Beskrivelse
The Journal of World Investment & Trade announces that Niels Lachmann receives the Laurence Boisson de Chazournes Prize for his article “Chasing the Elusive Bird? The Technological Development of the Digital Economy and International Trade Law’s Susceptibility to a Pacing Problem” (2025) 26(3) JWIT. The article poses a concrete question for IEL: Where do digital trade rules fail in practice?
The central claim rejects a stock thesis that law always trails technology. The author proposes three failure modes that map where trade rules falter. First, paralysis, where novel issues fall between legacy categories and leave gaps. Second, static snapshots, where fresh treaty text locks in a view of technology that soon dates. Third, missing the point, where instruments that address the digital economy omit features that matter most, such as rules for cross border data flows. The taxonomy directs attention to the fault line in each instance, not to a vague sense of lag. It also shows why a digital label on a new instrument can mislead, and why an older text that uses general terms can at times perform better.
The contribution to the field stands on three legs. Conceptual clarity comes first, through a typology that isolates the exact point where rules fail. Doctrinal value follows, since the analysis connects the typology to real treaty language and to known interpretive techniques. A design lesson rounds it out. The author favours principles that hold across sectors and procedures that permit targeted updates over time, rather than thick, tech specific clauses that date quickly. The result provides a test a negotiator, an adjudicator, or a policy team can apply to any digital trade rule set before it hardens.
Originality lies in method and payoff. The paper blends a tight conceptual tool with close reading and institutional process study, then draws a counterintuitive conclusion. New text that bears a digital label does not automatically solve exposure to rapid technological change, and older text does not automatically fail. What counts is avoidance of the three failure modes, coupled with review machinery that can adjust course without constant renegotiation.
Additionally, the awarded article will be made freely accessible online, allowing Lachmann’s analysis to reach a broad audience of academics, legal practitioners, and policymakers in the field of international trade and investment law.
The central claim rejects a stock thesis that law always trails technology. The author proposes three failure modes that map where trade rules falter. First, paralysis, where novel issues fall between legacy categories and leave gaps. Second, static snapshots, where fresh treaty text locks in a view of technology that soon dates. Third, missing the point, where instruments that address the digital economy omit features that matter most, such as rules for cross border data flows. The taxonomy directs attention to the fault line in each instance, not to a vague sense of lag. It also shows why a digital label on a new instrument can mislead, and why an older text that uses general terms can at times perform better.
The contribution to the field stands on three legs. Conceptual clarity comes first, through a typology that isolates the exact point where rules fail. Doctrinal value follows, since the analysis connects the typology to real treaty language and to known interpretive techniques. A design lesson rounds it out. The author favours principles that hold across sectors and procedures that permit targeted updates over time, rather than thick, tech specific clauses that date quickly. The result provides a test a negotiator, an adjudicator, or a policy team can apply to any digital trade rule set before it hardens.
Originality lies in method and payoff. The paper blends a tight conceptual tool with close reading and institutional process study, then draws a counterintuitive conclusion. New text that bears a digital label does not automatically solve exposure to rapid technological change, and older text does not automatically fail. What counts is avoidance of the three failure modes, coupled with review machinery that can adjust course without constant renegotiation.
Additionally, the awarded article will be made freely accessible online, allowing Lachmann’s analysis to reach a broad audience of academics, legal practitioners, and policymakers in the field of international trade and investment law.
| Tildelingsdato | 18. nov. 2025 |
|---|---|
| Grad af anerkendelse | International |
| Tildelende organisationer | Journal of World Investment & Trade |
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Chasing the Elusive Bird? The Technological Development of the Digital Economy and International Trade Law's Susceptibility to a Pacing Problem
Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › peer review