Making WTO, Preferential Trade And Bilateral Investment Treaties Work for Everyone

Mission StatementTradeLab aims to empower countries and smaller stakeholders to reap the full

development benefits of global trade and investment rules. Through pro bono legal clinics and practica, TradeLab connects students and experienced legal professionals to public officials especially in developing countries, small and medium-sized enterprises and civil society to build lasting legal capacity. Through ‘learning by doing’ we want to train and promote the next generation of trade and investment lawyers. By providing information

and support on negotiations, compliance and litigation, we strive to make WTO, preferential trade and bilateral investment treaties work for everyone.

BeneficiariesStudents

Legal Professionals

Objective

To broaden the pool of individuals and stakeholders that have access to the benefits of trade and investment treaties, and to build lasting legal capacity and knowledge of

international economic law.

Overview

What is TradeLab?

Online Platform

Legal Clinics

How Does it Work?

Who Do We Help?

Project Examples

What is TradeLab? TradeLab is an independent, Geneva-based, non-governmental organization bringing

together a global network of academic institutions and experienced legal professionals

We work with various beneficiaries, including governments & public officials, trade associations & businesses (particularly SMEs), and civil society groups (NGOs)

Three organizational components– Online Platform, Legal Clinics and Research

Utilizing innovations in internet technologies and legal education we provide pro bono legal work in four key areas– Information, Negotiation, Compliance and Litigation

Funding for TradeLab Coordinator Technology Partner

TradeLab Platform Allows beneficiaries to submit

their trade and investment law issues in a user-friendly manner

Matches these issues to relevant law clinics and legal professionals (mentors), through an intake questionnaire

Maintains a public knowledge base of data, research, common trade and investment questions, and past project summaries

www.tradelab.org

TradeLab Platform

TradeLab Legal Clinics

The Graduate InstituteGeneva

Georgetown UniversityWashington D.C.

University of OttawaCanada

IELPOBarcelona

Arusha, Tanzania Jindal Global Law SchoolSonipat, India

Qatar UniveristyDoha

“Students Solve ‘Real Problems’ for ‘Real Clients’” (Prof. Steger, Ottawa)

Legal Clinic Components Beneficiaries explain their legal need to the TradeLab Plaform, an Academic Supervisor of one of the legal

clinics, or the TradeLab Coordinator

TradeLab Coordinator assigns the project to a legal clinic, and in coordination with the Academic Supervisor, matches it to an appropriate mentor

Academic Supervisor is a faculty member of one of our seven clinic institutions, and is supported by a Teaching Assistant for administrative assistance

Mentors are legal professionals in law firms, national or international organizations or academia with expertise in the project topic who agreed to give some of their time for free; they provide a guest lecture to the clinic on the basics of the legal question at issue and offer technical input to law students throughout the course of the project

Output can take various forms, and if public, is uploaded to the TradeLab Platform as a law guide:– Legal Memorandum – Draft / Model Legislation– Amicus Brief– Third Party Submission

TradeLab output is prepared on a pro bono basis by students as a pedagogical exercise. It is not professional legal advice and in no way establishes a client-attorney relationship.

From Question to OutputBeneficiary

TradeLab Platform

Legal Clinic

Academic Supervisors

Students

Output

Academic Supervisors

ProfessionalMentors

TradeLabCoordinator

How the Legal Clinics WorkStudents receive

description of projects before clinic start date

Project Teams selected & students discuss

projects in-class

Mentor Presentation (1 session for each

project)

First Meeting with Beneficiary

(after meeting with Academic Supervisor)

Session with Law Librarian & Skills

Sessions (legal writing, oral presentation)

First Draft for comments by Academic Supervisor

In-Class Mid-term Presentations

Second Draft for comments by Academic

Supervisor & Beneficiary

Second Meeting with Beneficiary

Third Draft

In-Class Final Presentations with

invited guests

Academic SupervisorsThe Graduate InstituteJoost PauwelynAnne SaabFuad Zarbiyev

Georgetown University Law CenterJennifer HillmanKatrin KuhlmannJoost Pauwelyn

University of OttawaDebra Steger

IELPO Barcelona Altagracia CuevasXavier FernandezSergio Puig

TRAPCA, TanzaniaTsotetsi Makong Thokozani Ngwira

Jindal Global Law School, IndiaPallavi KishoreJames Nedumpara

Qatar UniveristyTalal Abdulla Al-Emadi Francis BotchwayJon Truby

Mentors Mentors are legal professionals in law firms, national or international organizations or academia

with expertise in the project topic who agreed to give some of their time for free; they provide a guest lecture to the clinic (in person or online) on the basics of the legal question at issue and offer technical input to law students throughout the course of the project

