Abstract

PEIXOTO BATISTA, Juliana. Harmonization and fragmentation of the rules of the international system: an approach to the WTO case. Relac. int. [online]. 2016, vol.25, n.50, pp.45-71. ISSN 2314-2766.

The debate on the legal reconfiguration of the international system is currently intense. Two of the main theoretical approaches, international constitutionalism and legal fragmentation, try to explain the changes that have taken place in the last twenty five years. In this context, the World Trade Organization (WTO) - and its "rule oriented" profile- has been analyzed by constitutionalist authors as an example of constitutionalization of the multilateral trading system. Legal fragmentation theorists have seen the multilateral trading system as a fragmented legal system, mostly due to the existence of preferential trade agreements. The objective of this paper is to analyze both trends (constitutionalization and fragmentation)within the multilateral trading system, taking into account the increasing participation of developing countries and the (current) lack of consensus that was crucial to the creation of the WTO.

Keywords : Constitutionalization; Fragmentation; Multilateral Trading System; WTO; Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs.

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