Powered by OpenAIRE graph
Found an issue? Give us feedback
image/svg+xml art designer at PLoS, modified by Wikipedia users Nina, Beao, JakobVoss, and AnonMoos Open Access logo, converted into svg, designed by PLoS. This version with transparent background. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Open_Access_logo_PLoS_white.svg art designer at PLoS, modified by Wikipedia users Nina, Beao, JakobVoss, and AnonMoos http://www.plos.org/ Intereconomicsarrow_drop_down
image/svg+xml art designer at PLoS, modified by Wikipedia users Nina, Beao, JakobVoss, and AnonMoos Open Access logo, converted into svg, designed by PLoS. This version with transparent background. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Open_Access_logo_PLoS_white.svg art designer at PLoS, modified by Wikipedia users Nina, Beao, JakobVoss, and AnonMoos http://www.plos.org/
Intereconomics
Article . 2001 . Peer-reviewed
License: Springer TDM
Data sources: Crossref
image/svg+xml art designer at PLoS, modified by Wikipedia users Nina, Beao, JakobVoss, and AnonMoos Open Access logo, converted into svg, designed by PLoS. This version with transparent background. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Open_Access_logo_PLoS_white.svg art designer at PLoS, modified by Wikipedia users Nina, Beao, JakobVoss, and AnonMoos http://www.plos.org/
Intereconomics
Article
Data sources: UnpayWall
image/svg+xml art designer at PLoS, modified by Wikipedia users Nina, Beao, JakobVoss, and AnonMoos Open Access logo, converted into svg, designed by PLoS. This version with transparent background. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Open_Access_logo_PLoS_white.svg art designer at PLoS, modified by Wikipedia users Nina, Beao, JakobVoss, and AnonMoos http://www.plos.org/
SSRN Electronic Journal
Article . 2001 . Peer-reviewed
Data sources: Crossref
EconStor
Article . 2001
Data sources: EconStor
versions View all 3 versions
addClaim

The WTO and the rights of the individual

Authors: Charnovitz, Steve;

The WTO and the rights of the individual

Abstract

The Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO) is silent regarding its relationship to the individual. One might presume that an international organization set up to emancipate trade could have no purpose other than upholding trading rights of private actors. But the WTO was not established to achieve "free trade". That goal is absent from the Marrakesh Agreement. Instead, the goals of the Agreement are "reciprocal and mutually advantageous arrangements directed to the substantial reduction of tariffs and other barriers to trade" and the "elimination of discriminatory treatment in international trade relations". The term "reciprocal arrangements" makes clear that the focus of the Marrakesh Agreement is not on the individual trader, but rather on the meshing of governmental trade policies. This is confirmed by the object of the quoted provision, namely, "international trade relations". A visitor from another planet who takes a quick look at the Marrakesh Agreement could draw an erroneous conclusion about the Earth's economy. The visitor could infer that international trade is carried on between governments (or between nations) and that the intended beneficiaries of the Marrakesh Agreement are the government Members of the WTO. Such a hasty inference would be wrong however. Although the subjects of the Marrakesh Agreement are the governments, a closer look at the multilateral trading system shows that individual economic actors are assimilated. Annexed to the Marrakesh Agreement are 17 interwoven trade agreements, most of which accord rights indirectly to the individual. This important feature of WTO law has not received the attention that it deserves. In recent years, some commentators have called the WTO the "World Trade Constitution". Paralleling constitutions at the national level, the Marrakesh Agreement specifies decision rules and delineates the separation of powers among the WTO organs. In this way, the Marrakesh Agreement also resembles charters of other international agencies, such as the "Constitution" of the World Health Organization. But the constitutional underpinnings of the WTO go deeper than that. The WTO is constitution-like in reaching into the nation-state to guarantees rights to individuals. The purpose of this article is to explore this little-noted dimension of international economic law. The article proceeds as follows: Part I examines the way that WTO agreements mandate certain rights for the individual in national law. Part II looks at the limited way in which the WTO agreements provide procedural rights to individuals at the WTO. Part III discusses how the WTO's emerging jurisprudence expounds this new relationship and interprets WTO rules in light of the needs of economic actors. Part IV proposes ways that a new WTO trade round could build on these developments in order to strengthen private rights.

Related Organizations
Keywords

Privatrecht, ddc:330, Welt, Außenhandelsliberalisierung

  • BIP!
    Impact byBIP!
    selected citations
    These citations are derived from selected sources.
    This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
    18
    popularity
    This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
    Average
    influence
    This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
    Top 10%
    impulse
    This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
    Top 10%
Powered by OpenAIRE graph
Found an issue? Give us feedback
selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
18
Average
Top 10%
Top 10%
gold