The dispute settlement system of the World Trade Organisation has been referred to as the jewel in the crown of the WTO. Reviewing more thantwenty years of the system’s operation, this volume takes stock by providing an in-depth analysis of key issues that have emerged. The book collects and updates papers by a group of eminent experts that were presented at an international conference at the College of Europe in Bruges. The fundamental question of whether the system is in good shap...

Many international obligations are subject to exceptions. These can be expressed in several ways: an obligation may be vitiated by the presence of one of its constitutive negative requirements, an obligation may be set aside by the application of another more specific rule, or an actor might have a right to act in a certain way notwithstanding a contrary obligation. Exceptions are also of fundamental practical importance: for example, they affect the allocation of the burden of proof. This...

The stalling of the Doha Development Round trade negotiations has resulted in bilateral and regional free trade agreements becoming an important alternative. These agreements have proliferated in recent years, and now all of the major trading countries are engaging in serious bilateral trade negotiations with multiple trading partners. This second edition provides a new collection of case studies illustrating the latest trends and innovations in bilateral and regional trade agreements (BRT...

The stalling of the Doha Development Round trade negotiations has resulted in bilateral and regional free trade agreements (BRTAs) becoming an important alternative. These agreements have proliferated in recent years, and now all of the major trading countries are engaging in serious bilateral trade negotiations with multiple trading partners. This second edition provides updated and comprehensive analysis of the contents and trends of recent BRTAs. It is unique in that it situates these a...