trade

Georgia Law Professor Harlan Cohen publishes chapter on sociology of World Trade Organization precedents

Harlan Cohen, who is Gabriel M. Wilner/UGA Foundation Professor in International Law and Faculty Co-Director of the Dean Rusk International Law Center here at the University of Georgia School of Law, has contributed a chapter entitled “Culture Clash: The Sociology of WTO Precedent” to a just-published essay collection.

The chapter appears in Precedents as Rules and Practice, a volume published by C.H.Beck/Hart/Nomos. Co-editors are Dr. Amalie Frese of European University Institute, Florence, Italy, and Julius Schumann of the University of Vienna.

Here’s the SSRN abstract for Professor Cohen’s chapter:

Thanks to the United States, the WTO Appellate Body can no longer hear appeals. Having blocked all appointments to the body, the United States has left its bench empty, with no members to fulfill its role. Among the United States’ justifications: The Appellate Body’s adoption of an apparent doctrine of precedent.

This chapter takes a deeper look at the fight over precedent at the WTO, both as a case study in the emergence and operation of precedent within international law and as a microcosm of the cultural conflicts playing out within the WTO. The chapter develops an account of precedent as a product of three overlapping, inter-dependent, and mutually constructed logics: (1) the jurisprudential, (2) the rational, and (3) the sociological. It then uses these three logics to retell the story of precedent at the WTO – the emerging patterns of argumentative practice, the Appellate Body’s adoption of a doctrinal test, and the escalating U.S. opposition to the “cogent reasons” standard that body applied. Seeing the fight over precedent as a function of all three logics reveals the real cultural fights for control of the WTO community of practice. Seeing that community of practice coalesce around and split over unwritten practices of precedent reveals how international law develops as much as a function of culture, training, and practice as of rules and power.

Georgia Law Professor Cohen presents “Sociology of WTO Precedent” at Leiden “Behavioral Approaches” workshop

Harlan Cohen, the Gabriel M. Wilner/UGA Foundation Professor in International Law and Faculty Co-Director of the Dean Rusk International Law Center here at the University of Georgia School of Law, presented on “The Sociology of WTO Precedent” last month at a workshop entitled “Behavioral Approaches to International Law.”

It was sponsored online by the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies at Leiden Law School in the Netherlands, in partnership with the Institute of Law and Economics at the University of Hamburg in Germany, and iCourts at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. Organizers were Leiden Professor Daniel Peat, Copenhagen Professor Veronika Fikfak, and Hamburg Professor Eva van der Zee.

Georgia Law Prof. Cohen presents on “Future of Trade” in webinar hosted by CAROLA/Georgetown Law

Harlan Cohen, the Gabriel M. Wilner/UGA Foundation Professor in International Law and Faculty Co-Director of the Dean Rusk International Law Center here at the University of Georgia School of Law, recently joined a quartet of scholars and practitioners in presenting a webinar on “The Future of Trade,” hosted by CAROLA, the Center for the Advancement of the Rule of Law in the Americas at Georgetown Law.

Topics discussed included the World Trade Organization, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, increasing U.S. use of national security measures to pursue trade objectives, and trade wars between the United States and China.

Global Governance Summer School explores developments in climate change and international commerce

LEUVEN – After a full day of professional development briefings yesterday, students at the Georgia Law-Leuven Global Governance School returned to the classroom today. They took part in four lectures exploring developments in climate change and international commerce:

First, Professor Katja Biedenkopf (right), Assistant Professor at Leuven International and European Studies (LINES) at KU Leuven and an expert in European Union environmental and climate policy, addressed climate change. She focused on the international instruments at play, in particular the Paris Agreement. Professor Biedenkopf also highlighted challenges to climate change governance and encouraged students to consider international, regional, and local solutions.

Second, Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge (left), Dean of the University of Georgia School of Law, provided an introduction to international dispute resolution. He led students through a hypothetical cross-border dispute, thereby introducing the architecture of the international dispute resolution framework. He highlighted the differences between arbitration, mediation, and litigation.

Georgia Law professor Usha Rodrigues (right), provided the final two lectures of the day. A corporate governance scholar, she first provided an overview of international economic law and trade, and covered topics such as finance, international monetary policy, investment, tax, and transnational business transactions. She closed the afternoon with an exploration of comparative corporate governance, including how rules have developed across states, and how conflicts between management and shareholders or between majority and minority shareholders are resolved in different contexts.

