Dr. Delroy Beckford is an Attorney-at-Law with practice interests in trade remedies, customs, competition law, and international economic law. A Fulbright Scholar, Beckford is a former Research Fellow at the Divi

Dr. Delroy Beckford is an Attorney-at-Law with practice interests in international trade law, trade remedies, customs unions and free trade agreements, customs practice and procedures, international competition law, and international economic law. A Fulbright Scholar, Beckford is a former Research Fellow at the Division of Global Affairs, Centre for Law and Justice, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey, and Co-Founder of the Global Trade Law and Development Centre. Dr. Beckford is Chairman of the International Trade Law Sub-Committee of the Jamaica Bar Association, and a Member of the American Society of International Law, where he is a Contributing Editor to its publication, International Legal Materials (ILM). He is also a Member of the Trade Lab Group of Experts on International Trade Law, based in Geneva, Switzerland and a Member of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Inter-governmental Group of Experts on Competition Law and Policy.

In 1992 he completed a Bachelor’s degree in History and Political Science at the University of the West Indies (First Class Honours) and in 1994 a Bachelor of Laws degree, also at the University of the West Indies. In 2000, he completed his master’s degree in international commercial law at the Columbia University School of Law in New York, and in 2007 a Ph.D. in Global Affairs with Distinction, specializing in International Economic Law and the law of the World Trade Organization (WTO) at the Division of Global Affairs, Centre for Law and Justice, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey, U.SA.

He has worked as Senior Legal Counsel to the Jamaica Fair Trading Commission. Prior to joining the Fair Trading Commission, Dr. Beckford worked as Legal Counsel to the Jamaica Customs Department, Litigation Associate at Dunn Cox, Group Legal Counsel to Caricom Investments Limited, Senior Legal Counsel to the Anti-dumping and Subsidies Commission, and has lectured at the University of the West Indies in public international law and the law of international economic development. He is currently an Adjunct Senior Lecturer and Course Director in International Trade Law at the Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies, Mona, focusing on WTO law.

His research interests include international economic law, international business transactions law, competition law, and the law relating to the World Trade Organization. He has published numerous articles in the area of international economic law and is the author of Power and Judicial Activism in the WTO: The Appellate Body’s Interpretation of Trade Remedy Agreements which examines the extent to which WTO Appellate Body decisions that may be characterized as activist are attributable to power configurations within trade remedy disputes.

His recent publication in the area of competition law includes ‘Implementing Effective Competition Policy through Regional Trade Agreements: The case of CARICOM’, in Competition Policy and Regional Integration in Developing Countries, Josef Drexl, Mor Bakhoum, Eleanor M. Fox, Michal S. Gal, David Gerber (eds.), Edward Edgar Publishing, July, 2012.

Dr. Beckford has presented several papers on issues of international economic law and competition law and policy at academic and professional conferences in several countries including Dominican Republic, Barbados, Trinidad, Guyana, Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Switzerland, Germany, and Senegal under the auspices of the Max Plank Institute for Intellectual Property and Competition Law in Germany, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) in Switzerland, and the Caribbean Academy for Law and Court Administration (CALCA) administered by the Caribbean Court of Justice(CCJ).

Dr. Beckford has also represented several corporations in anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and safeguard proceedings, judicial review proceedings in trade remedy matters (dumping, subsidies and safeguards), WTO consultations in trade remedy matters, and advises regularly on the consistency of domestic laws with the WTO Agreement, the application of customs laws and regulations, and on legal and economic issues relating to trade regulation and anti-trust.

More recently, Dr. Beckford was lead counsel representing the Fair Trading Commission before the before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, Fair Trading Commission v Digicel Jamaica Ltd& Anor [2017] UKPC 28., in its landmark decision affirming the jurisdiction of the Fair Trading Commission in regulating mergers and acquisitions even for industries already governed by sector-specific regulation.

He has also conducted consultancy assignments on issues of competition and international economic law for international and regional economic organizations including the CARICOM Secretariat and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).

Currently, Dr. Beckford serves as Managing Partner at the law firm SAMUEL BECKFORD, Attorneys-at-Law and International Legal Consultants, specializing in international trade law, trade remedies, customs unions and free trade agreements, customs practice and procedures, international competition law, and international economic law.

On October 7, 2019 Dr. Beckford was admitted to the Roll of Eminent Caribbean Jurists in International Law by the Caribbean Court of Justice’s (CCJ) Academy for Law for contribution to International Law.

