Pre-Event Details

Inaugural CIL-NUS Academy of
International Trade

Thank you for your overwhelming response.
Registration has closed (8am, Singapore Time, 16 March 2023).
We hope to see you in our next iteration!

It is in the arena of world trade that the most important conflicts and battles, or cooperation and progress, take place and in which both overall prosperity and even pacific relations of our interdependent global society will be determined. The GATT/WTO constitutes the essential framework, the ‘Higher Law’ or even the ‘Economic Constitution’ of our international legal order.

In this Inaugural CIL-NUS Academy of International Trade, the fundamental building blocks of the international economic legal order will be highlighted, paying special attention to contemporary geopolitical pressures and the new regional agreements.

Spanning 32 classroom hours over 4 weeks (equivalent to a full module at leading law schools), this Academy taught by internationally-recognized trade law scholars is designed to achieve simultaneously 2 goals:

• • The general course of 8 lessons gives an overview of the system with a sharp outlining of its fundamental underlying legal principles.
  • The 4 specialist modules (2 lessons per week over 4 weeks) spotlight critical topics on (a) geopolitics and industrial policy, (b) dispute settlement, (c) regional trade agreements, and (d) digital trade and megaregional agreements.

Four types of audience are envisaged:

• • Those for whom international trade law is a principal professional occupation. We are confident that even this group will gain insight. There are always new ways to know that which we know.
  • Those whose professional legal activity is different but intersects with international trade law and may wish to have a better understanding of such intersection.
  • Those who may not even be lawyers. E.g. civil servants in trade policy areas, economic operators whose business activity are impacted by the international trading system and who, too, want to understand the fundamental legal principles of the system.
  • Students, doctoral candidates, and postdoctoral scholars are also very welcome.

Registration and Attendance:

This Academy is free of charge. Participants need to attend the General Course and choose two (or more) specialist modules. Participants who attend at least 80% of lessons will receive a Certificate of Attendance.

Video Recordings:

We understand that there may be some of you who may not be able to attend some lessons due to work exigencies. Video recordings of all lessons are available. To access them, you will need to register for the Academy.

Exam:

Those who wish may sit an exam (requiring answering 1 question from the general course content and 2 questions from the specialist modules, i.e. 3 answers in total) on Saturday, 20 May 2023. If successfully passed, candidates will receive a Certificate issued by CIL NUS.

The Academy instructors are:
Joseph Weiler New York University School of Law
Sungjoon Cho Chicago-Kent College of Law
Michelle Zang Victoria University of Wellington
Johanna Jacobsson IE Law School
Thomas Streinz New York University School of Law

Week 1

Mon 10–Tue 11 April 2023, 3–5pm Singapore Time

Welcome Remarks by Dr Nilüfer Oral
General course: The Essential GATT in the New Geopolitical Context I
Instructor: Joseph Weiler

Wed 12–Thu 13 April, 11am–1pm Singapore Time
Specialist module: Geopolitics and Industrial Policy in Global Trade
Instructor: Sungjoon Cho

Week 2

Mon 24–Tue 25 April 2023, 3–5pm Singapore Time
General course: The Essential GATT in the New Geopolitical Context II
Instructor: Joseph Weiler

Wed 26–Thu 27 April 2023, 3–5pm Singapore Time
Specialist module: WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism: Is It Still the Crown Jewel of World Trade?
Instructor: Michelle Zang

Week 3

Tue 9–Wed 10 May 2023, 3–5pm Singapore Time
General course: The Essential GATT in the New Geopolitical Context III
Instructor: Joseph Weiler

Thu 11–Fri 12 May 2023, 3–5pm Singapore Time
Specialist module: Regional Trade Agreements - The Law and the Practice
Instructor: Johanna Jacobsson 

Week 4

Tue 16–Wed 17 May 2023, 3–5pm Singapore Time
General course: The Essential GATT in the New Geopolitical Context IV
Instructor: Joseph Weiler

Thu 18–Fri 19 May 2023, 1.30–3.30pm Singapore Time
Specialist module: Megaregional Agreements and Digital Trade
Instructor: Thomas Streinz