Postgraduate Course: WTO Law 1 (LAWS11402)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The aim of the course is to provide students with an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the multilateral trading system. The course will cover the institutional and the substantive law of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which since its establishment in 1995 has played a central role in, among other things, promoting the two underlying principles of non-discrimination and trade liberalisation. After analysing theoretical and practical arguments for and against free trade and the role of institutions in international trade, the course will then focus on the institutional structure and decision-making process of the WTO, including its unique system of the settlement of trade disputes. Students will then explore the key legal disciplines relating to international trade in goods (GATT) and services (GATS), particularly the principle of non-discrimination and market-access rules. In addition, the course will address the central issue of technical barriers to trade. |
| Course description |
* Origins and Mandate of the WTO
* Economic Globalisation and WTO Law, Theoretical Underpinnings and Policy Debates
* Membership, Institutional Structure and Decision-making
* The WTO's Dispute Settlement System
* Trade in Goods: Market Access, Most-Favoured-Nation and National Treatment (GATT)
* General Exceptions
* Technical Barriers to Trade and Rules (TBT Agreement)
* Trade in Services
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2022/23, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
|
Quota: 30 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
176 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Summative Assessment:
* 4000 Word Essay (90%)
* Class Participation (10%)
|
| Feedback |
Students will have the opportunity to obtain formative feedback over the course of the semester. The feedback provided will assist students in their preparation for the summative assessment. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
| The ability not only to critically assess the role played by different WTO bodies and to evaluate possible institutional reforms, but also to analyse key WTO rules and related case law and to evaluate their practical implications and possible avenues for legal development.
|
Reading List
Textbooks:
* P van den Bossche, The Law and Policy of the World Trade Organization (Cambridge University Press, 4th ed. 2017)
* Matsushita/Schoenbaum/Mavroidis/Hahn, The World Trade Organization: Law, Policy, and Practice (Oxford University Press, 3rd ed. 2017)
* Guzman/Pauwelyn, International Trade Law (Wolters Kluwer, 3rd ed. 2016)
* Trebilcock/Howse/Eliason, The Regulation of International Trade (4th ed. 2012).
Journals:
* Journal of International Economic Law
* Journal of World Trade Law
* Global Trade and Customs Journal
* Journal of World Investment and Trade
* Legal Issues of Economic Integration
* World Trade Review
* American Journal of International Law
* British Yearbook of International Law
* European Journal of International Law
* Journal of International Dispute Settlement
* International and Comparative Law Quarterly |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
* Students will be able understand and engage with contemporary legal and policy debates in WTO Law, to reflect alternative approaches and analyse controversial viewpoints, to conduct independent research and to evaluate material from relevant primary and secondary sources, and to articulate, sustain and defend a line of argument, in both written and oral form.
* Students will be able to articulate, sustain and defend a line of argument, in both written and oral form. The course will also advance critical research and communication skill.
* Communication of complex legal issues to a range of audiences in oral and written form.
* Plan and execute research projects utilising practice-relevant material.
* Critical legal analysis; conceptualize legal problems and their political and societal implications; navigate the WTO website, including the dispute settlement database. |
| Keywords | World Trade Organisation,WTO,Trade Liberalisation,Non-discrimination,GATT,GATS,TBT Agreement |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Filippo Fontanelli
Tel: (0131 6)51 3781
Email: Filippo.Fontanelli@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Chloe Culross
Tel: (0131 6)50 9588
Email: Chloe.Culross@ed.ac.uk |
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