Global Administrative Law

The last twenty years have witnessed an extraordinary measure of globalisation of finance and trade, seen most prominently in the establishment of the World Trade Organisation and other organisations inspired by the ‘Washington Consensus’. At a national level, the exercise of those bodies’ executive and administrative authority is typically regulated by administrative law in its various guises. The rapid process of globalising economic power raises vital questions about its global regulation, in the absence of supra-national institutions and rules dedicated to this task.

This volume brings together papers given at a workshop held in Cape Town in March 2008, which was a joint venture between the New York University Law School and the Faculty of Law at the University of Cape Town. The papers critically explore the concept of Global Administrative Law in theory and its relevance to developing countries; the efficacy of regulatory regimes focussed on international trade and finance; and recent developments in the crucially important area of intellectual property law. The lessons learned in the process will inform intellectual debate and assist in the development of practical measures in pursuit of the good governance of global power through the law.