The rapid rise in the global production of goods and services through Global Value Chains (GVCs) poses novel challenges for transnational commercial litigation. Comprising the entire range of activities, from start to finish, to deliver a product or a service to market, a GVC may cross multiple borders in its quest to produce a commodity in the most cost-effective way. Several steps in the process (eg, research and development of the concept, sourcing of raw materials, manufacturing, marketing, etc) may take place in different countries, depending on the most favourable locations for production costs (eg, wages), compliance costs (eg, labour regulations, safety measures, etc) and any other costs involved in the process, as well as the location of raw materials. As a result, a GVC may stretch across multiple different jurisdictions across the globe under the lead of a big multinational corporation (MNC).
The course will focus on jurisdiction (which country’s court will have jurisdiction) and applicable law (which country’s law will apply) in the event of a dispute, with reference to real case scenarios drawn from the fast fashion industry, extractive industries (oil and rare earth elements), construction of AI data centres, and environmentally degrading activities. The course will interrogate several factors impacting access to justice when victims suffer harm as a result of the activities of MNCs and their subsidiaries, such as the prohibitive costs of litigation, the inequality of litigating parties, and the lack of effective regulation at national and global level. Students will be encouraged to explore innovative solutions to some of the most vexing issues of our time.