Well, that's scary...

[seawasp]

... this gentleman's done a comic-based explanation of the economics relevant to the TPP and why it sucks so badly. I hadn't ever had some of that stuff explained so clearly before. I was particularly unclear on the fact that treaties can apparently override established law, without going through the usual legal process.

Comments

[ninjarat.livejournal.com]

Treaties don't override law. They ARE law. That's why, in the US, treaties must be be ratified by the legislature and signed by the executive. Treaties are international laws and are adjudicated in international courts. Domestic laws are of no relevance to these courts. No relevance, that is, except when a given treaty specifies such relevance.

[kjn]

While technically correct, the political difference between a new law and a ratified treaty is huge. A new law is (should be) created in a relatively open and long-established procedure by people who have to face election, and are responsible to the voters. A treaty is usually a much more opaque process, and the negotiators are often at once-remove from the electorate.

Once agreed, the treaty is also an all-or-nothing process, unlike a law it's usually not possible to ratify parts of it and send the rest back for future work. And a law is much easier to change after-the-fact, too.

[ninjarat.livejournal.com]

Well, yeah. Domestic law is, well, domestic while treaties are international.

TPP is particularly vile in the practices surrounding the drafting of the treaty. Remember ACTA? TPP is more of the same. :P

[terry austin (from livejournal.com)]

Close, but not quite, at least in the US. Treaties are ratified by the Senate, while laws have to pass both houses of Congress.

And, according to the US constitution, a treaty is equal in authority to the constitution itself. A treaty cannot violate the constitution, but it can override federal law (though in real life, it's considerably more complicated than that, of course, with Congress passing enabling law to comply with the treaty).

[ninjarat.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the clarification. I was thinking of the House being involved on the side of domestic laws being passed next to treaty ratification. A good example of how this whole mess works (and it does work after a fashion) is the Copyright Act of 1976 which amends domestic copyright laws to bring them in line with UCC and Berne.

[q99.livejournal.com]

That is a rather helpful piece.


Though I must admit, when I saw 'TPP', my head leapt to 'Twitch Plays Pokemon...?'.

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

Thanks for that link. That piece was nicely done. I will be sharing it.