Europe: Managing the COVID-19 Crisis
The special online edition of the European University Institute’s annual conference “The State of the Union” (SoU) will take place on Friday, 8 May 2020, and will focus on “Europe: Managing the COVID-19 Crisis”. The day will start with a session on COVID-19: Health Policy and Society (10.00-11.30 CEST). This will be followed by the afternoon session, COVID-19: Economic Policies for the Aftermath (13.00-14.30 CEST) and will close with COVID-19: Global Cooperation (17.30-19.00 CEST). Sessions will be accessible to all, regardless of location, with no registration or sign up necessary. The full programme may be accessed here.
COVID-19 Caribbean Responses Database and Trade Quick Guide – Updated May 5 2020
Our SRC COVID-19 Caribbean Responses Database has been updated as at May 5, 2020. Please see the updated database here. Our SRC Trade Quick Guide on ‘COVID-19 and Trade Implications for CARICOM’ has also been updated and may be found here.
A Legal Assessment of the Impact of Brexit on UK-CARICOM Relations
Tara Leevy$*Businesses will benefit from a series of trade continuity agreements signed between the UK and CARICOM countries, which trade continuity agreements will maintain current arrangements with countries in the Caribbean post Brexit.[1]
The benefit of those
trade continuity agreements is that they eliminate tariffs on all goods
imported from CARIFORUM states into the UK, whilst Caribbean states will gradually
continue to cut import tariffs on most of the region’s imports from the UK. [2]
Trade agreements with B…
Barbados PM makes case for Vulnerability Index in Amanpour interview
In an interview with veteran CNN International journalist, Christiane Amanpour, on the impact of COVID-19 in Barbados, that country’s Prime Minister, the Hon. Mia Amor Mottley, made the case for a vulnerability index to be used, inter alia, to determine countries’ eligibility for aid. The interview took place yesterday April 29, 2020. Prime Minister Mottley noted that “when we had 9/11, we had other issues that were imposed on us on a one- size-fits-all prescription. Now we have this pandemic. We need global leadership similar to what we had post-World War II to become — to be able to recognize that we need a plan that protects not just the strongest among us, but also the most vulnerable.” On the vulnerability index, Prime Minister Mottley stated that “the Commonwealth Secretariat has, in fact, settled on a framework since 30 years ago, 1989, 31 years ago. We believe it needs to be revisited.” This is welcomed news for the SRC which is currently working on creating its own SRC Trade Vulnerability Index. Our working research paper may be accessed here. Watch the Prime Minister’s full interview here:
SRC congratulates UWI Cave Hill Moot Team on 2nd Place Finish at North American Round of John H Jackson WTO Moot Court Competition
The SRC wishes to congratulate The University of the West Indies Cave Hill (UWI Cave Hill) Moot Team to the John H Jackson WTO Moot Court Competition which placed 2nd in the North American Round earlier this month. The team consisted of Sarah Baksh, Kara John and Matthew Chin Barnes (team captain). The Overall Winner was Harvard Law School. The UWI Cave Hill Team placed 2nd and was also awarded the Best Memorial for the Complainant, Best Memorial for the Respondent, Best Overall Memorial and Ms Kara John was awarded the Best Orator in the Grand Finals. This is only the second time that the UWI participated in this competition. The team was ably coached by Mr. Westmin James, Lecturer in Law in The UWI Cave Hill’s Faculty of Law. Have a read of the students’ experience as detailed on the Afronomics Law Blog below:
Our SRC Newsletter for April 2020 is now out!
Our monthly SRC Newsletter for April 2020 is now out! In this edition, we include two new Trading Thoughts columns and our latest content on COVID-19 and trade. Have a read of our latest edition here.
Transforming Small States’ Participation in International Relations – One Online Meeting at a Time
Nick Ashton-Hart$*While it is largely invisible to the public, behind the scenes the biggest change to intergovernmental meetings in our lifetimes is taking place: they’re going online. The outbreak of COVID-19 is forcing this transition which, difficult, could pave the way for greater participation and openness in international affairs. Smaller countries like the Caribbean should disproportionately benefit.
Until last month, intergovernmental affairs have been conducted almost entirely face-to-face. Since that is no longer safe, the United Nations, its specialized agencies, and other international organizations are scrambling to implement the technology and processes to meet online…
What the new Appeal-Arbitration System Might Mean for the Future of WTO Dispute Settlement
Dr. Jan Yves Remy$*As COVID-19 continues to grip the world’s attention, a consequential new development has crept into the halls of the dispute settlement system at the World Trade Organization (WTO). On 27 March 2020, 16 of the WTO’s 164 Members announced their agreement to use arbitration procedures provided for under WTO rules as a temporary fix to conduct WTO appeals. First touted as a possible (academic) solution to the then impending crisis at the WTO, the Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement pursuant to Article 25 of the DSU (or the MPIA) has emerged as a concrete response to the halting of operations at the Appellate Body since December last year. Once it is formally communicated to the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body …
What COVID-19 Teaches About Caribbean Vulnerability and Resilience
Jan Yves Remy, Chelcee Brathwaite and Alicia Nicholls$*The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is making the global economy sick. Like the pathological disease itself which has been declared a pandemic, COVID-19 has invaded the global economic bloodstream, placing its vital organs in distress, with no immediate cure. Production chains are being disrupted, international travel is shrinking, oil prices are falling, food security concerns are heightening, foreign direct investment is contracting, currencies are plunging, stock markets are crashing. Whether large or small, no country is immune from this contagion.
Caribbean states are no strangers to cataclysmic events which halt entire economies, production cycles and all sense of normalcy. With i…
Special SRC Newsletter on COVID-19 & CCJ Advisory Opinion out
In this special edition of our monthly SRC Newsletter we look at two major developments which have occurred over the past month! The on-going COVID-19 outbreak has caused a campus-wide shutdown forcing us to transition our normal and OECS-MITP cohorts online. In a new Trading Thoughts article, we look at what the on-going COVID-19 pandemic teaches us about Caribbean vulnerability and resilience. We have also included our updated SRC Trade Quick Trade on COVID-19 and Caribbean trade. This month the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) made history by delivering its first advisory opinion concerning the legality of opt outs to freedom of movement. Our second new Trading Thoughts article examines the reasoning and legal and practical implications of this historic decision. We at the SRC care about your safety during this time. We will be back to normal operation as soon as we can. In the meantime, you can still contact us through our website and email and follow us on social media! Read our latest newsletter here.