Recueil des cours, Collected Courses, Tome/Volume 354

Co-publication with: The Hague Academy of International Law.

Internationalization of the Practice of Law and Important Emerging Issues for Investor-State Arbitration by Carolyn B. Lamm.
Based on decades of practicing international law and her recent service as President of the American Bar Association, Carolyn Lamm shares her observations and reflections on the effects of increasing globalization on the practice of law and the increased significance of private and public international law to all practitioners given the multinational nature of business and increased foreign investment. In this context, she highlights the significance of Bilateral Investment Treaties to facilitating investment and the parties’ need for certainty in the system of dispute resolution. She expresses certain concerns to the interests of investors and host states in certainty and stability in the system of investor-State dispute resolution, in particular due to recent developments in the use of the ICSID annulment mechanism.

The Principle of Comity in Private International Law by Adrian Briggs.
The lectures examine the concept of comity, drawing particular attention to the twin principles of respect for sovereign acts done within the territory of a sovereign, and non-interference with the exercise of that power. They seek to show how rules on jurisdiction, foreign judgments, judicial assistance (and, to a limited extent, choice of law) are derived from and honour the principle of comity; and assess certain new developments in private international law in terms of their compatibility with the principle of comity.

Non-discrimination in the World Trade Organization: The Rules and Exceptions by William J. Davey.
International trade is conducted mainly under the rules of the World Trade Organization. Its non-discrimination rules are of fundamental importance. In essence, they require WTO members not to discriminate amongst products of other WTO members in trade matters (the mostfavoured- nation rule) and, subject to permitted market-access limitations, not to discriminate against products of other WTO members in favour of domestic products (the national treatment rule). The interpretation of these rules is quite difficult. Their reach is potentially so broad that it has been felt that they should be limited by a number of exceptions, some of which also present interpretative difficulties. Indeed, one of the principal conundrums faced by WTO dispute settlement is how to strike the appropriate balance between the rules and exceptions. Davey explores the background and justification for the non-discrimination rules and examines how the rules and the exceptions have been interpreted in WTO dispute settlement. He gives considerable attention to whether the exceptions give sufficient discretion to WTO members to pursue their legitimate non-trade policy goals.