Digital Trade Law

This course takes place on April 23, April 30 and May 7.

The course explores the dynamic field of digital trade governance. It offers a deep understanding of the topic of digital trade, as well as of the emergent regulatory framework that governs it. This includes the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the detailed framework of rules developed in preferential trade agreements (PTAs). The course covers in this latter sense major agreements, such as the CPTPP, the USMCA and the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement and gives a clear sense of the positioning of the key stakeholders within the preferential trade landscape and under the WTO plurilateral negotiations under the Joint Initiative on E-Commerce.

The course also explores the new generation of Digital Economy Agreements (DEAs) as legal innovation in the domain of digital trade regulation and as a new model of international cooperation in a technologically fluid environment. While the focus of the course is on global trade law, it also explores the important interfaces with domestic data governance regimes and the contestations around digital trade and privacy; digital trade and human rights; digital trade and sustainability, as well as data inequalities and the development dimension of global digital trade rulemaking.