Wednesday, August 4, 2010

INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW

International trade law includes the appropriate rules and customs for handling trade between countries; However, it is also used in legal writings as trade between private sectors, which is not right. This branch of law is now an independent field of study as most governments has become part of the world trade, as members of the "World Trade Organization" (WTO). Whereas "International Commercial Law" deals with transactions between companies and individuals. Since the transaction between private sectors of different countries is important part of the WTO activities, this latter branch of law is now very important part of the academic works and is under study in many universities across the world;(Such as the University of Allameh Tabatabaee in Iran).

International trade law should be distinguished from the broader field of international economic law. The latter could be said to encompass not only WTO law, but also law governing the international monetary system and currency regulation, as well as the law of international development.

The body of rules for transnational trade in the 21st century derives from medieval commercial laws called the lex mercatoria and lex maritima — respectively, "the law for merchants on land" and "the law for merchants on sea." Modern trade law (extending beyond bilateral treaties) began shortly after the Second World War, with the negotiation of a multilateral treaty to deal with trade in goods: the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

International trade law is based on theories of economic liberalism developed in Europe and later the United States from the 18th century onwards.
In 1995, the World Trade Organization, a formal international organization to regulate trade, was established. It is the most important development in the history of international trade law.

The purposes and structure of the organization is governed by the Agreement Establishing The World Trade Organization, also known as the "Marrakesh Agreement". It does not specify the actual rules that govern international trade in specific areas. These are found in separate treaties, annexed to the Marrakesh Agreement.
Since there are no international governing judges (2004) the means of dispute resolution is determined by jurisdiction. Each individual country hears cases that are brought before them. Governments choose to be party to a dispute. And private citizens determine jurisdiction by the Forum Clause in their contract.

Besides forum, another factor in international disputes is the rate of exchange. With currency fluctuation ascending and descending over years, a lack of Commerce Clause can jeopardize trade between parties when one party becomes unjustly enriched through natural market fluctuations. By listing the rate of exchange expected over the contract life, parties can provide for changes in the market through reassessment of contract or division of exchange rate fluctuations.

No European Union (EU) member state has ever chosen to withdraw from the European Union, though some dependent territories or semi-autonomous areas have left. Of these, only Greenland has explicitly voted to leave, departing from the EU's predecessor, the European Economic Community, in 1985. The only member state to hold a national referendum on withdrawal was the United Kingdom in 1975, when 67.2% of those voting voted to remain in the Community.

Before the Treaty of Lisbon entered into force on 1 December 2009 no provision in the Treaties or Law of the European Union outlined the ability of a state to voluntarily withdraw from the EU. The European Constitution did propose such a provision and, after the failure to ratify the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, that provision was then included in the Lisbon Treaty.

The Treaty introduces an exit clause for members who wish to withdraw from the Union. Under Article 50, a Member State would notify the European Council of its intention to secede from the Union and a withdrawal agreement would be negotiated between the Union and that State. The Treaties would cease to be applicable to that State from the date of the agreement or, failing that, within two years of the notification unless the State and the Council both agree to extend this period. The agreement is concluded on behalf of the Union by the Council and shall set out the arrangements for withdrawal, including a framework for the State's future relationship with the Union. The agreement is to be approved by the Council, acting by qualified majority, after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament. A former Member State seeking to rejoin the European Union would be subject to the same conditions as any other applicant country.

Article 311a, introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon allows the status of French, Dutch and Danish overseas territories to be changed more easily, by no longer requiring a full treaty revision. Instead, the European Council may, on the initiative of the member state concerned, change the status of an overseas country or territory (OCT) to an outermost region (OMR) or vice versa.

Greenland is the only territory to have chosen to leave the EU or its predecessors without also seceding from a member state. It initially voted against joining the EEC when Denmark joined in 1973, but because Denmark as a whole voted to join, Greenland, as a part of Denmark, joined too. When home rule for Greenland began in 1979, it held a new referendum and voted to leave the EEC. After wrangling over fishing rights the territory left the EEC in 1985, but remains subject to the EU treaties through the EU Association of Overseas Countries and Territories. This was permitted by the Greenland Treaty, a special treaty signed in 1984 to allow its withdrawal.

By precedent, then, if a country wanted to withdraw from the EU it probably could, but special treaties and conditions would need to be agreed on. This is because of pre-existing commitments that any member state would have towards the EU and its fellow members.

Some former territories of European Union members have left the EU when they gained independence from their ruling country. The 1962 secession of French Algeria, which was an integral part of France and hence of the then-European Communities, was the only such occasion on which a territory subject to the Treaty of Rome has seceded. Most other territories - Hong Kong and Macau - were not classed as part of the EU and EC laws were not in force in these countries.

As of January 2010, there are no countries positioning themselves to withdraw from the EU, but there are numerous political movements campaigning for withdrawal. Although usually minor parties, in the more eurosceptic states of the EU there are the occasional electoral victories. In the UK, the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) campaigns for British withdrawal, achieving third place in the UK during the 2004 European elections and second place in the 2009 European elections – that time gaining the same number of seats as the governing Labour Party. Polls show that support for withdrawal going from 9% to 55%, depending on the wording of the question. In October 2009 a Daily Mail survey revealed that 58% of those polled wanted a referendum on the United Kingdom's membership of the EU. As of January 2010, the Liberal Democrats are the only major party in the UK parliament advocating a referendum on the EU membership, although they would be supporting a positive vote and presented it as an alternative to one on the Lisbon Treaty.

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