This module is designed to offer a critical
overview of what can be described as the legal and regulatory
foundations of the contemporary global economy. The module will
introduce and examine aspects of international economic law within its
longer imperial history and its contemporary evolving context of
economic, political, social and cultural globalization. It will provide
an overview of the legal and other regulatory foundations of the global
economy and critically consider the operations of the main global
institutions and frameworks governing international economic relations.
The course will also consider the role of international economic actors,
both state and non-state, in shaping and influencing these regulatory
frameworks.
This is a course on the law and policy of international trade. The course will build on the short introduction to the WTO in the IEL core module and explore the treaty-based WTO international economic law system, its principal agreements and institutions, its core doctrines, and the current proposals for reform.
The WTO is regarded as one of the most successful international organisations governing activities between states because it has a highly effective dispute settlement system. The course will explore whether the WTO remains relevant in an increasingly globalised world where economic disputes typically cover national, transnational and international law as well as a multiplicity of economic actors, like states and multinational corporations. It will evaluate the effectiveness of the WTO rules against the background of the rise of the mega-regional agreements- the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA). It will consider how demands for trade justice affect how we interpret the WTO rules and what reforms of WTO rules may be necessary to achieve that goal.
This module provides an overview of the main contemporary issues in international development law and human rights. It provides an introduction to topics that all students are expected to have an understanding of and thus provides the background for all modules and the dissertation. Students who read and understand the module materials are more likely to achieve higher grades. Group work is an important part of the module as experience shows that participatory study is a successful pedagogical method.
Module Aims
- To provide students with knowledge and understanding of and the inter-relationships between the main legal theories relating to international development, gender, governance, globalization and human rights
- To provide students with a range of practical legal and academic skills used by lawyers and development practitioners.
- To facilitate the development of an understanding of the relationship between theory and practice.
- To develop a critical ability to read theoretical materials, distil and synthesize such materials, and incorporate insights into written legal and academic documents.
- To develop oral and advocacy skills appropriate to legal and developmental practice.
Central to the approach of the course will be a perspective which views law as contested, both as a matter of ‘theory’ and as a matter of social struggle, as world-orders are imagined and effected. During the course, you will be familiarised with different and differing theories of ‘global law’ and be enabled to critically evaluate them by reference to examined realities of the life-worlds of law.
You will be encouraged to adopt socially grounded analytical perspectives and to present analyses of global law through examinations of specific regimes of governance. The course, therefore, seeks to enable you to acquire analytical and advocacy skills necessary to engage with law in a globalising world, informed by a concern for social justice and human development.