THE IMPACT OF SERVICES TRADE LIBERALISATION ON HUMAN RIGHTS-- REVISITING OLD QUESTIONS IN NEW CONTEXTS.

International trade agreements may limit the policy options available to States when respecting, protecting and fulfilling human rights. The present paper addresses this relationship from the perspective of rules concerning the liberalisation of trade in services such as the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and chapters on services trade in free trade agreements (FTAs) as well as new plurilateral and multilateral initiatives in the field of trade in services including the negotiations of a Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA). After a brief overview of the history of the discourse on services trade liberalisation and human rights, the paper recalls the main obligations of States under human rights law on the one side and their obligations under trade law on the other side. Based on this, the paper assesses if the concerns and fears about the impact of the GATS on human rights articulated twentyfive years ago are still valid. Subsequently, the paper discusses if the findings concerning the GATS and human rights need to be revisited in light of new bilateral, regional and plurilateral developments. Finally, the paper proposes and analyses options for future agreements on trade in services which could mitigate the negative effects of trade agreements on human rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]