Jason Houston-McMillan
Associate
Overview
Jason Houston-McMillan focuses on international trade and WTO law in Van Bael & Bellis’ Geneva office. Jason assists governments in their WTO proceedings at every stage of the dispute settlement process, having advised on disputes involving the SCM Agreement, Safeguards Agreement, TBT Agreement and GATT 1994. He also has experience advising governments on a variety of trade policy matters and has been involved in several projects regarding FTAs and the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
Before joining Van Bael & Bellis, Jason worked as a Dispute Settlement Lawyer in both the Legal Affairs and Rules Divisions at the World Trade Organization in Geneva. There, his work involved advising WTO panelists on complex factual and legal scenarios, drafting issues papers and sections of WTO panel reports on a range of international trade law topics, and involvement with the procedural and organisational aspects of various disputes.
Jason is admitted and enrolled as an Advocate of the High Court of South Africa.
Languages
English, Afrikaans, French
Education
- University of Cape Town, LL.M. specialising in International Trade Law, 2017
- Rhodes University, LL.B., Dean’s list for academic merit, 2015
- Rhodes University, Bachelor of Arts (Legal Theory and Philosophy), 2013
Publications
‘Plurilateral Agreements’, in K. Nadakavukaren Schefer and T. Cottier (eds.), Elgar Encyclopedia of International Economic Law (Edward Elgar, forthcoming).
‘Spaghetti Bowl’, in K. Nadakavukaren Schefer and T. Cottier (eds.), Elgar Encyclopedia of International Economic Law (Edward Elgar, forthcoming).
‘An Argument for More Plurilateral Agreements and their Value for Developing Countries: Stemming the Tide of Preferential Trade Agreements, Post-Doha’, ', 2017.
‘The Legitimate Regulatory Distinction Test: Incomplete and Inadequate for the Particular Purposes of the TBT Agreement’, World Trade Review, 2016.
‘A Critical Analysis of the Legitimate Regulatory Distinction Test as Conceived in US – Clove Cigarettes, US – Tuna II and US – COOL’, awarded the Society of International Economic Law/Cambridge University Press Prize 2015.