Past MentorsPablo Bentes, Steptoe & Johnson (domestic content requirements)

Richard Chovanec, US Bureau of Customs & Border Protection (US rules of origin)

Nannette Christ, US International Trade Commission (assessing free trade agreements)

Larry Christensen, Miller & Chevalier (export controls)

Roberto Echandi, World Bank (prevention of investment disputes)

Anna Marhold, Assistant Professor, Tilburg Law School (trade & renewable energy)

Makane Mbengue, Associate Professor, University of Geneva, Law Faculty (FDI in Africa)

Niall Meagher, Executive Director, Advisory Centre on WTO Law (US trade remedy laws)

Jorge Miranda, King & Spalding (circumvention of anti-dumping duties)

Steve Orava, King & Spalding (trade & climate change)

Amelia Porges, Law Offices of Amelia Porges PLLC (dispute settlement in FTAs)

Andy Shoyer, Sidley & Austin (trade in services)

Please note that mentors listed here: only spoke in their personal capacity; only gave a presentation to the students and answered some questions; and they never worked directly with the beneficiary, nor, in any way, established a client-attorney relationship.

Who Do We Help? TradeLab legal clinics have taken on 65 unique projects from around the world

IOs25%

NGOs34%

SMEs8%

Governments & Public Offi-

cials34%

TradeLab Beneficiaries

By Project

NGOs 22

Govt. & Public Officials

22

International Organizations

16

SMEs 5

Past BeneficiariesGovernments & Public Officials

Mexico (Should Mexico Join ICSID?)

Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations Office (Designing a WTO-Consistent Customs Union)

Permanent Mission of Canada in Geneva (Retaliation under the WTO system: When does Nullification or Impairment Begin?)

European Parliament, Committee on International Trade (A Comparative Analysis of Generalised Systems of Preferences)

European Commission, Cabinet of the Trade Commissioner (‘Gold Standards’ for the International Investment Policy of the European Union after the Entry into Force of the Lisbon Treaty)

Small and Medium Sized Enterprises European SME invested & expropriated in the Middle East East African Business Association (Services Liberalization in East African Community)

Past BeneficiariesInternational Organizations

African Union (Drafting of Dispute Settlement Mechanism for CFTA)

CARICOM Secretariat (CARICOM Project)

UN Conference on Trade and Development (Tax Base Erosion and Profit Sharing)

International Monetary Fund (Consistency of Capital Flow Regulation Under the US Model BIT 2012, vis à vis the IMF and the WTO)

Non-Governmental Organizations

International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (China Rare Earths Export Quotas)

Black Market Watch (Illicit Trade and International Economic Law)

The People’s Pledge (The Future of the UK in Europe: Exit Scenarios and Their Implications on Trade Relations)

International Institute for Sustainable Development, Canadian Environmental Law Association, and Ecojustice Canada (Amicus Brief in WTO dispute on Canada Feed-In Tariffs for Renewable Energy)

Oxfam International (Questions of Compatibility with WTO Law of Trade Measures Taken under a New Climate Change Protocol)

“The Trade Law Practicum was a valuable and rewarding exercise. It enabled us to undertake detailed research on issues which are important to our beneficiaries and the legal analysis of the students was rigorous and high-quality.”

- Ben Czapnik, International Trade Centre, Geneva

“ The cooperation with the CLINIC-CTEI was fruitful and valuable. The joint-research greatly assisted us to identify legal issues and develop effective responses within a short period of time. The quality of work and professional attitude of students are truly impressive.”

-Lynne L.H. Cheng, Chief/ Associate Research Fellow, Taiwan Research Institute

Beneficiary Testimonials

“The Trade Law Clinic provided a strong, enthusiastic team, who provided strong analysis in a very collaborative fashion with us. The result was a strong piece of work, and the generation of new ideas that we would not have raised ourselves, producing real added value to our work.”

- Dalindyebo Shabalala, Director, Intellectual Property and Sustainable Development Project, Center for International Environmental Law

“Oxfam appreciates the opportunity for well thought, structured and brilliant legal opinions on critical issues that continue to remain the focus of our campaign work...we look forward to further collaboration with the trade law clinic next year.”

- Joy Kategekwa, Policy Adviser, Trade and Investment, OXFAM International

Beneficiary Testimonials

“The Trade Law Clinic has been an excellent opportunity to combine theoretical knowledge with practical experience and provided me with valuable experience in current international trade law issues.”

- Iris Koberg, MIS student from Austria

“The Institute's advanced trade law clinic gave me an exciting hands-on opportunity to put my legal education to work for an international non-governmental organization on a question of trade law. The Clinic was both challenging and enormously rewarding. Carefully framed issues ensured the relevance of the Clinic's work and the opportunity to present to a room of trade law officials from various WTO Members, NGO representatives, lawyers and students demonstrated its usefulness.”

