Rizal Rahman

The dispute settlement mechanism of the World Trade Organization (WTO) represents one of the most sophisticated legal frameworks for resolving international trade conflicts. Nonetheless, the dispute settlement mechanism of the WTO encountered its most severe crisis in 2019 since its inception. Following the unresolved political disagreement by the United States, the Appellate Body, being the first-ever appellate review forum for international trade disputes, ceased to function in December 2019. This article shall comprise a detailed examination of this unprecedented and most severe crisis of the WTO, analysing its historical roots, immediate consequences, and potential pathways for reform. Methodologically, the research combines doctrinal legal analysis with empirical examination of dispute settlement trends since the dysfunction and/or paralysis of the Appellate Body. This study further reviews all 32 cases currently in appellate limbo, analyses the jurisprudence of the MPIA, and assesses the growing trend of forum shopping as members increasingly turn to alternative dispute resolution mechanisms outside the WTO framework. The article concludes by situating the Appellate Body’s crisis within broader debates about the future of multilateralism in an era of geopolitical tensions and economic nationalism. This study further highlights the importance of restoring a functional dispute settlement mechanism not only for the WTO's credibility but for the preservation of a legal framework to govern international trade.

This article explores the concept of critical geopolitics to understand how international trade laws influence access to medicines within the framework of the TRIPS agreement. Classical geopolitics traditionally emphasizes how geographical features shape state strategy and global power dynamics, whereas critical geopolitics interprets geographical arrangements as constructs shaped by political, economic, and technological forces. By adopting a critical geopolitics approach, this article investigates how developed and developing nations use their ideas, actions, and interpretations of international trade laws to influence the implementation of TRIPS provisions in their favor. The TRIPS agreement, a multilateral treaty aimed at standardizing global intellectual property laws, often benefits developed nations by strengthening patent protections, which in turn restricts access to affordable generic medicines in developing and least developed countries. Despite the inclusion of safeguards and flexibilities designed to promote broader access to medicines, significant inequalities in access persist. This article examines the differential application of TRIPS across diverse national contexts, focusing on how developed and developing nations collaborate—or conflict—in balancing the need for strong patent protection with the imperative of public health access. By analyzing these geopolitical dynamics, the study illuminates the strategic actions employed by nations to navigate the intricate relationship between international trade law and access to pharmaceuticals. The findings offer important insights into the power imbalances that shape global health outcomes under the TRIPS regime.

The development of digital technology encourages the advantages of using digital media as the main information source. However, such development has also been misused by certain individuals or entities to mislead the public by generating fake news. On the Internet, false information travels faster than the truth, and it takes a lot of effort to stop it. This article uses a qualitative approach analysis to evaluate the various strategies used to thwart false news. In the first part, the authors described the notion of false news. In the second part, the authors examined the legislative framework that Malaysian parliaments have adopted to make it illegal to spread and publish false information. In the final part, the authors zoomed through the lens of jurisprudence that can be applied as a counter measure against dissemination of fake news. Hence, the importance of this article is to provide a clear understanding of the jurisprudence analysis of fake news in Malaysia.