Whereas developed countries were the main players in the GATT dispute settlement mechanism, the era of the WTO saw a sharp increase in the developing countries’ participation in trade disputes. Thus, developing countries are active complainants and defendants in the WTO dispute settlement...

The WHO estimates that traditional medicine(s) (TM) are used in every country around the world in some capacity and that in much of the developing world 70–95% of the population relies on these TM for primary care. It is estimated that at least 25% of all modern medicines are derived, either...

The growth of international trade in recent years has highlighted the importance of customs authorities as the gateway to the global market. However, border delays and inefficiencies resulting from cumbersome documentation requirements have disrupted the flow of goods and acted as a non-tariff...

This article inquires into the Organisation pour l’harmonisation du droit des affaires en Afrique (OHADA)’s claims to innovation for its law reform processes and into its ambition to become a precedent for pursuing legal integration among countries elsewhere in Africa and in the world. It...

Most African countries are WTO Members, and yet to date none has been a complainant in dispute settlement proceedings. One possible reason is that the WTO enforcement regime is not well suited to smaller complainants whose imports from a larger defendant represent only a small share of that...

To date, African states have been called before 62 tribunals of the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID); 26 cases are pending. Recently, foreign investors have invoked Bilateral Investment Treaty provisions to challenge legislation aimed at addressing...

The paper describes the evolution of legal ideas underlying authoritative discourse used as grounds for changes in economic policy in Brazil. It examines the role of legal ideas in the shaping of policy since the rise of enlarged administrative power in the nineteenth century to the emergence of...

International investments in developing countries are fraught with varied influences, competing interests and contestations about their contribution to development. This article examines the main vehicle of foreign investment – international investment law (IIAs) – to ascertain its role as a...

Services liberalisation has gradually become very important for growth in developed and less-developed countries alike and can, as such, be seen as development prospects for sub-Saharan Africa where numerous economic integration attempts are stories of repeated failures. Despite the abundant...