Tomorrow, students will participate in an international conference on democracy and the rule of law in the European Union, as part of the RECONNECT project. In the meantime, they’ll spend the evening celebrating the 4th of July as expats in Belgium.

GGSS Professional development briefings in Brussels

BRUSSELS – Students taking part in the Global Governance Summer School went to Brussels today for professional development briefings. They were exposed to a range of practice areas, from non-governmental organization advocacy, to intergovernmental work, to private law practice.

The day began with a visit to the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO). There, students were treated to a dialogue on human rights lawyering with Ralph J. Bunche (left), UNPO General Secretary and Professor Diane Marie Amann. They discussed the work of the organization — advocating for the self-determination of unrepresented peoples and nations — and the day-to-day work of advocacy in a human rights organization.

Next, the group traveled to the new headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Steven Hill (fifth from the right, at right), Legal Adviser and Director of the Office of Legal Affairs, took students on a tour of the facility and provided an overview of the work of the Legal Office at NATO. He particularly focused on the text of the North Atlantic Treaty, emerging technologies, and contemporary challenges to the NATO alliance.

Finally, students heard from David Hull (JD ’83) and Porter Elliot (JD ’96) (left), partners at Van Bael & Bellis about private law practice in Brussels. They discussed the practice areas of the firm – primarily European Union competition law and trade law. They shared candid career advice with students, including their personal stories of going from law school in Athens, Georgia to law practice in Brussels.

The day concluded with a reception, graciously hosted by Van Bael & Bellis. The second annual Friends of the Dean Rusk International Law Center Reception, we were pleased to reconnect with alumni/ae and other European partners of the Center.

Tomorrow, the students will return to the classroom, and celebrate the 4th of July deepening their understanding of international law.

2019 Georgia Law-Leuven Centre Global Governance Summer School kicks off

LEUVEN – We are very pleased to launch the third iteration of the Global Governance Summer School today, a partnership between the Dean Rusk International Law Center at the University of Georgia and the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies at KU Leuven. The Summer School continues the four-decades-old Georgia Law tradition of summer international education in Belgium.

Students and faculty arrived yesterday, and were treated to a walking tour of historic Leuven and the lovely campus, one of the oldest in Europe and one of Europe’s premier research institutions. The historic European heat wave has broken, and students enjoyed the spring-like temperatures and a friendly Flemish welcome.

Many GGSS students participated in a walking tour of KU Leuven. From left, Professor Doty, Holly Stephens, Lauren Taylor, Emily Snow, Center Associate Director Amanda Shaw, Alicia Millspaugh, Jessica Parker, Steven Miller, Maria Lagares Romay, and Blanca Ruiz Llevot.

Today, students from Georgia Law and a range of other European institutions spent the day in classroom sessions. Following a welcome by Dr. Axel Marx, Deputy Director at the Leven Centre for Global Governance Studies, and Professor Diane Marie Amann, Emily & Ernest Woodruff Chair in International Law and Faculty Co-Director of both the Dean Rusk International Law Center and the Global Governance Summer School, students dove headfirst into contemporary international legal topics.

First, Professor Kolja Raube (right), Senior Researcher at the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies and Assistant Professor of European Studies, provided an introduction to global governance. He raised issues of globalization, transnational cooperation, and policy-making.

Second, Georgia Law alumnus and expert in the law of the sea, Professor Erik Franckx (LLM ’83) (left) from Vrije Universiteit Brussel, lectured on the Central Arctic Ocean. Addressing fishing in the Central Arctic Ocean, Professor Franckx focused on instruments and actors governing the area.

Third, Professor Geert Van Calster (left) of Leuven and Head of Leuven Law’s department of European and international law, led a discussion on the use of trade law to achieve non-trade objectives, such as human rights and the promotion of sustainable development.

Finally, Professor Diane Marie Amann (right) from the University of Georgia engaged students on regional legal systems. She explored the history, role, and place of regional systems within the larger system comprising nation-states and international organizations with a global scope.

