Need for FLCs in India with respect to honouring the GATS

Abstract

Since India became a signatory to the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), it has been increasingly involved in multilateral negotiations for opening up its borders to international trade in services. The GATS was negotiated in the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations in 1994, and regulates trade in all service sectors between its 149 member countries. Lawyers engaged in providing legal services in foreign countries generally act as ‘foreign legal consultants’ (FLC), providing advice on international law or other non‐domestic laws. India needs to liberalize its policy in foreign trade more in order to avail of the advantages of the globalization of trade in services. This research paper aims at understanding the setbacks to the liberalization of the Indian legal services sector and realizing the potential allowing the entry of FLCs in select areas of the sector and permitting the collaboration of Indian and foreign lawyers/law firms.

Citation

Sen, K. and Sahu, R. (2007), "Need for FLCs in India with respect to honouring the GATS", Journal of International Trade Law and Policy, Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 25-33. https://doi.org/10.1108/14770020780000553