Dr Brett Williams
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Qualifications
- LLB, BEc, PhD (Law) Adel
- Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (SAIT)
- Admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of South Australia and on the roll of admitted legal practitioners of the High Court of Australia
- Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment (Securities Institute of Australia)
Academic Prizes
2001 Bonython prize for the best most original postgraduate thesis awarded by the University of Adelaide Faculty of Law for the PhD thesis on the topic, "The Importance of Disciplining the Choice between Policy Instruments to the Effectiveness of the GATT as International Law Disciplining Agricultural Trade Policy".
Brief Biographical Detail
Dr Williams' specialization is the Law of the World Trade Organization. He teaches two post graduate subjects in this field and looks forward to developing a complete programme in this field. He has also taught on WTO law in Undergraduate courses and has coached very successful University of Sydney teams in the ELSA Moot court competition in WTO law. He has also taught WTO law for the University of North Carolina, for William and Mary College, Virginia, at the Adelaide University Centre for International Economics, for the Ausaid Australia-China WTO Training Project, teaching officials from the PRC Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation and Ministry of Agriculture and has taught on the economics of the WTO system for the International Development Law Institute. He also teaches in the fields of Competition Law and Public International Law.
Brett Williams was appointed a Lecturer at the University of Sydney Law School in June 2001, and a Senior Lecturer in January 2005. Prior to 2001 he worked at the Faculty of Law of Australian National University on a research project on China's Accession to the World Trade Organization. Before that he undertook a PhD in the field of international trade regulation at the University of Adelaide (in 1997 participating in the Hague Academy of International Law research session on WTO Law) and prior to that he practiced commercial law at leading firms in Adelaide and Sydney.
Affilations
- Associate, Sydney Centre for International and Global Law
- Affiliate, University of Adelaide Centre for International Economic Studies
- Research Affiliate, Australian National University Centre for Law and Economics
Teaching in 2007
- International Trade Regulation (PG) LAWS6063
- Advanced International Trade Regulation (PG) LAWS6249
- Competition Law (UG) LAWS3016
- Public International Law (PG) LAWS6243
Other subjects taught
- Law of the World Trade organization in the LLM in Europe programme (2002, 2006)
- International Law LAWS2005
- Advanced Public International Law LAWS3009
- International Business Law LAWS6159
I am available for consultation with students for 2 hours a week without appointments. Please refer to your Course Outline for specification of the day and times.
Research Interests:
- Law of the World Trade Organization
- Competition Law
- Public International Law
- International Intellectual Property Law
Dr Williams' research centres on the World Trade Organization. His PhD studied the application of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade to agricultural trade. He is interested in the economics of international trade, and in the nature of WTO system, its obligations and dispute settlement system. Publications have dealt with non-violation complaints in the WTO system and with a variety of aspects of China's accession to the WTO including papers on regulation of services, regulation of state trading enterprises and the review of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property. Current research is dealing with WTO disputes relating to agricultural trade, and the measurement of WTO authorised retaliation.
Undergraduate and Postgraduate Independent Research Projects
Current University of Sydney Master of International Law students wishing to write their 12 point Independent Research Project in the field of WTO law and wishing me to act as adviser/examiner should (preferably) have completed LAWS6063 International Trade Regulation and LAWS6249 Advanced International Trade Regulation and should submit by the 2nd week of the semester a 500 word research proposal together with a draft table of contents and an annotated bibliography.
Supervision of Higher Degrees
Dr Williams is interested in supervising suitably qualified candidates for research degrees in the field of the Law of the World Trade Organization. Initial inquiries may be made by submitting an expression of interest. The expression of interest form may be obtained here. The completed form should be submitted to the Postgraduate Team Leader, approximately 2 months before the deadlines for each semester.
Publications
Edited Books | Articles | Book Chapters | Case Notes | Book Review | Editorial Roles | Conference and Seminar Presentations
Edited Books
- Deborah Z Cass, Brett G Williams & George Barker (eds), China and the World Trading System - Entering the New Millennium, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge (2003).
- Williams, B, ‘The WTO Doha Round Draft Text on Agricultural Trade Liberalization: How Did We Get Into Such a Mess? Should We Walk Away?’ (2009) 6(3) Farm Policy Journal 1-21
- Stephens, T & Williams, B, ‘Australian Cases before International Courts and Tribunals Involving Questions of Public International Law 2006’ (2008) 27 Australian Year Book of International Law 331-340.
- Williams, B,“The Falconer Draft text for the Doha Round WTO Negotiations on Agriculture – A ‘Ha’porth of tar’ to Save the Vessel From Sinking or Just a Dab of Paint on an Irreparably Broken Hull?” (2007) 30(2) UNSWLJ 368-408.
- Stephens, T & Williams, B, ‘Australian Cases before International Courts and Tribunals Involving Questions of Public International Law 2005’ (2007) 26 Australian Yearbook of International Law 275-287.
- Williams, B, 'The Influence and Lack of Influence of Principles in the Negotiation for the Accession of China to the WTO' (2001) 33(3and4) The George Washington International Law Review 791-847.
- Williams, B, "Duties of Solicitors giving Certification in Respect of Execution of Guarantees", (1991) Australia & New Zealand Conveyancing Reports 67, (also in SA Law Society Bulletin, Sept, 1990).
