Chapter 26 International Law and Global Commerce Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

26-2 Public Law versus Private Law Public international law primarily addresses relations between individual countries and international organizations. Private international law focuses on regulation of private individuals and business entities.

26-3 Sources of International Law Treaties Customs Judicial Decisions 26-3

26-4 International Organizations UN WTO IMF OEDC

26-5 International Criminal Court Has global jurisdiction over criminal aspects of international treaties

26-6 Sovereign Immunity One of the oldest doctrines of international law is that of sovereign immunity. In general, this doctrine stands for the proposition that, with some exceptions, foreign nations are exempt from jurisdiction by U.S. courts (and vice versa). The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) is a federal statute codifying this concept.

26-7 Civil Law Systems Countries using civil law systems have drawn their body of law largely from the Roman law heritage. Have opted for a systematic written codification of their general law

26-8 Common Law Systems Countries whose law, for the most part, is based on English common law concepts and legal organizational methods that strongly favor use of case law Great Britain, United States, Canada, and Australia, and others

26-9 Religious-Based Legal System Religious-based legal systems are legal doctrines and guidelines directly based on certain religious tenets.

26-10 Mixed Legal System Mixed legal systems (also known as hybrid or composite legal systems) include: (1) not only political entities in which two or more systems apply cumulatively or interactively but also (2) entities in which there is a combination of systems as a result of more or less clearly defined fields of application.

26-11 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) The law prohibits a company, its officers, employees, and agents from giving, offering, or promising anything of value to any foreign (non- U.S.) official, with the intent to obtain or retain business or any other advantage. This prohibition is interpreted broadly in that companies may be held liable for violating the antibribery provisions of the FCPA whether or not they took any action in the United States.

26-12 Coverage and Major Provisions of the UNCISG No Writing Required Offer and Acceptance rules Remedies for breach

26-13 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) World Trade Organization (WTO), administers the agreement to set standards. Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPs) TRIPs covers minimum standards for all areas of intellectual property protections and provides for enforcement and dispute resolution.

26-14 Agreements on Trademarks International trademark policy is governed primarily by two agreements: Paris Convention Madrid Protocol

26-15 Agreement on Copyrights Copyright protection in foreign countries is covered in the Berne Convention agreement.