Erg Ieconl
Erg Ieconl
Erg Ieconl
International
Economic Law
Jean M. Wenger
International Economic Law
I. Introduction
II. Overview of International Economic Law Research
III. International Trade Law
A. US Government Regulation & Trade Resources
B. Foreign Government Regulation
C. International Coordination & Trade Resources
D. Trade Treaties/Conventions
IV. International Financial Law
V. Regional Economic Integration
A. Africa
B. Asia and the Pacific
C. Europe
D. Western Hemisphere
VI. Governance
VII. International Development Law
A. Regional Development
B. Global Initiatives for Development
VIII. Private International Law
A. International Commercial Arbitration
B. Convention on the International Sale of Goods
C. Private International Law Organizations
IX. International Business Regulation
A. Competition
B. Electronic Commerce
C. Environment
D. Taxation
X. Intellectual Property Law
XI. Locating Literature
A. Online Bibliographic Catalogs
B. Periodical Literature
XII. Research Guides, Reference Materials, Blogs and Statistics
I. INTRODUCTION
The International Economic Law chapter of the ASIL Electronic Resource Guide for International
Law (ERG) offers an overview of electronic resources in this dynamic and evolving area of law.
The emphasis will be on Internet sites from such sources as international and regional
organizations, non-governmental international entities and government agencies. Online
subscription/commercial services will be addressed where appropriate. The electronic resources
highlighted in this guide are primarily English-language sites, although many are multi-lingual.
The exponential growth of quality electronic resources, both free and subscription precludes any
guide from being truly comprehensive. This chapter aims to present the researcher, whether the
academic, practitioner or international businessperson, with an introduction to important and
current sources of information for international economic law.
International economic law is not derived from a single source or even several sources of law; it
has its genesis in many. National, regional, and international law (public and private), policy and
customary practices are all components of international economic law. International economic
law encompasses a wide spectrum of subjects including trade in goods and services, financial
law, economic integration, development law, business regulation and intellectual property. This
expansive scope presents a challenge for identifying relevant information. This chapter offers
the researcher a starting point for locating primary and secondary sources through a topical
schematic.
The international, regional, national, and non-governmental entities highlighted in this chapter
produce a wide range of documents including international conventions, treaties, bilateral
agreements, model laws, guidelines, statistics, and interpretative materials. Many of the
websites listed in this guide offer access to resources by topic and country. These websites are
multi-layered and possess complex information architecture. It is therefore suggested that the
researcher utilize not only the annotations provided, but also the site maps available at
individual websites to view a conceptual and comprehensive overview of the documents and
resources available.
Export.gov (http://www.export.gov)
Export.gov brings together resources from many different agencies in the US
government. Export.gov is managed by the International Trade Administration and
addresses areas that include international sales, marketing and finance, regulations and
licenses, trade data and analysis, and trade problems.
The ICC publishes Incoterms which are rules for the interpretation of trade terms
and are standard trade definitions that are most commonly used in international
contracts. The latest version is Incoterms 2010.
The UNCITRAL site also has texts of documents from UNCITRAL sessions and working groups,
current status of texts, and the UNCITRAL Yearbook, starting with Vol. 1 (1968-1970) to Vol.
42 (2011). (http://www.uncitral.org/uncitral/en/publications/yearbook.html)
Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods
and Technologies (http://www.wassenaar.org/)
The Wassenaar Arrangement is one of four multilateral export control regimes in which the
United States participates. The Arrangement's purpose is to contribute to regional and
international security and stability by promoting transparency and greater responsibility in
transfers of conventional arms and dual-use (i.e. those having civil and military uses) goods and
technologies. The Wassenaar Arrangement has 41 participating states. The site provides text of
the agreement, guidelines and procedures, a list of dual-use goods and technologies and
munitions, and a country-by-country listing of national export controls contacts.
D. TRADE TREATIES/CONVENTIONS
For treaties, agreements and conventions not listed or included in this section, check
organization websites or other sites listed under the topical and regional areas of this
Guide.
Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary General contains a detailed status
of the over 550 multilateral treaties deposited with the Secretary General and is updated
daily. Also included is the Recently Deposited Multilateral Treaties, a collection
consisting of the texts of multilateral treaties recently deposited with the Secretary-
General that have not yet been published in the United Nations Treaty Series.
