Search results

The module is delivered by Dr George Forji Amin.

The module focuses on the legal framework governing international trade relations, with particular attention to the rules, institutions, and principles that structure global commerce. It examines the evolution, objectives, and operation of the multilateral trading system, especially under the World Trade Organization (WTO), while also engaging with regional and bilateral trade arrangements. The module explores substantive areas such as trade in goods and services, trade-related intellectual property rights, dispute settlement, and the regulation of non-tariff barriers, alongside contemporary challenges including development, sustainability, and inequality in global trade.

Students would be expected to demonstrate an awareness of the economic, political, and historical contexts in which international trade law operates, as well as its implications for states at different levels of development. The module encourages critical engagement with orthodox and alternative perspectives on international trade law, including debates around fairness, power asymmetries, and the position of developing countries and the Global South within the global trading system.

After studying this module, you should be able to:

• Demonstrate a sound understanding of the core principles, sources, and institutional structures of international trade law.

• Critically analyse key WTO agreements and dispute settlement decisions, applying legal reasoning to complex trade issues.

• Evaluate the interaction between international trade law and broader concerns such as development, environmental protection, and economic sovereignty.

• Assess the role of regional and bilateral trade agreements within the wider multilateral trading system.

• Develop well-structured, research-informed arguments that reflect both doctrinal knowledge and critical insight into contemporary trade law debates.

This module is designed to equip you with both the technical legal knowledge and the analytical skills necessary to engage thoughtfully and critically with one of the most influential areas of public international law.