Széchenyi Chain Bridge, Budapest, Hungary © David Mangan

Can an employee be an expert in her work, beyond her employment?  Employees engaged in knowledge or service industries have taken the initiative to also market themselves as leaders in their industries using online sources. Platforms such as LinkedIn may be used. Alternatively, a website that offers industry-specific information may be created by the employee. The…

Please find below the journal abstract of “Statutory Interpretation and the Role of the Courts after Brexit” by Martin Brenncke, published in European Public Law, issue 4, volume 25 (2019) edited by Patrick Birkinshaw.   This article evaluates the impact of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 on statutory interpretation and on the role of…

I am not going to get involved in the discussions that have followed the blog post by Jorge Miranda and Manual Sanchez-Miranda, or even to speculate on what is likely to happen after December 10th when the World Trade Organization (WTO) no longer has a functioning Appellate Body.  Instead, I want to reflect briefly on…

Please find below the journal abstract of “‘Brexit’ and the Boilerplate Clauses in Commercial Contracts” by Paul Aubrecht & Mitja Kovac, published in Business Law Review, Issue 6, Volume 40, 2019 edited by Lisa Zoltowska. Business lawyers and commercial contracting have been stressed by political uncertainty over the past two years. The prospect of states…

The decision of the Victorian County Court in Technology Swiss Pty Ltd and Ecology SRL v Famous Pacific Shipping Pty Ltd which was delivered on 30 September 2019 and published on 13 November 2019 has already received some attention and commentary within industry. Much of the attention has focussed on one of the outcomes of the decision…

For part I of this article, click here. I. Allegation Regarding Creation of Law: Lust? Now, to tackle head on the main argument of the authors: that the AB creates law when it has no business to do so.  But, we ask: who is to blame? The WTO agreements as a whole (not just with…

Introduction Initially, we were unsure whether or not we should get embroiled in discussions flowing from the provocative three-part blog post by Jorge Miranda and Manuel Sánchez-Miranda (“authors”) on the topic of the World Trade Organization (“WTO”) Appellate Body’s (“AB”) current crisis.[1]  The main argument of those authors was that the crisis is “in large…

This article was first published by Air Cargo. On occasion, life has a habit of appearing to imitate art. Both Beckett’s ‘Waiting for Godot’ and Kafka’s ‘The Castle’ are now widely being considered as contemporary literary representations of the UK’s tortured Brexit process. Both works are underpinned by the themes of frustration and absurdity, with the…

5G is the most advanced technology in mobile communications. In fall 2018, at the forefront in Europe, Italy arranged a successful multi-billion euro auction for 5G spectrum. On the side, the administration allowed a few operators to convert old WiMax licenses to 5G usage, for a few million euro. A legal battle arose. In November…

Policy actors and broad societal and scientific movements from around the world call for action in order to address the problem of climate change. The urgency is beyond doubt. But labour law scholarship, so far and largely speaking, still ignores or barely touches the subject. Furthermore, labour law has not yet developed a real strategy…

Agricultural Industry

The ‘digital agricultural revolution’ and ambitions for technology in the workplace Industry 4.0. This is the name used by the European Parliament in 2015 to describe the convergence of changes in a variety of areas, including ‘the design, manufacture, operation and service of manufacturing systems and products.’ The 4.0 in Industry 4.0 denotes the ‘fourth…

Introduction The recent WTO Panel report in India-Export Related Measures (DS541) has significant implications for various export promotion schemes implemented by WTO Members. In this case, the United States challenged certain schemes implemented by India under the Foreign Trade Policy. These included the Export Oriented Unit (EOU) Scheme and Sector-Specific Schemes, Merchandise Exports from India…

This article was first published by Daily Cargo News. As much of Australia’s focus was taken by the Melbourne Cup carnival, the leaders of 15 of the 16 nations negotiating the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) announced the conclusion of ‘text-based’ negotiations with formal signing now expected in 2020. The announcement was made during the third RCEP summit…

This article was first published by Daily Cargo News. The Australian Trusted Trader Programme (ATTP) is one of the lead offerings of the Australian Border Force (ABF) and represents an example of how industry and government can work closely together to co-develop a program which has largely delivered on its intended outcomes and is actively supported…

In Part I of this post we introduce the subject and provide a first example of problematic AB findings. In Part II we discuss two additional examples. In this Part III we explain how the AB adopted an approach to creating case law that is “super hardline” as compared to how case law is created…

In Part I of this post we introduce the subject and provide a first example of problematic AB findings. In this Part II we discuss two additional examples. In Part III we explain how the AB adopted an approach to creating case law that is “super hardline” as compared to how case law is created…

The WTO dispute settlement system runs a serious risk of regressing by year end into the conditions that prevailed in the GATT era. The difference between the GATT and the WTO formulations of dispute settlement is gigantic. Under the GATT, compliance by the defendant with dispute settlement findings was, in practice, voluntary; under the WTO,…

In its judgement of 17 October 2019, in the case of López Ribalda v. Spain, the Grand Chamber Applications nos. 1874/13 and 8567/13) of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) revised the former judgement of the third section of the court. The Court now held that video surveillance of workers did not violate the right to privacy…