Since the very formative age of jurisprudence, jurists are relentlessly analyzing the nature of rules. The job is still fresh and enduring. The problem of identifying the nature of rules is so preoccupying that it often involves in explicating the way in which rules are understood, and treated....

The Hong Kong Ministerial Conference took place on the backdrop and hangover from the failures of some of the previous ministerial Conferences, especially of the Cancun Ministerial in 2003 to conclude the Doha Development Agenda (DDA). After failure of the third Ministerial Conference of the WTO...

This paper analyzes the process, methodology, and underlying trends of the Doha Round Negotiations under the World Trade Organization. It argues that the Doha Round is producing derogation, constructed advantage, and asymmetry caused by the underlying erroneous trends and methodology. It claims...

The question anybody could ask but rarely asked is – could positivism be applied in making laws? This question is fundamental because most of the positivist jurists have either left investigating this issue or have made only an impressionistic investigation. As a result, positivism mainly...

Almost a decade has been invested negotiating the Doha Round. No substantial outcomes are produced yet. With widespread hopes, efforts are intensified to make it a successful round. At the same time, pervasive interests of the powerful countries and lobbying groups have come in the way of its...

In the past, foreign investment was largely regulated by domestic laws and policies. In general, the only international rules that applied to some aspects of foreign investment were rules of customary international law, and their application was purely exceptional. With the adoption of bilateral...

The existing practice of accession to the World Trade Organization by the least-developed countries (LDCs) is frequently criticized for being overly onerous. Critics and academics have explained the onerous nature of the accession process in several ways. This article draws attention to the gaps...

This article analyzes making rules in the WTO in special reference to Article 6 of the TRIPS Agreement. The Uruguay Round negotiations were mainly occupied with two competing concepts on parallel imports: prohibiting or permitting parallel imports. The Contracting Parties were extremely adamant...

The flawed Doha Round is mired in two fundamental problems. First, it has fallen victim to key players' reluctance to liberalise trade further. Second, the methodology that has been applied is faulty, legitimising the widespread departure from the original purpose and legal framework of the WTO....