JournalTOCs

International Journal of Public Law and Policy
Journal Prestige (SJR): 0.108

Number of Followers: 13

Hybrid journal (It can contain Open Access articles)
ISSN (Print) 2044-7663 - ISSN (Online) 2044-7671
Published by Inderscience Publishers

[450 journals]

Conceptualising the complexity-reducing role of societal trust in
transnational economic regulation - towards an interdisciplinary research
methodology
- Authors: Hongyu Shu, Cheng Guo, Yitong Song, Xianbao Chen, Shuang Luo
  Pages: 193 - 214
  Abstract: Trust in the international economic legal order has been associated with an historic global expansion of trade and investment. That trust is at constant, if not imminent, risk of erosion, and may even, in the perception of some, already be in the process of erosion. The interaction between trust and the notion of complexity may hold the key to understanding that process, whether actual or potential. On the premise of that interaction, an evolutionary interpretation of the transnational regulation of economic private-public relationships as a complex adaptive system may indicate whether and how trust in this context should be restored. The paper sketches the contours of an interdisciplinary research agenda aimed at exploring and investigating the proposition that an evolutionary interpretation of complexity in transnational economic relations may help to situate and explain that complexity and, thereby, to better understand the practical importance of trust in transnational economic regulation.
  Keywords: socio-legal method; complexity; trust; evolutionary game theory; transnational economic regulation
  Citation: International Journal of Public Law and Policy, Vol. 6, No. 3 (2019) pp. 193 - 214
  PubDate: 2019-10-08T23:20:50-05:00
  DOI: 10.1504/IJPLAP.2019.102868
  Issue No: Vol. 6, No. 3 (2019)
Effective, justifiable, necessary: the panel's assessment of
Australia's tobacco plain packaging measures
- Authors: Hongyu Shu, Cheng Guo, Yitong Song, Xianbao Chen, Shuang Luo
  Pages: 215 - 235
  Abstract: A key challenge facing the World Trade Organisation (WTO) today is the rapidly eroding trust in the trade liberalising values it embodies. Among other criticisms, its rules have long been perceived as constraining the ability of national governments to intervene in economic practices to advance important societal goals, such as public health. Refuting this popular belief, Australia's successful defence of its tobacco plain packaging (TPP) measures in a recent WTO dispute stands as a welcome reaffirmation of the WTO's capacity to adequately balance trade obligations with members' right to regulate. This paper examines the Panel's findings in the TPP dispute in relation to two provisions of the WTO Agreements which reflect a balance between trade and non-trade values; Article 2.2 of the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement or TBT) and Article 20 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement or TRIPS).
  Keywords: tobacco plain packaging; WTO; TRIPS Agreement; TBT Agreement; trademarks
  Citation: International Journal of Public Law and Policy, Vol. 6, No. 3 (2019) pp. 215 - 235
  PubDate: 2019-10-08T23:20:50-05:00
  DOI: 10.1504/IJPLAP.2019.102875
  Issue No: Vol. 6, No. 3 (2019)
Mind the compliance gap: managing trustworthy partnerships for sustainable
development in the European Union's free trade agreements
- Authors: Denise PrÃ©vost, Iveta AlexoviÄovÃ¡
  Pages: 236 - 269
  Abstract: Recent years have seen intensified interest in the labour and environment provisions in the EU's FTAs. The question has arisen whether the incorporation of 'trade and sustainable development' (TSD) chapters in the EU's FTAs deliver on their promise of using the EU's trade power to effectively promote the protection of the environment and improved working conditions in third countries. In particular, the compliance gap between the TSD provisions and their implementation has come to the forefront of the debate. Concerns have been raised that the EU's'promotional approach' based on dialogue and cooperation is less effective that the 'sanctions-based' approach followed by the US and Canada. This article examines the mechanisms for compliance in the TSD chapters in recent EU FTAs and argues that they hold greater promise for real improvements in labour and environmental standards than a sanctions-based enforcement system. However, it posits that, to be effective, and thereby gain the trust of civil society, the EU's 'promotional' approach must be supported by effective mechanisms for transparency, institutionalised dialogue and accountability.
  Keywords: EU; free trade agreements; trade and sustainable development; TSD; environmental and labour standards; enforceability; compliance mechanisms; promotional approach; managerial approach; sanctions
  Citation: International Journal of Public Law and Policy, Vol. 6, No. 3 (2019) pp. 236 - 269
  PubDate: 2019-10-08T23:20:50-05:00
  DOI: 10.1504/IJPLAP.2019.102874
  Issue No: Vol. 6, No. 3 (2019)
Patent boxes and the erosion of trust in trade and in governance
- Authors: Denise PrÃ©vost, Iveta AlexoviÄovÃ¡
  Pages: 270 - 304
  Abstract: Patent boxes spawned trust concerns in trade but also in governance given the migration of enterprises and of intellectual property assets only for tax reasons. The G-20 and the OECD reacted with soft law measures introducing the nexus to R'D (the proportional expenses related to it) as a standard to restore trust in governance (as requirement for governments issuing post-BEPS patent boxes and IP regimes) and substantial activities as a standard to restore trust in enterprises engaged in the IP trade. The new standards apply the rationale of input incentives to the back end of the innovation chain. The crucial question is whether the solutions found are appropriate and suitable to restore trust without hindering innovation and entrepreneurship. While dealing with such question, the work shows a number of shortcomings in regard IP regimes after BEPS Action 5 and how a narrow tax approach may lead to inefficiencies and frustration.
  Keywords: patent boxes; output incentives; input incentives; IP regimes; nexus approach; modified nexus approach; research and development; intellectual capital
  Citation: International Journal of Public Law and Policy, Vol. 6, No. 3 (2019) pp. 270 - 304
  PubDate: 2019-10-08T23:20:50-05:00
  DOI: 10.1504/IJPLAP.2019.102882
  Issue No: Vol. 6, No. 3 (2019)