This evening, students will take in the England-United States semi-final match of the Women’s World Cup. Tomorrow, they will travel to Brussels, Belgium’s nearby capital, for a day of professional development briefings at international organizations and a private law firm.

ASIL book award for Center’s Director Emeritus, C. Donald Johnson

We were delighted to come together in D.C. yesterday to celebrate the book award given by the American Society of International Law to C. Donald Johnson, an alumnus of the University of Georgia School of Law and Director Emeritus of the law school’s Dean Rusk International Law Center (prior post detailing this award here).

Above, Don holds the award, honoring his 2018 Oxford University Press book The Wealth of a Nation: A History of Trade Politics in America. He is flanked to the left by ASIL President Sean Murphy, to the right by ASIL Executive Director Mark Agrast and Professor Anna Spain Bradley, chair of the awards committee.

Below, Don marked the occasion with the 3 Georgia Law faculty taking part in ASIL’s annual meeting this week: Professors Melissa J. Durkee, Harlan G. Cohen, and Diane Marie Amann.

Center’s Director Emeritus, C. Donald Johnson, to receive book award Thursday at ASIL Annual Meeting

C. Donald Johnson, Director Emeritus of our Dean Rusk International Law Center, University of Georgia School of Law, will receive a top honor this week in recognition of his 2018 Oxford University Press book,  The Wealth of a Nation: A History of Trade Politics in America.

The 2019 Certificate of Merit for High Technical Craftsmanship and Utility to Lawyers and Scholars (Honorable Mention) will be presented to Johnson during the 113th American Society of International Law Annual Meeting, occurring this week at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C. The presentation will take place during the Assembly of the Society – of which Georgia Law is an Academic Partner – at 4:45 p.m. Thursday, March 28.

In the words of the Society:

“This honor is awarded annually, based on the recommendation of a committee of Society members, to a recent work that represents a distinguished contribution to the field.”

In his book Johnson, our Center’s Director from 2004 to 2015, traces the history of trade politics in order o explore whether the United States is better served by a free trade agenda or protectionist measures. His expertise on these issues includes prior service as Ambassador in the Office of the United States Trade Representative and as a U.S. Representative, as well as his international trade law practice as a partner at the Washington law firm Patton Boggs. Johnson earned his Georgia Law J.D. in 1973, serving as Articles Editor of the Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law, and then earned an LL.M. degree in International Economic Law and International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Johnson serves on our Center’s Council, and recently visited us for a launch of his book and to present at a GJICL conference. We look forward to joining others Thursday at ASIL in celebrating his well-deserved honor.

Brexit and international trade expert, Dr. Hanspeter Tschaeni, to speak at Georgia Law

The Dean Rusk International Law Center at the University of Georgia School of Law is pleased to host Dr. Hanspeter Tschaeni for Coffee and Conversation: International Trade and Economic Law this afternoon.

Hanspeter Tschaeni

Dr. Tschaeni is Chief Trade Adviser at Trade Advisers, a consulting firm engaged in activities relating to the British exit from the European Union. He also serves on several World Trade Organization dispute settlement panels.

Previously, Dr. Tschaeni served for more than thirty years in the Swiss Federal Administration, where he was Head of Section on International Economic Law and Deputy Head of Division on Foreign Economic Services, with the rank of ambassador. In that capacity, he participated as legal counsel and headed delegations in negotiations with the European Union and in free-trade agreement negotiations with numerous countries around the globe.

Co-sponsors of the event include Georgia Law’s Business Law Society and the International Law Society.

Details here.

Mexican Consul General Javier Díaz de León to speak at Georgia Law, part of Center’s Consular Series

CGRALJDLThe Dean Rusk International Law Center at the University of Georgia School of Law welcomes Consul General Javier Díaz de León to campus on Tuesday, October 30. He will give a lecture, “Mexico’s Relation with Georgia: Connecting Paths.”

Díaz de León is Mexico’s Consul General in Atlanta. A career diplomat, his prior postings have included San Diego, New York, Washington, and Raleigh.

This event is presented as part of the Dean Rusk International Law Center’s Consular Series, which brings to campus perspectives on international trade, development, policy, and cooperation during the 2018-2019 academic year.

The Consular Series is co-sponsored by the International Law Society, Georgia Law’s chapter of the International Law Students Association.

Details here.