Making and Bending International Rules
The Design of Exceptions and Escape Clauses in Trade Law

Essential for students and scholars in politics and law, Pelc provides a comprehensive account of the politics of treaty flexibility.

Krzysztof J. Pelc (Author)

9781316600184, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 28 June 2018

297 pages, 3 b/w illus. 9 tables
23 x 15.3 x 1.5 cm, 0.46 kg

All treaties, from human rights to international trade, include formal exceptions that allow governments to legally break the rules that they have committed to, in order to deal with unexpected events. Such institutional 'flexibility' is necessary, yet it raises a tricky theoretical question: how to allow for this necessary flexibility, while preventing its abuse? Krzysztof J. Pelc examines how designers of rules in vastly different settings come upon similar solutions to render treaties resistant to unexpected events. Essential for undergraduate students, graduate students, and scholars in political science, economics, and law, the book provides a comprehensive account of the politics of treaty flexibility. Drawing on a wide range of evidence, its multi-disciplinary approach addresses the paradoxes inherent in making and bending international rules.

List of tables
Acknowledgements
1. The 'architectural challenge' of international rules
2. Theory: the design of flexibility
3. Flexibility in law: a brief intellectual history
4. The twin GATT exceptions: fears and solutions
5. The evolving design of flexibility
6. The bad news
7. The good news
8. Conclusion: escape during the Great Recession and beyond
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: International organisations & institutions [LBBU], Treaties & other sources of international law [LBBC], International law [LB], International trade [KCLT], International relations [JPS], Political science & theory [JPA], Politics & government [JP], Society & social sciences [J]