WTO Law and Dispute Settlement

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2015:

The pre-teaching period commences four weeks before the subject commencement date. From this time, students are expected to access and review the Reading Guide that will be available from the LMS subject page and the subject materials provided by the subject coordinator, which will be available from Melbourne Law School. Refer to the Reading Guide for confirmation of which resources need to be read and what other preparation is required before the teaching period commences.

Applicants without legal qualifications should note that subjects are offered in the discipline of law at an advanced graduate level. While every effort will be made to meet the needs of students trained in other fields, concessions will not be made in the general level of instruction or assessment. Most subjects assume the knowledge usually acquired in a degree in law (LLB, JD or equivalent). Applicants should note that admission to some subjects in the Melbourne Law Masters will be dependent upon the individual applicant’s educational background and professional experience.

Students who have completed Principles of WTO Law or WTO Dispute Settlement may not undertake this subject.

The Melbourne Law Masters welcomes applications from students with disabilities. The inherent academic requirements for study in the Melbourne Law Masters are:

• The ability to attend a minimum of 75% of classes and actively engage in the analysis and critique of complex materials and debate;
• The ability to read, analyse and comprehend complex written legal materials and complex interdisciplinary materials;
• The ability to clearly and independently communicate in writing a knowledge and application of legal principles and interdisciplinary materials and to critically evaluate these;
• The ability to clearly and independently communicate orally a knowledge and application of legal principles and interdisciplinary materials and critically evaluate these;
• The ability to work independently and as a part of a group;
• The ability to present orally and in writing legal analysis to a professional standard.

Students who feel their disability will inhibit them from meeting these inherent academic requirements are encouraged to contact the Disability Liaison Unit: www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is at the centre of ongoing debates concerning both fragmentation of public international law and persistent inequities between developed and developing countries. It also provides one of the most active systems in the world for resolving international disputes, with jurisdiction over some of the largest and most significant matters arising today. This subject offers a sophisticated understanding of the WTO and its dispute settlement system, including a detailed analysis of the fundamental principles and jurisprudence of WTO law. The lecturer is a leading scholar in public international law in general and WTO law in particular.

Principal topics include:

• History and objectives of the GATT/WTO
• Dispute settlement in international trade
• Core disciplines under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994):
  • Tariff bindings
  • Non-discrimination (most-favoured nation (MFN) and national treatment)
  • Prohibition on quantitative restrictions
• Exceptions to WTO commitments, eg environment, health, public morals, culture, free trade agreements, and special and differential treatment for developing countries
• The regulation of trade in services under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GTAS)
• Current challenges facing the WTO and the Doha Development Round of negotiations.

A student who has successfully completed this subject will:

• Have an advance and integrated understanding of the history and economic foundations of the WTO and its predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1947 (GATT 1947).
• Understand and be capable of critically examining the legal framework of the WTO, including the relationship between the various agreements, the relationship between the WTO agreements and national laws, and the dispute settlement process, with an emphasis on their effectiveness.
• Be an engaged participant and interlocutor regarding the tensions that may arise between WTO objectives and other objectives in national or international law, and how these tensions may be resolved.
• Be able to interpret and apply, at an advanced level, certain key WTO agreements, including advocating a particular position in a given hypothetical, potential or past case.
• Be familiar, in detail, with some of the major WTO dispute settlement decisions regarding these WTO agreements, and be able to assess these decisions critically
• Be familiar with current issues and negotiations in the WTO.
• Have the cognitive and technical skills to generate creative and critical ideas relating to international trade regulation, in the WTO and in other fora, in both negotiation and dispute settlement settings.

• Take-home examination (100%) (27-30 March)
  or
• 10,000 word research paper (100%) (6 May) on a topic approved by the subject coordinator

Core subject materials will be provided free of charge to all students. Some subjects require further texts to be purchased. Details regarding any prescribed texts will be provided prior to the commencement of the subject.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

This subject has a quota of 30 students. Please refer to the website www.law.unimelb.edu.au/masters/courses-and-subjects/subjects/subject-timing-and-format for further information about the management of subject quotas and waitlists.