Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and exercises for Law for Secondary education

A. Globalisation and International Trade

• Globalisation: Countries become more connected through trade, technology, culture, and finance.
• Hard Power: Influencing countries through military or economic pressure.
• Soft Power: Influencing countries through attraction, culture, and diplomacy.
• Smart Power: Combining hard and soft power strategies.
• Reshoring: Bringing production back to the home country.
• Nearshoring: Moving production to a nearby country.
• Friendshoring: Moving supply chains to politically allied countries.
• Decoupling: Reducing economic dependence between countries.
• Offshoring: Moving production to another country for lower costs.
• Outsourcing: Hiring another company to perform a business activity.
• Supply Chain Diversification: Using multiple suppliers

Fundamental Non-Discrimination Principles in Trade Law

In international trade law, non-discrimination is a fundamental principle that ensures equal treatment of goods, services, and service suppliers from different countries. The two main principles of non-discrimination in international trade law are:

1. Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) Principle

• Definition: The MFN principle requires that a country treats goods, services, and service suppliers from one country no less favorably than it treats goods, services, and service suppliers from any other country.
• Purpose: To prevent discriminatory treatment and ensure that countries do not favor certain trading partners over others.

2. National Treatment Principle

• Definition: The national treatment principle requires

League of Nations: Failure & Legacy

The League of Nations was an international organization established after World War I, aiming to prevent future global conflicts. Similar in ambition to the later United Nations, it ultimately failed to prevent World War II due to its decentralized structure, the neutral stance of many members, and a general reluctance among nations to engage in another war. While its direct impact was limited, it represents an important historical precedent for international cooperation.

International Criminal Court: Role & History

The International Criminal Court (ICC) handles international threats and disputes, serving as a crucial deterrent for international crimes. Historically, many international crimes went unpunished,...

The World Trade Organization: Structure and Functions

While the GATT was a contractual agreement among its member states, the WTO is an international organization with a legal personality. Its main function is to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably, and freely as possible to liberalize trade.

WTO Governance and Decision-Making

The formal actors in the WTO are the member states. The principal decision-making body is the Ministerial Conference, which meets every two years. Because it meets infrequently, it has delegated its competence to the General Council, which consists of all 164 WTO members. The General Council also acts as the:

• Dispute Settlement Body
• Trade Policy Review Body

The organizational structure of the WTO is completed by...

Administrative Decisions (Decision-Making Power)

Administrative decisions (decision-making power) are adopted by the administration (agencies, e.g., the EPA).

• Examples: fines; scholarship; penitentiary permits (probation); third decree; maternity licenses; concession; expropriation decision (possibility to take ownership from a citizen for the public good).

Administrative Adjudication

Administrative adjudication is a decision passed at the federal, state, or local level to resolve a conflict or a dispute between one citizen and the administration, or between citizens.

• Example: a conflict between two students over a scholarship; you may appeal an administrative decision to claim your scholarship.

Administrative decisions = actions. They are actions...

Mastering Conditionals, Wishes, and Advanced Vocabulary

Conditional Sentences and Hypothetical Situations

Conditional Structures Review

1. If you don't enjoy your work, it's not much fun going into the office every day.
2. I would go on holiday if I had the free time. (Second Conditional)
3. If you had invited him to the party, he would have come. (Third Conditional)
4. I will make paella tonight if you promise to eat it! (First Conditional)

Using Modals in Conditionals

5. We could live without cars if we had plenty of public transport. (live)
6. What should we do to make our country a better place to live in? (do)
7. You would have to study harder if you wanted to pass the exam. (study)
8. If you ask someone for directions, they might know which road you should take. (know)

1. Realization of the Right to Health (ICESCR Article 12)

1. Reduce infant mortality and ensure healthy child development.
2. Improve environmental and industrial hygiene.
3. Prevent, treat, and control epidemic, endemic, occupational, and other diseases.
4. Create conditions to ensure access to health care for all.

2. Equality Before the Law

The statement "All individuals are equal before the law, without distinction between the ruler and the ruled" is found in CDHRI Article 19.

3. Right to Equality (ICESCR Article 14)

• The right to equality before the law.
• The right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
• The right to a fair and public hearing by an impartial tribunal.

4. UN Conventions and Legal Obligations

The UN introduced conventions and treaties with the...

Constitutional Law: State Organization & Rights

Constitutional Law is formed by the rules contained in the most important laws of a state. No other law can contradict it without being declared unconstitutional. It defines the organization of state powers, the rights and duties of residents, and establishes the fundamental principles upon which the political-legal and social framework rests.

Administrative Law: State Operations & Public Interaction

The Administrative Law is the set of rules governing the operation of the state and administrative power, including the interactions between different administrative bodies and their relationship with individuals. This branch of law originated with the French Revolution.

Criminal Law: Punishable

The Nature of Normative Power

The lawyer Baldo expressed the natural character of the normative power of infra-imperial political bodies: "People are the law of nations (natural law), and their government is rooted in the law of nations, as the government cannot exist without laws or statutes (particular laws). The fact that there is a people has meant that a government exists, in much the same way that the animal is governed by its own spirit and soul."

Reconciling Legal Orders

The validity of the common law must be reconciled with the legal orders of all real, municipal, corporate, or family entities. This support can be achieved by considering that, in their particular domain of application, inherent rights take precedence over common law,...