About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

22 Brit. Y.B. Int'l L. 96 (1945)
The Most-Favored-Nation Standard in British State Practice

handle is hein.journals/byrint22 and id is 100 raw text is: THE MOST-FAVOURED-NATION STANDARD
IN BRITISH STATE PRACTICE
By GEORG SCHWARZENBERGER, Ph.D., Dr.Jur.
Sub-Dean of the Faculty of Laws and Lecturer in International Law
and Relations at University College, London
IN the course of its growth, international law has evolved various standards
of conduct which are of special significance for one of its most recent offshoots,
namely, international economic law. These standards may be classified as
the Minimum Standards of International Law, developed in bilateral treaties
and, to some extent, in international judicial practice; the standards of the
Open Door and of Equitable Treatment, laid down in a number of recent
collective agreements; and, finally, the following standards which owe their
origin largely to bilateral treaties: the standards of Reciprocity, National
Treatment, Preferential Treatment and Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment.
The present article is devoted to a discussion of the last-mentioned standard.
Most-favoured-nation treatment (for which the abbreviation m.f.n. treat-
ment will be used in this article) has come to mean something very different
from what that term prima facie suggests and-it may be added-what has
been its original meaning: i.e. the treatment of a State as more favoured
than any other. Used in its technical sense, the m.f.n. standard may be
defined as treatment on a footing not inferior to that of the most favoured
third State.1
This international standard is characterized by four elements inherent in
the conception of m.f.n. treatment: (a) m.f.n. treatment is incompatible
with any discrimination on the part of the promisor against the beneficiary
and in favour of third States. M.f.n. treatment excludes preferential treat-
ment of third States by the promisor.
(b) M.f.n. treatment does not exclude the grant by the promisor of
additional advantages beyond those conceded to the most favoured third
State. M.f.n. treatment is compatible with preferential treatment of the
beneficiary by the promisor.
(c) States other than the promisor and beneficiary form the tertium
comparationis. M.f.n. treatment requires the absence of discrimination as
compared with third States. It does not imply either national or reciprocal
treatment of the beneficiary.
(d) M.f.n. treatment does not demand compliance with any definite and
objective rules of conduct. The rights actually enjoyed under the standard
are merely the counterpart of the rights granted by the promisor to third
States. In the absence of undertakings to third States, the m.f.n. standard
is but an empty shell, and, in operation, it is a shell with variable-and
continuously varying-contents.
I Treaty concluded with means a treaty between this country with the State mentioned.
On the meaning and scope of this field of international law, see the present writer's
The Development of International Economic and Financial Law by the Permanent Court
of International Justice, Juridical Review, 54 (1942), pp. 21 et 8eq.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most