A. AFRICA
African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (APC) (http://www.acp.int)
APC aims for sustained economic growth for its 79 current members. The Treaties &
Agreements page includes texts of treaties and agreements including the Cotonou
Agreement Revised (2005), the various Lom conventions, and the Georgetown
Agreement.
C. EUROPE
Council of Europe (http://www.coe.int/)
The Council of Europe is an international organization, which has as its objectives: the
strengthening of democracy, promotion of social and economic programs, human rights
and the rule of law among its 47 member states. The European Treaty Series (ETS)
(http://convention.coe.int) has the text of treaties including signatures and ratification
information for each Member State. Treaties regarding international economic law
include the establishment of companies, arbitration, and data protection.
EUROPA (http://europa.eu/)
EUROPA is the European Union's server with links to activities, institutions,
official documents, and information sources. Activities of the EU are divided into
topics or sectors. Each topic or sector has information on the controlling law in
the area, implementation of policies and additional information sources.
Summaries of EU legislation, arranged by topic, are available through the service
Summaries of EU Legislation (http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/browse/summaries.html).
Eur-Lex (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/homepage.html)
The Eur-Lex page has links for the text of the Official Journal, L and C series
(http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOIndex.do?ihmlang=en) from 1952 to the present. EU
law and related documents (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/collection/eu-law.html) has
links to treaties, legislation, consolidated legislation, EU case law and
international agreements.
Consolidated Legislation
(http://eur-lex.europa.eu/collection/eu-law/consleg.html) contains legislation that
has been amended on one or more occasions, and consolidated by incorporating
into the basic instrument all subsequent amendments.
D. WESTERN HEMISPHERE
Andean Community (http://www.comunidadandina.org/)
The Andean Community, a customs union, is comprised of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador,
and Peru. (Venezuela was formerly a member but denounced the Cartagena Agreement
in April 2006.) Andean integration focuses on economic and social cooperation to
promote the growth of member economies. The aim is to create a Latin American
common market through trade liberalization, a common external tariff and the
harmonization of socio-economic policies and the coordination of national legislation.
The Legal Framework of the Andean Community
(http://www.sice.oas.org/Andean/instmt_s.asp) provides the texts of treaties, acts,
decisions, and resolutions.
MERCOSUR (http://www.mercosur.int)
This official site for MERCOSUR contains the text of treaties, protocols, official
documents, and publications including the Boletn Oficial. (The site is available in
Spanish or Portuguese.) MERCOSUR was established by the Treaty of Asuncin
(http://www.sice.oas.org/trade/mrcsr/mrcsrtoc.asp) that created a common market
among Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Venezuela officially joined in July
2006. MERCOSUR aims for a program of trade liberalization, reductions of customs
tariffs, the elimination of non-tariff barriers and other restrictions to trade. MERCOSUR is
also known as the Common Market of the Southern Cone.
Integrated Database of Trade Disputes for Latin America and the Caribbean
(http://idatd.eclac.cl/controversias/index_en.jsp) provides simultaneous searching of
trade disputes in the WTO, MERCOSUR, NAFTA, CARICOM, Andean Community, and
CACM.
VI. GOVERNANCE
Governance refers to the rules that guide the behavior of corporations, shareholders, and
managers, as well as to governmental regulation that support and enforce those rules.
Corporate governance is concerned with rules of business behavior and strives to move
corporate and economic entities from relationship-based systems to rules-based systems. Good
government and anti-corruption initiatives focus on creating a fair and equitable world economic
order for all players.
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
(http://www.unescap.org/)
Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)
(http://www.escwa.un.org/)
The Economic Commission for Europe and the UN Economic has links for standards
and guidelines, electronic business, repositories and codes, and trade facilitation sites.
The World Bank Group includes the IBRD and IDA and the following agencies:
CISG-France (http://Witz.jura.uni-sb.de/CISG/)
Application of the CISG in France includes decisions from the Cour de Cassation, Cour
d'appel and the Tribunaux de premire instance.
