Course and Subject Handbook

This subject examines aspects of the international trade law system. We begin with a brief history of the economic and political foundations of the modern international trade system leading up to GATT/WTO, and then consider the legal relations among nations that are members of these core agreements. We will then examine modern developments in the harmonisation and unification of international trade law and the primary organisations through which this is managed: the World Trade Organisation, the United Nations and UNCITRAL, UNIDROIT, and private institutions like the International Chamber of Commerce. Our review will include both private contract terms and obligations common in international trade as well as public law and national obligations under various treaties and conventions. Lastly, we will discuss dispute resolution, both for private contracts in international trade, and for governmental obligations relating to tariffs, anti-dumping and exceptions to international trade rules.