Tag: Dispute settlement
Non-tariff barriers and related dispute resolution: Is the East African Community all hat and no cattle?
25 Jan 21 BlogIntroduction
The East African Community (EAC) has several avenues to use to address/eliminate non-tariff barriers (NTBs) – including the East African Court of Justice. Despite t...
2020: Review of ITAC Investigations and COVID-19 Related Measures
21 Dec 20 PublicationsThe International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) was established through an Act of Parliament, the International Trade Administration Act, 2002 (Act No. 71 of 2002), which ...
Will the AfCFTA generate NTB related Disputes?
17 Nov 20 PublicationsWhen private sector stakeholders are encouraged to report instances of encountering NTBs on a public monitoring platform such as tradebarriers.org, the assumption is that their com...
Domestic remedies in trade disputes: Administrative law principles
29 Sep 20 PublicationsDomestic (or national) courts play an important role in the settlement of trade disputes. One of the main reasons is that the parties to the dispute are likely to be familiar with ...
Do the Regional Economic Communities protect basic Human Rights?
28 Jul 20 BlogAfrica’s Regional Economic Communities (RECs) have been receiving more than the usual amount of attention lately because eight of them have been identified as the building blocks...
What Disputes could be heard by the AfCFTA Dispute Settlement Mechanism?
28 Jul 20 BlogWill the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) be a rules-based dispensation? What is required in order to become one? The Preamble to the Agreement establishing the AfCFTA ...
EU investment governance developments: Implications for African countries
25 Jun 20 BlogThe European Union (EU) investment policy is a model that many other countries have viewed as a standard or best practice in investment governance and have thus sought to emulate. ...
China loses landmark WTO dispute against the European Union
18 Jun 20 NewsChina spent four years fighting for market-economy status, a designation that would give it stronger footing with commercial partners while also curtailing their ability to retalia...
tralac’s Daily News selection
27 Mar 20 Newstralac’s Trudi Hartzenberg: South Africa’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic
We’ve already seen that global cooperation and support are absolutely essential at this time. It...
Will disputes under the AfCFTA Agreement be less “political”?
26 Mar 20 BlogIt has been observed that the dispute settlement system of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is less “political” in design than, for example, the former SADC Dis...
How investment disputes in Zimbabwe will be resolved under the ZIDA Act
13 Mar 20 BlogThe recently enacted Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency (ZIDA) Act [CHAPTER 14:37] guarantees local and foreign investors legal protection against discriminatory treatment...
An interim Dispute Settlement Arrangement for some WTO Members
12 Feb 20 BlogSince the end of 2019, the dispute settlement system of the World Trade Organization (WTO) can no longer function as designed. This system was created as part of the WTO Agreement ...
tralac's Daily News Selection
18 Nov 19 NewsUnderway in Addis Ababa:
(i) SheTrades Global 2019 (held in conjunction with the World Export Development Forum). Discussions will engage with women entrepreneurs from 40 bu...
South Africa’s submission on UNCITRAL ISDS reforms: Comments and implications
16 Oct 19 BlogIntroduction
Investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) has in recent years been criticised for its systematic imbalances, as well as inconsistent, flawed and excessive arbitral awa...
tralac’s Daily News Selection
15 Jul 19 NewsStarting tomorrow, in Niamey: Lake Chad Basin Governors Forum 2019. The forum (16-18 July) will assess cooperation and firm up plans for the region’s stabilization.
tralac’s l...
The Development of REC Community Law: The EAC Court of Justice makes an important Contribution
12 Jul 19 PublicationsWhen the internal legal order of a particular regional integration arrangement is described as being based on “Community Law”, it typically means an advanced level of integrati...
The first Dispute under the SADC EPA has been declared
12 Jul 19 PublicationsWhen the SADC EU Economic Partnership Agreement (SADC EPA) between the European Union (EU) and the Member States of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and Mozambique was con...
An important Comesa Court qualifier for natural and legal persons approaching the Court
11 Jul 19 BlogThe Treaty that underpins the 27-member Community of Eastern and Southern African States (Comesa) contains an appealing provision for ordinary persons, natural or legal, who are in...
What does the National Security Exception in GATT mean?
11 Jul 19 BlogThe World Trade Organization (WTO) regime is rules-based. One of the implications is that the Member States can only invoke exceptions that are expressly provided for; national mea...
Another Ruling against the Dismantling of the SADC Tribunal
11 Jul 19 BlogIn December 2018, the South African Constitutional Court ruled that the participation of the South African President in the decision to abolish the Southern African Development Com...