Syllabus
“ Law
of the World Trade Organization”
Lecturer: prof. Oksana Lopatina
1. Course Description
a. Title of a Course
Law of the World Trade Organization
b. Pre-requisites
It is an advantage, though not mandatory, to have a background in public
international law.
c. Course Type (compulsory, elective, optional)
Elective
d. Abstract
The aim of the course is to provide students with a theoretical and practical
understanding of the regulatory framework of the world trading system, covering
both the institutional and substantive law of the World Trade Organisation (WTO),
which is playing a central role in promoting and regulating international trade
liberalisation since its establishment in January 1995. A special emphasis is made
on the WTO dispute settlement system, including the relationship between WTO
law and other parts of the international legal system (for example, environmental
and human rights law). Students will receive all necessary materials in electronic
form.
2. Learning Objectives
Main purpose of the course is to make students able to use and interpret norms of the
multilateral agreements which form the WTO law, make legal research and solve cases.
3. Learning Outcomes
Students must gain knowledge on:
─ general part of WTO law;
─ role of the WTO law within its members’ domestic legal systems;
─ most problematic issues of sources, interpretation of WTO principles and agreements.
Skills and abilities:
─ to use specific terms and sources of WTO law;
─ practical abilities of research, analysis of WTO legal documentation and scientific works;
─ skills to analyze and solve cases, building up of the legal position and composition of
procedural documents on cases in the sphere of WTO law.
Students should gain the following competences:
 ability to work with information (search, evaluate, use information, necessary for
fulfilment of scientific and professional tasks, from various sources, including application
of the systematic approach);
 ability to carry out professional activities in the international environment;
 ability to search, analyse, and work with legally relevant information by using the
juridical, comparative and other specific methods,
 ability to describe legal problems and situations in the field of International law.
4. Course Plan
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Structure, principles and functions of WTO.
Dispute settlement system of the WTO. Principles of WTO dispute settlement. Proceedings.
The rules of international trade. GATT, GATS and TRIPS.
WTO and developing countries.
International trade and investment.
International trade and environment. Trade versus environment.
2. Reading List
a. Required
Trebilcock and Howse, The Regulation of International Trade (5th ed. 2013)
Van den Bossche, The Law and Policy of the World Trade Organization: Text, Cases and
Materials (3d ed. 2013)
Reader for the course “ Law of the World Trade Organization : Cases and Materials ” (in
electronic form). Ed. by O. Lopatina. 2015 (Hereinafter: Reader).
b. Optional
Conti Joseph A. Between Law and Diplomacy: The Social Contexts of Disputing at the
World Trade Organization. Stanford University Press, 2011.
Davis Christina L. Why Adjudicate? Enforcing Trade Rules in the WTO.
Princeton University Press, 2012.
Gregory C. Shaffer; Ricardo Meléndez-Ortiz. Dispute Settlement at the WTO. Cambridge
University Press 2010.
William J. Davey. Non-discrimination in the World Trade Organization: The Rules and
Exceptions. Hague academy of international law, 2012.
Craig Van Grasstek. The History and Future of the World Trade Organization. World Trade
Organization, 2013.
Mitchell Andrew D. Legal Principles in WTO Disputes. Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Bhagwati Jagdish. In Defence of Globalization. Oxford University Press, 2007.
WTO Analytical Index. Guide to WTO Law and Practice, Third edition, Cambridge, 2012.
The WTO and global governance: Future directions. Edited by Gary P. Sampson. UN Publ.,
2012.
3. Grading System
exam; rating system (incl. written and oral tasks, presentations, written tests and Moot
courts).
4. Guidelines for Knowledge Assessment
The current and intermediate control of knowledge is carried out on the basis of
accumulative system of points gained by the participants for:
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discussions in class,
presentations,
reports.
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5. Methods of Instruction
use of interactive educational technologies (problematic lectures, work in small groups);
use of ratings and accumulative system of control.
6. Special Equipment and Software Support (if required)
Power-point, LMS, Internet.