Mr Christopher Thomas

This course is available on the MSc in Development Studies, Master of Laws and Master of Laws (extended part-time study). This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

This course is capped at 30 students. Students must apply through Graduate Course Choice on LSE for You.

The aim of the course is to study in detail those aspects of public international law which are concerned with international economic relations. We will concentrate on the core principles, norms and policies of international trade governed by the World Trade Organization. The course topics may include: • Historical background of the international economic order • Theoretical approaches to international political economy • WTO decision-making and dispute settlement • GATT/WTO basic principles: MFN, national treatment, tariffs, quotas and exceptions • Selected additional topics chosen from amongst: Trade in Services; Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights; Technical Barriers to Trade; Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures; Subsidies and Countermeasures; Anti-Dumping; Relationship between the WTO and regional integration; Trade and public health / environment / human rights / development.

20 hours of seminars in the MT. 2 hours of seminars in the ST.

There will be a reading week in week 6.

One 2,000 word essay.

Recommended: Lester, Mercurio, and Davies, World Trade Law: Text, Materials and Commentary (2nd ed, Hart, 2012); Trebilcock, Howse, and Eliason, The Regulation of International Trade (4th ed, Routledge, 2012); Van den Bossche, The Law and Policy of the World Trade Organization: Text, Cases and Materials (3rd ed, Cambridge UP, 2013).

Exam (100%, duration: 2 hours, reading time: 15 minutes) in the main exam period.