+61 0 425 340 481 williams@williamstradelaw.com
2/61-67 Varna Street, Clovelly, NSW, 2000, Australia
Dr Brett G. Williams is a lawyer, academic and technical assistance consultant based in Sydney specializing in the regulation of international trade, especially the law of the World Trade Organization. He is a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, and of the High Court of Australia.
On 1 July 2013, he commenced this law firm specializing in international trade regulation and operating in cooperation with the firm of Appleton Luff. He holds Bachelors degrees in law and in economics from the University of Adelaide, and a Graduate Diploma in International Law from the Australian National University. His PhD thesis on the application of the GATT to agricultural trade won the University of Adelaide Bonython Prize in 2000.
For 20 years from 2001, he taught law of the World Trade Organization at the Faculty of Law at the University of Sydney where he is affiliate of the Sydney Centre for International Law and the Centre for Asian and Pacific Studies. He has also taught World Trade Organization Law at the Australian National University College of Law, the University of Adelaide (1996), William and Mary College (1996-1998), University of North Carolina (2004-2006), and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (2010-2012) and also taught the Law of the ASEAN Economic Community at Charles Darwin University (2017).
As a consultant in the field of trade regulation he has provided expert reports on various issues. Between October 2013 and January 2015, he was engaged by the Asian Development Bank to assist the government of Timor Leste prepare for accession to the ASEAN Economic Community, in particular, preparation of a Memorandum of Foreign Trade Regime. In 2012, on behalf of the International Trade Centre, he prepared a report and conducted workshops in Samoa on opportunities and challenges for the private sector in Samoa arising out of its recent accession to the WTO. He has also taught in training programmes for government officials of the People’s Republic of China and of Iraq.
Over many years, he has also taught Public International Law, Competition Law and International Business Transactions. His research has concentrated on application of WTO rules to agricultural trade, and China’s participation in the WTO but also covers trade in services and antidumping law. His publications include the Cambridge University Press edited book China and the World Trading System (2003), journal articles on the Doha Round WTO negotiation on agricultural trade (2007 University of New South Wales Law Review and 2009 Farm Policy Journal), and on innovative mechanisms for resolving trade disputes (2011 Australian International Law Journal and 2012 UNSWLR). He regularly contributes WTO casenotes to the Australian Yearbook of International Law and in 2013 commenced a regular contribution to the Global Community Yearbook of International Law on the relationship between WTO law and public international.
He was an inaugural co-chair of the International Economic Law Interest Group of the Australian and New Zealand Society for International Law. He has held other positions on the executive committee of the International Law Section of the Law Council of Australia and as a member of the Editorial Board of the Australian International Law Journal.
A selection of papers may be found on the SSRN database at http://ssrn.com/author=725576
Deborah Z. Cass, Brett G. Williams & George Barker (eds), China and the World Trading System - Entering the New Millenium (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2003) (443 pages)
James M. Claxton, Luke Nottage & Brett Williams, "Litigating, Arbitrating and Mediating Japan-Korea Trade and Investment Tensions", Journal of World Trade 54, no. 4 (2020): 591-614.
Williams, B., Crowe, S., Murray, O. and Zhou, W., Module IV, ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL LAW – The Relationship Between Decisions of the WTO and the ICJ or Another International Court of Arbitral Tribunal, “Some Selected Aspects of the Relationship between World Trade Organization Law and general public international law” in 13 Global Community YBIL (G. Ziccardi Capaldo ed., 2013), pp. 203-224.
Micah Birch, Luke Nottage and Brett Williams, “Appropriate Treaty-Based Dispute Resolution for Asia Pacific Commerce in the 21st Century” (2012) 35(3) UNSWLR 1013-1043.
Williams, B, Innovative Mechanisms for Resolving or Avoiding Inter-State Disputes in an Asia-Pacific Regional Free Trade Agreement (2011) Australian International Law Journal 141-154.
Williams, B, ‘The WTO Doha Round Draft Text on Agricultural Trade Liberalization: How Did We Get Into Such a Mess? Should We Walk Away?’ (2009) 6(3) Farm Policy Journal 1-21.
