Moodle@Warwick

Welcome

This course offers an advanced introduction to international trade law, with particular emphasis on the legal framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO). With 166 Members, the rules of the WTO govern around 98 per cent of global trade. Yet the rules-based multilateral trading system has come under increasing strain in recent years, marked by tariff wars, rising protectionism, and a deepening institutional crisis.

Against this backdrop, the course examines the laws, principles, and jurisprudence of the WTO, situating them within contemporary geopolitical and economic developments. It also critically engages with the enduring tensions between trade liberalisation and the need to preserve domestic regulatory space for legitimate public policy objectives, including public health, environmental protection, and national security.

We will explore the origins and evolution of the WTO, its institutional structure, and the core agreements governing trade in goods, dispute settlement, intellectual property rights, trade remedies, health-related measures, and technical standards. Through close textual analysis of key provisions of the WTO Covered Agreements, complemented by critical engagement with jurisprudence from the WTO Dispute Settlement Body and in-class exercises based on hypothetical dispute scenarios, the course will equip students with a foundational understanding of the core principles of international trade law.

The course also addresses the contemporary challenges facing the multilateral trading system, including trade wars, the resurgence of protectionism, emerging trade issues, and ongoing institutional reform debates. By integrating doctrinal analysis with case law, policy discussions, and real-world controversies, the course is intended to provide students with the analytical tools needed to critically assess the role of international trade law in global governance.

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