- Brett G Williams, "Australia and China in the World Trade Organisation" in Nicholas Thomas (ed), Re-Orienting Australia-China Relations: 1972 to the present, Ashgate: Aldershot, UK (2004), 87-110.
- Daniel Stewart & Brett G Williams, "The impact of China's WTO membership on the review of the TRIPs Agreement" in Deborah Z Cass, Brett G Williams & George Barker (eds), China and the World Trading System - Entering the New Millennium, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge (2003), 363-383.
- Deborah Z Cass, Brett G Williams & George Barker, "Introduction" in Deborah Z Cass, Brett G. Williams & George Barker (eds), China and the World Trading System - Entering the New Millenium, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge (2003), 1-15.
- Brett G Williams & Deborah Cass, "Legal Implications for Regulation of Trade in Services of China’s Accession to the WTO" in Ligang Song (ed), Dilemmas of China’s Growth in the 21st Century, Asia Pacific Press: Canberra (2002).
- Brett G Williams & Vivienne Brand, "International Business Law" in Morkel & Roffey (eds), International Business Management, Northern Territory University Press: Darwin (2001), 225-258.
- Brett G Williams, "How China's Accession to the WTO will Impact on Australia's Interests in Trade in Agriculture and Services" in Alex Gardner (ed), China's Entry to the World Trade Organization: a New Era for Australia-China Trade, The Centre for Commercial and Resources Law of the University of Western Australia and The Asia Pacific Intellectual Property Law Institute of Murdoch University: Sydney (2000), 54-77.
- Brett G Williams, "Non-Violation Complaints in the WTO System" in Paulo Mengozzi (ed), International Trade Law on the 50th Anniversary of the Multilateral Trade System, Law Faculty of the University of Bologna by Casa Editrice Giuffre: Milan (1999), 675-797.
Timothy Stephens and Brett Williams, “Australian Cases Before International Courts and Tribunals Involving Questions of Public International Law (2007) 26 Australian Yearbook of International Law 275.
- Brett G Williams, Review of "International Transactions", Wilde & Islam (eds), (1994) 17(1) Adelaide Law Review 147-150. (winner of Adelaide Law Review Association prize for 1996 for best book review)
- Associate Editor, Australian Journal of International Law, 2007-
- Editorial Board Member, Sydney Law Review, 2006-2007
- Assistant Editor, An Annual Survey of Australian Law 1994, R Baxt & A Moore (eds), (Adelaide Law Review Association, Adelaide, 1995) 535 pages.
- Co-Editor, Corporate and Business Law Journal, special issue Volume 9(2) on competition law.
Conference and Seminar Presentations
- Williams, B, ‘Review of the GATT Article XX cases, Part 1: The Environment Cases US-Gasoline& Shrimp/Turtle’ at WTO/ Public International Economic Law Seminar Series, University of Sydney (11 September 2009)
- Williams, B, ‘Using the Prisoner's Dilemma Model in Teaching Competition Law and Teaching International Trade Regulation’ at Rights, Regulation and Responsibility: Australian and Singaporean Perspectives Law Research Symposium, University of Sydney (30-31 July 2009)
- Williams, B, ‘Faculty of Law E-Learning Showcase’ at Sydney Law School Lunchtime Seminar Series, University of Sydney (26 March 2009)
- Williams, B, ‘Obtaining Market Access for Australian Service Suppliers: Effective Use of the General Agreement on Trade in Services’ at Commercial Practice in a Global Economy, Commercial Law Association and the Parsons Centre, NSW State Library (1 August 2008)
- Williams, B, ‘Comparing What Might Have Been with the Likely Outcome of the Doha Round Agriculture Negotiations: The Williams text v The Falconer text’ at the The Eighth Annual WTO Conference, the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, London (13 May 2008)
- Williams, B, ‘What do Trade Agreements Do and How Do They Work’ at the Seminar at the Crawford School of Government, Australian National University, Canberra (10 April 2008)
- Williams, B, ‘How is Japan Contributing to the Constitutionalization of the WTO – Reinforcing Principles or Undercutting Principles with Exceptions’ at the Australian Network of Japanese Law (ANJEL) conference “Beyond Country and Western Law: Towards New Australia Japan Partnerships in Legal research”, Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan (16 February 2008)
- Williams, B, ‘The February 2008 Revised Draft Text for the Doha Round WTO Negotiations on Agriculture’ at the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan (14 February 2008)
- Williams, B, ‘The Falconer Draft Text for the Doha Round WTO Negotiations on Agriculture’ at a seminar convened by the University of Sydney and the International Development Law Organization (22 November 07), at a seminar convened by the Institute for International Trade at the University of Adelaide (29 November 08)
- Williams, B, ‘How and Why the GATT Works - Or Doesn't’ presented at the Staff Seminar of the World Trade Organization Secretariat – Geneva (21 September 2006) and at University of Sydney Law School (23 March 2007)
- Williams, B, ‘Disciplining Disguised Export Subsidies after the Canada - Dairy and EC-Sugar Cases’ presented at the University of NSW Law School, Sydney (23 June 2006)