Brett G Williams, “The Falconer Draft text for the Doha Round WTO Negotiations on Agriculture – A ‘Ha’porth of tar’ to Save the Vessel From Sinking or Just a Dab of Paint on an Irreparably Broken Hull?” (2007) 30(2) UNSWLJ 368-408.
“The Influence and Lack of Influence of Principles in the Negotiation for the Accession of China to the WTO", (2001) 33(3&4) The George Washington International Law Review 791-847.
"Duties of Solicitors giving Certification in Respect of Execution of Guarantees", 1991 ANZ ConvR 67, (also in SA Law Society Bulletin, Sept, 1990).
Brett G. Williams and Weihuan Zhou, "If the WTO Were to Break Down Completely, Would We Stoop and Build It Up with Worn-Out Tools?'" in Meredith Kolsky Lewis, Junji Nakagawa, Rostam J. Neuwirth, Colin B. Picker and Peter-Tobias Stoll (eds) A Post-WTO International Legal Order - Utopian, Dystopian and Other Scenarios (Springer, 2020) pp93-112.
Brett Williams and R.V. Anuradha, "Regulation of International Trade in Goods and Services", chapter 3 in Shaun Starr (ed.), Australia and India: A Comparative Overview of the Law and Legal Practice (Universal Law Publishing, New Delhi, 2015) pp46-74.
Brett G Williams, "Australia and China in the World Trade Organisation" in Nicholas Thomas (ed), Re-Orienting Australia-China Relations: 1972 to the present, Ashgate: Aldershot, UK (2004), 87-110.
Daniel Stewart & Brett G. Williams, "The impact of China's WTO membership on the review of the TRIPs Agreement" in in Deborah Z. Cass, Brett G. Williams & George Barker (eds), China and the World Trading System - Entering the New Millenium (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2003) pp363-383.
Deborah Z. Cass, Brett G. Williams & George Barker "Introduction" in Deborah Z. Cass, Brett G. Williams & George Barker (eds), China and the World Trading System - Entering the New Millenium (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2003) pp1-15.
With Deborah Cass, “Legal Implications for Regulation of Trade in Services of China’s Accession to the WTO” in Ligang Song (ed) Dilemmas of China’s Growth in the 21st Century (Asia Pacific Press, Canberra, 2002).
"How China's Accession to the WTO will Impact on Australia's Interests in Trade in Agriculture and Services" in Alex Gardner (ed), China's Entry to the World Trade Organization: a New Era for Australia-China Trade (The Centre for Commercial & Resources Law of the University of Western Australia and The Asia Pacific Intellectual Property Law Institute of Murdoch University, Sydney, 2000) pp54-77.
with Vivienne Brand, “International Business Law” chapter in Morkel & Roffey, International Business Management (Northern Territory University Press, Darwin, 2001) pp225-258.
“Non-Violation Complaints in the WTO System” in Paulo Mengozzi (ed), International Trade Law on the 50th Anniversary of the Multilateral Trade System (Law Faculty of the University of Bologna by Casa Editrice Giuffre, Milan, 1999) pp675-797.
Brett Williams and Diana Hu, “Australian Cases before International Courts and Tribunals Involving Questions of Public International Law 2009” (2012) 30 Aust YBIL 251-259.
Brett Williams, “Australian Cases before International Courts and Tribunals Involving Questions of Public International Law 2008” (2010) 29 Aust YBIL 265-272.
Brown, C, Mowbray, J, Stephens, T and Williams, B, 'Australian Cases before International Courts and Tribunals Involving Questions of Public International Law 2007' (2009) 28 Australian Year Book of International Law 255-282.
Timothy Stephens and Brett Williams, “Australian Cases Before International Courts and Tribunals Involving Questions of Public International Law (2008) 27 Australian Yearbook of International Law 331-340.
Timothy Stephens and Brett Williams, “Australian Cases Before International Courts and Tribunals Involving Questions of Public International Law (2007) 26 Australian Yearbook of International Law 275.