At its November 2008 meeting, the Committee on Legal Issues and International Labour Standards of the International Labour Organization's (ILO) Governing Body recommended that the International Labour Office prepare a study on improving the interpretation and implementation of international...

This working paper elaborates on China's approach towards and use of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Dispute Settlement Mechanism (DSM). It builds on statistical data and existing opinions in the literature to demonstrate the evolution of China's behaviour as a participant in the DSM. It also...

This article explores and critically assesses the recent case law adjudicated by WTO panels and investment arbitral tribunals on cultural diversity related disputes. Adopting a socio-legal approach, this study focuses on the role that adjudicators have played in mapping the interactions between...

Investor-State dispute settlement mechanisms (ISDS) are an important component of most International Investment Agreements (IIAs) and have significant influence on how disputes between States and investors are resolved.This statistical survey of a large sample of 1,660 bilateral investment...

Modern practice of international business requires companies to structure their corporate form into one which would be advantageous and safe for the management, growth and sustainability of business. However, when corporate structuring is used to avoid obligations of the company, the latter may...

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is an instrument of environmental governance that ensures that the environmental implications of decisions are taken into account before the decisions are made. As such, environmental impact assessment constitutes the legal response to risk management needs...

What is the role of economic evidence and arguments in WTO and investor-state dispute settlement? Both regimes epitomize the search for an international rule of law and legal stability. At the same time, both trade and investment agreements are economic contracts. Economics provides insights not...

Generally speaking, each individual jurisdiction has adopted its own approach concerning the rules on the determination of the governing law applicable in proceedings in international matters. In the international practice, arbitral panels usually distinguish four relatively autonomous areas...

An international actor is responsible under international law when an act attributable to it causes a breach of an obligation by which it is bound. Sometimes third party actors can share elements of that responsibility. At the one end of the spectrum, a third party can fully share the...