Pace University School of Law, Pace Law Library & The Institute of International
Commercial Law (http://cisgw3.law.pace.edu/) An extensive site with an annotated
version of the CISG, a search template for caselaw, treaty texts, and scholarly
publications. A great starting point for CISG research. Autonomous Network of CISG
Websites(http://cisgw3.law.pace.edu/network.html) has links to national CISG sites.
A. COMPETITION
APEC Competition Policy and Law Database (http://www.apeccp.org.tw/)
This database is a source for competition laws and policies of APEC members.
Information arranged by category or member country including competition laws,
administrative procedures, decisions of administrative agencies, judicial cases and
cooperative arrangements.
B. ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
Digital Economy (ICC)
(http://www.iccwbo.org/about-icc/policy-commissions/digital-economy/)
The International Chamber of Commerce provides reports, news items, rules, and policy
statements and reports.
Electronic Commerce in the WTO
(http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/ecom_e/ecom_e.htm)
Includes working papers and documents discussing electronic commerce issues in the
context of the Uruguay Round Agreements and the WTO.
C. ENVIRONMENT
See also the International Environmental Law Chapter
(http://www.asil.org/sites/default/files/ERG_ENVIROMENT.pdf) of this Electronic
Resource Guide for in-depth coverage of this topic.
D. TAXATION
Web-based Catalogs
The following websites link to web based library catalogs of research, university, law and public
libraries.
WorldCat (http://www.worldcat.org/)
LibDex (http://www.libdex.com/country.html)
Geographic arrangement of web library catalogs from around the world.
Online library catalogs provide a powerful tool for identifying books, periodicals, conference
proceedings and documents issued by private parties, organizations and government agencies.
These publications can be searched using a variety of access points, including title, keyword,
author, or subject. Web-based catalogs enable the researcher to select the access point or field
in which to search. Many of these catalogs also offer a "Guided search" or an "Advanced
search" option that permits the researcher to customize the combination of names, keywords,
phrases, or subjects. This is especially useful when only partial or incomplete information is
known about a publication. Suggestions for optimizing search strategies are described below.
A Title search generally works with exact title. If title searching retrieves "No Records,"
try a keyword search.
A Keyword search is the most flexible approach as terms can be combined to search for
keywords in the title, author, subject or other field. For basic searches, web based online
catalogs enable the researcher to select the field (such as title, author, keyword) in
which they wish to search for particular keywords. A great advantage of web based
catalogs is the ability to build a search query. Many catalogs have a guided or advanced
keyword search option, which provides a template for filling in keywords. Most online
catalogs permit the use of Boolean connectors (and, or, not) with keyword searching.
Check the help screen of your online catalog for search tips. Web based catalogs also
enable the researcher to link to other related entries in the library's collection.
European Commission
Organization of American States
World Intellectual Property Organization
A Subject search requires use of exact Library of Congress Subject Headings. These
subject headings can also be subdivided geographically as indicated below. Some
suggested headings for international economic law include:
An organization's website may have a link for searching that organization's library or
document collection. Several notable examples are below.
B. PERIODICAL LITERATURE
Journal and periodical articles can often be a rich source of information on international
economic law issues, particularly "hot" or current issues. Remember that online library
catalogs search for titles of journals, and periodical indexes search for authors and titles
of individual articles.
Several collections of scholarly articles focusing on the social sciences are accessible
online free. These specialized collections of full-text research include journal articles,
working and accepted papers series. Two of the most prominent are the Social Science
Research Network (SSRN) and the Berkeley Electronic Press (bepress).
HeinOnline (http://home.heinonline.org/)
Subscription service available in many law libraries offers more than 2,000 law
and law-related periodicals, treaties, and international law documents.
IngentaConnect (http://www.ingentaconnect.com/)
Ingenta, formerly UnCover, is a database of current article information taken from
over 15,000 multi-disciplinary journals. Limited searching is free and hits contain
brief descriptive information, some with abstracts. Full-text articles are available
for a fee.
Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law
(http://www.mpil.de/ww/en/pub/news.cfm)
WorldTradeLaw.net (http://www.worldtradelaw.net/)
A portal to international trade law resources. The free portion of the site includes primary
source documents related to international trade law, a full-text search engine for
GATT/WTO decisions, a collection of links, and a discussion forum. The subscriber
portion includes dispute settlement commentaries.
STATISTICS