Environment, Human Rights and International Trade

Description

After the completion of the Uruguay Round and the adoption of the 1994 agreement establishing the WTO, the place of international trade in the context of the international legal order has radically changed. International trade law has become a subject of wide-spread interest, cutting across traditional boundaries, and engaging diverse political and legal concerns. One consequence of this development is increasing concern with the legitimacy of the WTO process, which in turn has led to the WTO becoming the focus of rancorous protest by, among others, environmental NGOs, trade unions, and human rights activists. This collection of essays by leading scholars and lawyers engaged in the policy-making process, addresses the underlying tensions and dilemmas of the WTO process and its impact upon the environment and human rights in particular. The contributors search for a balance between, on the one hand, legitimate free trade interests and, on the other, the role and limits of unilateral measures as an instrument to protect non-commercial values.

Francesco Francioni is Professor of Law at the University of Siena, where he also holds the office of Pro-Rector.

This is a timely and welcome volume which can be sampled by readers across a wide field of legal scholarship. -- David Hughes * European Environmental Law Review * This well-written book demonstrates that the topic is of continuing relevance to academics and policymakers alike. It is difficult to find much fault in this excellent book. it makes an important contribution to the existing literature. The chapters are well researched and presented and deal with topics which are likely to exercise lawyers and specialists in the relationship between trade, environment and human rights. -- Beatrice Chaytor * Legal Studies *