Course Description:

The course, international trade law, consists of and deals with certain core aspects of WTO Law (Module I) and law relating to ‘International Commercial Transactions’ (Module II).

Module I offers fundamental understandings of how the world trade system functions, with a focus on the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and its trade-related agreements (the GATT 1994). It will highlight the developments from the GATT 1947 that aimed at reducing tariffs to the establishment of the WTO, which has created a self-contained regulatory regime. The developments in technology and the influence of trade on the environment and human rights transformed the WTO’s functioning and dispute resolution. The vast and varied membership of the WTO, comprising developed, developing and least-developed countries, makes its functioning complex, particularly in the context of ineffectiveness of special and differential treatment provisions that were meant to ameliorate the problems of developing and least-developed countries. The challenges of the dispute settlement systems and their reforms also occupy a contemporary position in the course.  The Module, hence, not only presents the institutional and normative structure of the WTO but also underscores the contemporary concerns and debate around this regime.

Module II, law relating to international commercial transactions, deals with that body of rules and regulations governing private commercial transactions, cutting across national frontiers. But it excludes private international law aspects of cross-border transactions. International commercial law is developed by international treaties and a set of rules codified by non-governmental organisations such as ‘international Chamber of Commerce (ICC). The discipline essentially covers the following major areas: (1) Transportation; (2) legal principles applicable to cross-border sale contracts; (3) international payments; (4) enforcement of foreign arbitral awards.

The application of international commercial law had been very slow till 1990’s. But with the incidence of increasing interactions between Indians and foreigners’ consequent upon trade liberalization, this subject has assumed greater significance.