International Law and its Relationship to Trade, Environment and Sovereignty (PDF)

Doktorarbeit / Dissertation aus dem Jahr 2012 im Fachbereich Jura - Europarecht, Völkerrecht, Internationales Privatrecht, , Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: The dissertation investigated the interrelationship among three variables: International law, environment and sovereignty. The environmental issue has move beyond local and even national boundaries into the foreign policy debate, since actions in one country have an adverse environmental effects on the others.
As a consequence, public interests has intensified, in the light of high profile trade and environmental concerns that extends into some of those new sensitive areas such as the role of science in risk management, the conservation of endangered species, the cross border movement of Genetically Modified Organisms and measures to protect public health.
The study aimed at searching for the common contradictions among the three variables in the dissertation, with focus on the Cartagena Protocol. The study was undertaken by using the integration of two stages of approaches: employing a multiple empirical study as topics of an interview oriented method; and applying theoretical devices to guide the dimensions of the conceptual framework and the interpretive findings.
The data were collected from sources that included books, journals, official documents, Internet websites and interviews. From all these generated ideas, analysis of the dynamics of trade and environmental issues between regimes and member states were carried out.
The findings from the study showed that liberalization and expansion of the trade regime have resulted in a unique organizational structure and developed various non-trade related issues; MEAs' trade measures have been negotiated by different aims and desires from the WTO's environment related rules. In the case of Biosafety Protocol, there were dilemmas during negotiations on conditions that aimed to make strong rules possible. The study found out that the WTO and the Cartagena Protocol on Diversity will impose slightly different regulations as against the sovereign laws on biosafety. Hence, the relationship between the WTO and the Biosafety Protocol Agreements has led to debates over their extremes; and constitutionalism of regimes has also raised judicial power over bureaucratic power.
It is recommended that the complexity of international negotiations and disputes from potential tensions can also be prevented by encouraging an exchange of experts between MEAs and the WTO.