Faculty of Law Graduate Projects

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https://hdl.handle.net/1974/6157

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    The Future of Trade is Inclusive: Canada’s Approach to Globalised Free Trade
    (2022-11-03) Frisch, Emma
    In response to people feeling left behind from experiencing trade-related gains, Canada has developed “inclusive” trade policies that attempt to redistribute trade- related opportunities to traditionally underrepresented groups like women, indigenous peoples, and small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs). While Canada has framed “inclusive” policies as being both socially and economically beneficial, the policies have been met with apprehension due to the impression that “inclusive” policies promote non-trade values. Despite the schism of “trade values” and “non-trade values”, the types of measures included in free trade agreements have expanded and adapted to societal and economic needs over time. Given the discontent surrounding globalized free trade, “inclusive” policies offer a path forward that could be both socially and economically more sustainable. This thesis endeavours to investigate if and how Canada’s inclusive trade policies have been adopted in the text of agreements, what impact the measures might have for expanding the categories of persons who benefit from globalized free trade, and whether inclusive policies create a tangible impact for the three target categories analysed: gender, Indigenous peoples and small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Specifically, this thesis examines inclusive measures within five recent trade agreements: the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Canada-European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement and Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement. The overarching goal of this thesis is to offer a practical solution that may ameliorate the discontent surrounding globalised free trade in a socioeconomically sustainable method based on Canada’s approach to inclusive trade.
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    The Parochial Kuwaiti Arbitration Regime: A Case Study of the Extension of Arbitration Agreements to Non-Signatories
    (2021-03) Eldib, Mohamed Morad
    As embodied in the Kuwaiti government’s recent initiative, the New Kuwait Development Plan 2035, Kuwait’s aspirations to decrease its habitual oil dependency through economic diversification has led the country to undergo major law reform and regulation overhaul. However, forgotten in this burst of regulatory innovation are the statutes that collectively govern arbitration in Kuwait. The continuing underdevelopment of Kuwait’s arbitration laws undermines the country’s efforts to materialize its aspirations be an attractive destination for foreign direct investment. Arbitration is now considered a principal method—in some industries and regions, the principal method—of resolving international commercial disputes. However, arbitration is not equally perceived across all jurisdictions. Some jurisdictions, including Kuwait, maintain a parochial perspective on arbitration as an exceptional means of dispute resolution that ousts the inherent jurisdiction of national courts, leading them to lay idiosyncratic requirements as to the form of a valid arbitration agreement and restrict arbitral jurisdiction more generally. Conversely, most jurisdictions have by now adopted a more liberal position towards arbitration as a method of dispute resolution alternative—rather than subordinate—to court litigation. Kuwaiti private law is largely based on Egyptian law, which was in turn heavily influenced by French law. Despite the continuing similarity between the Kuwaiti, Egyptian and French legal systems, they vary significantly in the way they perceive arbitration. As this thesis will argue, these divergent perceptions of arbitration explain, to a great extent, the disparity of doctrines and legal principles recognized under each of the jurisdictions’ laws, scholarly writings, and court rulings. In particular, the delicate issue of extension of arbitration agreements to non-signatories, which is regulated neither by international instruments nor by national laws, remains largely unsettled. This particular issue demonstrates the disparity between the three jurisdictions to deal with complex questions such as arise in modern international commercial arbitration practice. In order to understand the current state of Kuwaiti law and how it might be improved, this thesis examines how Kuwait, Egypt, and France approach a range of issues that arise in international arbitration, focusing in particular on a case study of the extension of arbitration agreements to non-signatories. It is hoped that this research will generate effective reforms to Kuwaiti arbitration laws that will also be consistent with the Kuwaiti legal system, in order to support the country’s aspirations of becoming an international financial hub.