The Revised Handbook about the GATS General Agreement on Trade in Services for International Bar Association Member Bars

The Revised GATS Handbook updates the Handbook that was published ten years ago by the International Bar Association (IBA). The goal of the revised Handbook is to enable IBA Member Bars to understand their jurisdiction's current GATS obligations and to enable them to meaningfully engage with each other and with their government representatives regarding the current GATS negotiations that are taking place under the auspices of the World Trade Organization. The IBA's Revised GATS Handbook reviews the substantive provisions of the GATS; explains how these GATS substantive provisions apply in the context of legal services; sets forth some of the developments that have occurred since the adoption of the GATS and their relevance to legal services; and identifies where the debates have occurred with respect to legal services. It also reviews the actions the IBA has undertaken with respect to the GATS and discusses the rise in bilateral and regional trade agreements that include legal services. The Handbook is designed to provide the “big picture” information necessary for bar leaders who want to understand the significance of the GATS. But it is also designed to provide, as simply and as clearly as possible, the information and detail that every IBA Member Bar likely will need to know in order to respond to both technical and policy questions that Bars may be asked by their governments, including questions such as the bar's position about whether legal services should be included in its country's Schedule of Specific Commitments; whether any changes should be made to the way in which the country has "scheduled" legal services, including any market access or national treatment limitations for Modes 1-4; the classification system that should be used for new or revised legal services offers in the Doha Round of negotiations; and the bar's position regarding the proposed Disciplines on Domestic Regulation and whether they should be applied to the legal profession in the bar's country