2. Yet, a common thread across all models is a tendency towards overconfidence, irrespective of their actual accuracy. This overconfidence is particularly evident in complex tasks and those pertaining to lower courts, where models often overstate their certainty, especially in well-known or high-profile legal areas.

Implications for the Law  

The implications of these findings are serious. Today, there is much excitement that LLMs will democratize access to justice by providing an easy and low-cost way for members of the public to obtain legal advice. But our findings suggest that the current limitations of LLMs pose a risk of further  deepening existing legal inequalities, rather than alleviating them.

Ideally, LLMs would excel at providing localized legal information, effectively correct users on misguided queries, and qualify their responses with appropriate levels of confidence. However, we find that these capabilities are conspicuously lacking in current models. Thus, the risks of using LLMs for legal research are especially high for:

• Litigants in lower courts or in less prominent jurisdictions,
• Individuals seeking detailed or complex legal information,
• Users formulating questions based on incorrect premises, and 
• Those uncertain about the reliability of LLM responses.

In essence, the users who would benefit the most from legal LLM are precisely those who the LLMs are least well-equipped to serve.

There is also a looming risk of LLMs contributing to legal “ monoculture .” Because LLMs tend to limit users to a narrow judicial perspective, they potentially overlook broader nuances and diversity of legal interpretations. This is substantively alarming, but there is also a version of representational harm: LLMs may systematically erase the contributions of one member of the legal community, such as Justice Ginsburg, by misattributing them to another, such as Justice Story. 

Moving Forward with Caution

Much active technical work is ongoing to address hallucinations in LLMs. Yet addressing  legal hallucinations is not merely a technical problem. We suggest that LLMs face fundamental trade-offs in balancing fidelity to training data, accuracy in responding to user prompts, and adherence to real-world legal facts. Thus, minimizing hallucinations ultimately requires normative judgments about which type of behavior is most important, and transparency in these balancing decisions is critical.

While LLMs hold significant potential for legal practice, the limitations we document in our work warrant significant caution. Responsible integration of AI in legal practice will require more iteration, supervision, and human understanding of AI capabilities and limitations. 

In that respect, our findings underscore the centrality of human-centered AI. Responsible AI integration must augment lawyers, clients, and judges and not, as Chief Justice Roberts put it, risk “dehumanizing the law.” 

Matthew Dahl is a J.D./Ph.D. student at Yale University and graduate student affiliate of Stanford RegLab. 

Varun Magesh is a research fellow at Stanford RegLab. 

Mirac Suzgun is a J.D/Ph.D. student in computer science at Stanford University and a graduate student fellow at Stanford RegLab. 

Daniel E. Ho is the William Benjamin Scott and Luna M. Scott Professor of Law, Professor of Political Science, Professor of Computer Science (by courtesy), Senior Fellow at HAI, Senior Fellow at SIEPR, and Director of the RegLab at Stanford University. 

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International Trade Law and the Environment

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW FOR SUSTAINABILITY, Benjamin Richardson and Stephan Wood, eds., Hart, 2006

Bar Ilan University Public Law Working Paper

34 Pages Posted: 20 Feb 2011

Bar-Ilan University - Faculty of Law

Date Written: 2006

The global society has experienced an extensive process of economic integration over the last decade. This process was reflected both in an unprecedented increase in cross-border economic and financial transactions, and in a parallel empowerment of global economic institutions, such as the World Trade Organisation (‘WTO’), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). The possible adverse effects of this far-reaching process of economic integration - in the environmental and other domains - have been the subject of wide-ranging and highly intense public debate, evident both in street protests in major economic and in the popular media and scholarly journals. This paper carefully assesses this conflict, decoding the social frictions underlying it, and exploring the impact of trade and its regulation on the prospects for sustainable development. It explores these themes in one critical institutional domain: the WTO. The paper is organised as follows. Section B provides a brief introduction to the multiple legal systems and transnational institutions that together constitute the field of ‘international trade law’ - itself part of the broader realm of international economic law. The process of global economic integration is driven and facilitated by this complex legal network; the tendency of some of the observers of this process to associate it solely with the WTO is, I will argue, wrong. Section C explores the various frictions which together constitute the ‘trade and environment’ conflict. It will also discuss the place of the concept of sustainable development within this debate. Section D starts with a general question: what role can the law play in resolving this conflict? It focuses on the potential synergies between the trade and environment realms, and on the possible role of law in enabling their actual realisation. The section explains this idea, setting it against the various frictions discussed in the previous section. The next four sections focus on a concrete institution - the WTO. They analyse the legal manifestations of this conflict within the boundaries of the WTO, exploring how the frictions and synergies between the trade and environment realms are reflected in the law of the WTO (highlighting the role of the idea of sustainable development in the WTO jurisprudence). Sections F and G draw some general conclusions and make some tentative proposals for reform. The paper concludes with a brief analysis of the Doha negotiations framework on the ‘trade and environment’ question.

Keywords: Trade and environment, WTO, GATT, sustainable development

JEL Classification: K32, K33

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Oren Perez (Contact Author)

Bar-ilan university - faculty of law ( email ).

Faculty of Law Ramat Gan, 52900 Israel +972-3-5317798 (Phone) +972-3-5351856 (Fax)

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