Protecting Human Rights as Public Morals under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (gatt) 1994

Abstract

This article analyses the acceptance of the concept of 'public morals' as a legitimate objective grounded in the importance of internationally recognised human rights instruments and worthy of protection by a Panel of the World Trade Organisation (wto) in the case European Communities-Measures Prohibiting the Importation and Marketing of Seal Products. It analyses how the General Exception clause to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (gatt) Article XX(a) was successfully used to defend a regulatory measure and concludes by endorsing a symbiotic relationship between wto Agreements and international human rights instruments.