-Christopher John Enne Hovius, MIS student from Canada

Student Testimonials

“The Trade Law Clinic offered me the opportunity to apply my theoretical knowledge about international trade law to a concrete project related to the on-going review of the WTO Dispute Settlement System. While Prof. Pauwelyn’s seminar on WTO jurisprudence provided very useful background knowledge and academic guidance, I enjoyed working directly with clients and gaining practical skills that will be invaluable for my professional future.”

- Christiane Ahlborn, MIS student from Germany

“A unique and great experience that goes beyond any other course. It gives students the opportunity to actually apply and practice law, to work closely with fellow students and professionals and to make a valuable contribution.”

-Babette Ancery, MIA student from The Netherlands

Student Testimonials

Projects

Information

Negotiation

Compliance

Litigation

Build legal capacity through researching, simplifying and making international economic law more accessible

1

2

3

4 Assist in preparing litigation briefs (including amicus briefs),

third party submissions, and legal memoranda at the WTO, in investor-state arbitration and other fora

Provide compliance assessment of proposed or existing legislation, drafting of model legislation or advocacy positions in the context of existing agreements on trade and investment

Offer background research and support in the negotiations of trade and investment agreements

Example: InformationA Plurilateral Treaty on Investment: Finding Common Ground after the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) AgreementBeneficiary: World Economic Forum

This project examines and evaluates the outlook of a plurilateral investment treaty with the TPP investment chapter as a template. The aim is to understand where the “plurilaterization” process is likely to lead us.

What are the areas of convergence? Where do conflicts remain? Who is moving with the process and who is not? What is the potential extension of existing plurilateral agreements? What are the barriers to the conclusion of new ones?

Other project examples: An Assessment of UK “Brexit” and Consequences under Trade & Investment Treaties Analysis of Illicit Trade under International Economic Law for NGO

Example: NegotiationShould Mexico Join ICSID?

This project is a comparative analysis between the ICSID system and the arbitration rules mostly referred to in Mexico’s International Investment Agreements (IIAs) to resolve investor-state disputes.

• Mexico’s status quo in international investment

• Analysis of specific procedural and substantive issues: ICSID, ICSID/AFR and UNCITRAL

• Implications of signing and/or ratifying the ICSID Convention

Other project examples: African Union, Continental Free Trade Area: Dispute Settlement Mechanism? East African Business Association: Services Commitments

Example: ComplianceModel Law for the Implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540: Export Controls and the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction in the CARICOM Member States

Beneficiary: CARICOM Secretariat

This project drafted a Model Law for Caribbean countries to implement United Nations Security Council resolution 1540 with regard to the prevention of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

From a treaty-based approach to a domestic law-based model act

Design of relevant authorities and coordinating authorities

Filling in the gaps with respect to substantive obligations under the UNSC Resolution 1540

Make language more trade friendly

Controlled Items and personnel requirements

Other project examples: Trade Provisions for a Proposed Carbon Tax Act (Confidential)

Analysis of WTO compliance of developing country oil & energy laws (Confidential)

Example: LitigationOptions for Antigua in Suspending Copyright-Related TRIPS Obligations against the US in the US-Gambling Case

This project analyzed ways in which Antigua could cross-retaliate against the United States, using the suspension of its obligations on copyright. Legal background Suspension of new and existing copyright grants Suspension of enforcement Practical models Potential conflicts between the Berne Convention and the WTO DSB decision and counter

arguments

Other project examples: Amicus Curiae brief for environmental NGO coalition in WTO Canada feed-in tariff dispute Viability analysis of potential WTO case for developing country against US trade remedy actions Drafting of investor-state complaint for SME expropriated in the Middle East

Research Identifying current access barriers to trade and investment agreements

Assessing past attempts to raise awareness of trade and investment rules and addressing legal capacity constraints

Identifying knowledge networks

Providing information on core concepts and specific trade and investment issues, through videos and law guides on our platform, drawing from past and current beneficiary needs

Alerting beneficiaries on trade or investment measures that may affect them

The TradeLab Network

Legal Clinics

Mentors

Research

Beneficiaries

Academic Supervisors Students

Law Firms

Legal Practitioners

Governments

SMEs

NGOs

TradeLab Platform

Contact UsJoost Pauwelyn, TradeLab Co-Founder

Graduate Institute, Geneva & Georgetown Law Centerjoost.pauwelyn@graduateinstitute.ch

Mengyi Wang, TradeLab Coordinator & Clinical Instructorwang@tradelab.org

www.tradelab.org

info@tradelab.org