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8 - A call for a WTO ministerial decision on trade and human rights

from PART III - ‘Trade and…’ linkages

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2011

By
Barnali Choudhury ,
Katja Gehne ,
Simone Heri ,
Franziska Humbert ,
Christine Kaufmann  and
Krista Nadakavukaren Schefer
Edited by
Thomas Cottier  and
Panagiotis Delimatsis
Barnali Choudhury
Affiliation:
Charleston School of Law, Canada
Katja Gehne
Affiliation:
University of Bern, Switzerland
Simone Heri
Affiliation:
International Commission of Jurists, Bern and Geneva, Switzerland
Franziska Humbert
Affiliation:
Labour Rights at Oxfam, Berlin, Germany
Christine Kaufmann
Affiliation:
University of Zurich, Switzerland
Krista Nadakavukaren Schefer
Affiliation:
University of Basel, Switzerland
Thomas Cottier
Affiliation:
World Trade Institute
Panagiotis Delimatsis
Affiliation:
Universiteit van Tilburg, The Netherlands
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Summary

KEY MESSAGES

∙ International trade law and human rights share a common origin as mutually supportive bodies of law to protect individual freedom. Yet, to a large extent they developed in isolation from each other. As a result, the two regimes are now part of the fragmented landscape of international law. On the one hand, human rights protect individual rights that are essential for international trade, such as rights to freely pursue economic activities or freedom of expression. On the other hand, trade rules may jeopardise the realisation of human rights, especially social rights.

∙ In order to avoid negative impacts of this fragmentation, mechanisms for solving conflicts between the two regimes are necessary. We argue that such mechanisms require neither a rigid concept of hierarchy of norms nor new substantive obligations to be imposed on states. Instead, we call for appropriate procedures and coordination. This general procedural approach is illustrated for specific human rights and their relation to international trade law.

Introduction

At first glance, human rights and trade regimes do not have much in common. Human rights' primary focus on ensuring human dignity for each individual is absent from trade's commitment to ensuring that nations can flourish economically. Separate in their legal development in the twentieth century, human rights and trade regimes are, however, as offspring of an international post-world war order, both instruments of the same overall global interest, which is to promote peace and human welfare.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Prospects of International Trade Regulation
From Fragmentation to Coherence
 , pp. 323 - 358
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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