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Adam Segal of the Council of Foreign Relationsrecently labelled State sovereignty as a more 19th century concern. Considering the continuing evolution of the Responsibility to Protect and events in Iraq, Afganistan, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, is Mr Segal correct? Are we becoming sufficiently globalised to consider State Sovereignty less of a concern than it was in the 19th century? The centrality and importance that debates over security and immigration have or had in most of the current or recent elections around the world argues that Sovereignty is far from dead. Nonetheless, the recent and continuing crisis in the global financial system provides support for Mr Segal’s position.
Are we seeing a trend away from the centrality of Sovereignty in international and domestic law? Are we approaching a tipping point, after which globalisation will continue to inexorably strip away Sovereignty? Alternatively, is the current global position a low point for Sovereignty, from which we will return to a less globalised position, at least from the point of view of international and domestic law? Your thoughts?
The latest draft “modalities” on agricultural and non-agricultural trade were issued on 8 February 2008. The “modaliites” are the assessments of the chair of each of the Agriculture negotiating group, Ambassador Crawford Falconer, and the Non Agricultural Market Access (NAMA) negotiating group ,Ambassador Don Stephenson, on “what might be agreed for the formulas for cutting tariffs and trade-distorting agricultural subsidies, and related provisions”. The links from these pages are well worth reading for those interested in international trade law.
Christopher Langman, current head of the DFAT’s Office of Trade Negotiations, with particular responsibility for Australia’s participation in the WTO, presented a seminar to the Lowy Institute today.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has invited submissions on the implementation of the International Trade Integrity Act (2007) (the Act). The Act implements the first of the recommendations of the Cole Commission, and focuses upon Australia’s obligation to implement the sanctions of the United Nations Security Commission (UN-SC). That obligation is implemented through the Charter of the United Nations Act 1945 and the Customs Act 1901.
The timetable for the submissions is tight, and will require work over this weekend, 13 and 14 October 2007.
Please contact bothYu Zhang (Yu_Zhang@courts.nsw.gov.au) and myself, Robert Dunworth (rnd@cbp.com.au), by close of business tomorrow, Thursday, 11 October 2007, if you are interested in researching and drafting the NSW Young Lawyers International Law Committee submissions to DFAT in response to the above invitation.
We look forward to working with you.
The Lowy Institute is an independent international policy think tank based in Sydney. Its objective is to generate new ideas and dialogue on international developments and Australia’s role in the world. Its mandate is broad. It ranges across all the dimensions of international policy debate in Australia – economic, political and strategic – and it is not limited to a particular geographic region.
Check out their website for numerous useful research papers and project information.
Read what the State’s judges have to say on the challenges of international commercial litigation and arbitration.
