Abstract
Prior to the General Agreement on Trade in Services (‘GATS’) entering into force in 1995, liberalisation of trade in services, including legal services, was not a primary focus in most trade negotiations. Though GATS serves as a foundation for liberalising cross-border legal services, countries have made limited commitment to open up their legal services sector. In its stead, there has been a steady proliferation of preferential trade agreements (‘PTAs’) aimed at eliminating trade barriers, including those affecting legal services. This article analyses the impact of GATS and PTAs on the liberalisation of cross-border legal services. It asserts that while there are few mutual recognition agreements (‘MRAs’) that have materialised so far from larger PTAs, smaller PTAs can serve as testbeds for innovative legal services liberalisation policies. These agreements can experiment with more ambitious provisions related to legal services without the constraints of larger-scale negotiations.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 41-68 |
| Number of pages | 28 |
| Journal | Australian International Law Journal |
| Volume | 30 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Dec 2025 |