Personal Jurisdiction for Internet Torts: Towards an International Solution

As an introduction to the issue of Internet tort jurisdiction, Part I will recount the Yahoo! case, the most divisive case on the issue recently. Parts II and III will give an overview of the current law on Internet tort jurisdiction in two different legal systems: the United States and Germany. They will show that several recent cases in both countries have applied targeting approaches as advocated by Michael Geist and Rufus Pichler. However, insecurity remains and jurisprudence is far from consistent. Part IV will argue that insecurity about Internet jurisdiction could be reduced significantly if countries were to commit themselves in an international convention to abide by a targeting approach along with guidelines for relevant criteria. Such an international law approach would limit the risk for website hosts of being dragged into court anywhere in the world. Unfortunately, an opportunity to pursue such a regime during the negotiations at the Hague Convention on Jurisdiction and Foreign Judgements in Civil and Commercial Matters ( Judgements Project ) has been lost with the collapse of those negotiation

Los Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales en la Organización Mundial del Comercio

The article analyzes the complex relationship between the legal regime of international human rights law, particularly under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and the system of the World Trade Organization (WTO). In the first part, the author addresses this issue from a normative perspective and seeks to answer whether the WTO is bound by the ICESCR and if the Covenant can be applied in WTO dispute settlement to justify violations of WTO law. In the second part the author empirically analyzes the extent of the use of human rights arguments in the debates of WTO bodies, using the documents of the WTO database. In the conclusions the author presents the results of his inquiry.El artículo analiza la compleja relación que existe entre el régimen de los derechos humanos, particularmente el que surge de las obligaciones que derivan del Pacto Internacional de Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales (PIDESC), y el sistema de la Organización Mundial de Comercio (OMC). En una primera parte el autor aborda esta problemática desde una perspectiva normativa y busca responder si la OMC está obligada por el PIDESC y si éste puede aplicarse a la solución de controversias de forma tal de permitir a los Estados justificar violaciones a la normativa de la OMC como resultado de su deseo de implementar las obligaciones del Pacto. En una segunda parte el autor analiza empíricamente el uso de derechos humanos dentro de los debates de los órganos de la OMC, a partir del estudio de los documentos de la base de datos de la OMC. El autor presenta los resultados de este trabajo en sus conclusiones

Los Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales en la Organización Mundial del Comercio

The article analyzes the complex relationship between the legal regime of international human rights law, particularly under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and the system of the World Trade Organization (WTO). In the first part, the author addresses this issue from a normative perspective and seeks to answer whether the WTO is bound by the ICESCR and if the Covenant can be applied in WTO dispute settlement to justify violations of WTO law. In the second part the author empirically analyzes the extent of the use of human rights arguments in the debates of WTO bodies, using the documents of the WTO database. In the conclusions the author presents the results of his inquiry.El artículo analiza la compleja relación que existe entre el régimen de los derechos humanos, particularmente el que surge de las obligaciones que derivan del Pacto Internacional de Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales (PIDESC), y el sistema de la Organización Mundial de Comercio (OMC). En una primera parte el autor aborda esta problemática desde una perspectiva normativa y busca responder si la OMC está obligada por el PIDESC y si éste puede aplicarse a la solución de controversias de forma tal de permitir a los Estados justificar violaciones a la normativa de la OMC como resultado de su deseo de implementar las obligaciones del Pacto. En una segunda parte el autor analiza empíricamente el uso de derechos humanos dentro de los debates de los órganos de la OMC, a partir del estudio de los documentos de la base de datos de la OMC. El autor presenta los resultados de este trabajo en sus conclusiones

The UK Parliament, the UK-Rwanda Agreement and the CPTPP - Why the UK Parliament’s Weak Role in Treaty-Making Needs Reform

On April 1, 2024, the Ponsonby Rule, the constitutional convention that set the standard for Parliament’s role in how the UK makes treaties, turned 100. But the procedure for Parliament’s involvement in treaty-making is no longer fit for purpose. As the UK-Rwanda and CPTPPP Agreements show, the UK Parliament’s role in treaty-making must be reformed. In particular, the House of Commons must obtain the power to have a formal vote on international agreements before they can become binding on the UK