No abstract

The Dispute Settlement Mechanism (DSM) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is facing the critical impasse, i.e., of the blockage of appointment of the Appellate Body (AB) members by the United States (US), which would impede its normal functioning in the foreseeable future. To address this imminent issue, this article proposes establishing within the WTO a mega-plurilateral dispute settlement mechanism in which the original Members of the WTO may choose not to participate. This new mechanism would resemble every other aspect of the current DSM. It should be noted the impasse needs to be addressed within a short period of time and this article highly advocates an earlier renegotiation of this new plurilateral dispute settlement agracceement.

The signature of the free trade agreement between China and Korea (China-Korea fta) on 1 June 2015 marked the first of this type in North-eastern Asia. Noteworthy is that Chapter 15 thereof, which has 31 articles, is dedicated to intellectual property rights (ipr). The ipr chapter covers general principles, copyright and related rights, trademarks, patents and utility model, genetic resources, traditional knowledge and folklore, plant variety protection, undisclosed information, and industrial design. This paper examines the ipr provisions in the China-Korea fta against the background of the evolving international regime for ipr protection and particularly the ipr provisions in the existing ftas which China has concluded and those Korea has concluded respectively, and then provides a critical evaluation of the ipr provisions in the China-Korea fta. It argues that China-Korea fta is a result of the convergence of various ipr regimes that both countries are shaping separately or jointly, and may serve as a model for upcoming ftas.

This paper examines the cross‐border effectiveness of bank resolution measures in the context of current and soon‐to‐be revised Chinese bank insolvency legislation, that is, the Bank Resolution Regulation. The general framework is regulated in the Chinese Enterprise Bankruptcy Law. With regard to the outgoing effects of Chinese bank resolution measures, the ultimate decision is in the hands of China's counterparts. However, it is proposed that the contractual approach could be a solution to enhance legal certainty. On the other hand, the incoming effectiveness of foreign resolution measures has to be firstly recognised in China. Three major tests in terms of recognition and enforcement are international agreement, reciprocity, and public policy exception. These criteria should be interpreted against the background of emerging international regime for bank resolution and latest development in the Chinese legal community.

The Statute of the International Court of Justice stipulates that judges shall exercise their powers impartially. We question the practicability of this statement and examine whether the voting pattern of the judges are biased. In this light, empirical research is conducted on cases adjudicated from 2005 to 2016. We find strong evidence that (1) judges favour their home States or appointing States; and (2) judges favour States that speak same majority language with their home States.