Book contents
- A Communitarian Theory of WTO Law
- Cambridge Studies in International and Comparative Law: 181
- A Communitarian Theory of WTO Law
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Figures
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 A Theory of WTO Law
- 2 The WTO Agreement as Community
- 3 The WTO Agreement and Justice
- 4 The WTO Agreement as a Law of Obligations
- 5 The WTO Agreement as a Law of Rights
- 6 The WTO Agreement as a Sui Generis Legal System
- 7 A Communitarian Theory and International Investment Law
- 8 Some Concluding Thoughts
- Bibliography
- Index
- Cambridge Studies in International and Comparative Law
1 - A Theory of WTO Law
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 December 2023
- A Communitarian Theory of WTO Law
- Cambridge Studies in International and Comparative Law: 181
- A Communitarian Theory of WTO Law
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Figures
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 A Theory of WTO Law
- 2 The WTO Agreement as Community
- 3 The WTO Agreement and Justice
- 4 The WTO Agreement as a Law of Obligations
- 5 The WTO Agreement as a Law of Rights
- 6 The WTO Agreement as a Sui Generis Legal System
- 7 A Communitarian Theory and International Investment Law
- 8 Some Concluding Thoughts
- Bibliography
- Index
- Cambridge Studies in International and Comparative Law
Summary
Criticism is often made that the WTO Agreement has the potential to undermine human rights and accentuates the disruptive effects of globalization. Nevertheless, justice in sovereign terms is different from justice in human terms. This difference is perhaps best illustrated by means of a theory. This book puts forward such a theory. The theory posits that law does justice in order to sustain the good of the community. Justice in relation to the good can be thought about either according to the good’s distribution ex ante or its correction ex post after injury. The metric of distributive justice is equality, whereas the metric of corrective justice is fairness, or what is appropriate. This dualism is exhibited in thinking about WTO arrangements and is replicated in WTO law. In one mode WTO law is about the attainment of equality by means of obligations. In a second mode WTO law is about the attainment of fairness by means of rights. The two modes of law interact over time. Ultimately, they depend upon each other to generate a third, overarching structure in the form of interdependent obligations and rights manifested in a sui generis legal system.
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- A Communitarian Theory of WTO Law , pp. 1 - 54Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023