A selected list of Dr. Beckford’s publications includes the following:

Power and Judicial Activism in the WTO: The Appellate Body’s Interpretation of Trade Remedy Agreements, Vdm Verlag, Dr. Muller Atkiengesellschaft & Co.Kg, Germany, July 2008.

National Treatment in the WTO: Abandoning Regulatory Purpose or Reinvigorating it? Trade, Law and Development, Vol. 12, No. 2, Winter 2020.

Trade Restrictions During a Global Pandemic: What is the Role for WTO Rules Amidst COVID-19? JAMBAR Vol. 32, Issue No. 2, March -May 2020.

‘Regulatory Autonomy and Article XX of GATT: An Assessment of the Evolving WTO Jurisprudence’, 17-53, Journal of Law Governance and Society, vol. 1&2, 17-53, 2018.

 

Book Review: Competition Law in the Caricom Single Market and Economy, European Competition Law Review, vol. 36, no. 12., 2015.

 

‘Implementing Effective Competition Policy through Regional Trade Agreements: The case of CARICOM’, in Competition Policy and Regional Integration in Developing Countries, Josef Drexl, Mor Bakhoum, Eleanor M. Fox, Michal S. Gal, David Gerber (eds.),  Edward Edgar Publishing, July, 2012.

“Enforcing Competition Law in CARICOM: Perspectives on Domestic Regional, and Multilateral Obligations”, in West Indian Law Journal, vol. 35, no.2, 2010.

“Effecting cooperation to resolve cross-border anti-competitive conduct affecting CARICOM”, Competition Matters, vol. XV, January 2011.

“Going backwards in abuse of dominance: A Comment on the Privy Council’s decision in National Commercial Bank Limited v. Olint Corp. Limited, Competition Matters, vol. XIV, December 2009.

“Exploring the Interface between Trade Policy and Competition Law: Conflict or Convergence”, Competition Matters, vol. XIII, December 2008.

“Global Health Governance in the WTO: Assessing the Appellate Body’s Interpretation of the WTO SPS Agreement and Implications for SPS Measures in RTAs”, Trade Gateway, vol. 4, issue 1, June 2008.

“Enforcing Market Access Via Antirust Policy: A Comment on the WTO’s Telmex Decision”, Competition Matters, vol. XII, December, 2007.

“Making Special and Differential Provisions Operational: In Search of an Effective Interpretive Principle in the WTO and RTAs”, Trade Gateway, vol. 3, issue 2, October 2007.

“Trade Remedies within the CARICOM Single Market and Economy: Some Thoughts on the Challenge for Achieving a Coherent Administration”, in the West Indian Law Journal, vol. 32, no.1, May, 2007.

“Procedural Obligations for the Conduct of Safeguards Investigations in Jamaica”, JAMBAR, October, 2005.

“Critical Issues in WTO Safeguard Jurisprudence For the Conduct of Safeguard Investigations in Jamaica,” in the West Indian Law Journal, vol. 29, no. 1, May 2004.

“The Relevance of WTO Jurisprudence in the Application of the Safeguards Act, 2003”, JAMBAR, vol.11, November, 2003.

“The Antidumping Regime in Jamaica” in the West Indian Law Journal, vol.27, no.2, October 2002.

 

A selected list of Dr. Beckford’s speaking engagements includes the following:

‘Building a Competitive CARICOM Market after Covid -19’ presentation in association with the CARICOM Competition Commission and Mair and Company, Attorneys-at-Law, Trinidad and Tobago, November, 18, 2021.

“Litigation of Latin American and Caribbean Countries at the World Trade Organization and Underlying Competition Issues”, Paper presented at the IV Annual Meeting at the Working Group on Trade and Competition in Latin America and the Caribbean (WGTC) in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, November 5-6, 2014.

“The WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation and Implications for Intra-regional Trade-The Case of CARICOM”, Paper presented at the IV Annual Meeting at the Working Group on Trade and Competition in Latin America and the Caribbean (WGTC) in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, November 5-6, 2014.

“The Public Health (Tobacco Control) Regulations, 2013 And Implications Regarding WTO Obligations”, presentation before the Human Resource Committee of the Parliament of Jamaica, October 9, 2013.

“The WTO and International Trade: Promises and Performance’, Paper presented at the 2^nd Caribbean Academy for Law and Court Administration (CALCA) Conference on International Law, in association with the Caribbean Court of Justice(CCJ), September 24-28, 2012, Hyatt Regency, Trinidad and Tobago.

“Enforcement of WTO Decisions in CARICOM”, Paper presented at the 2^nd Caribbean Academy for Law and Court Administration (CALCA) Conference on International Law, in association with the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), September 24-28, 2012, Hyatt Regency, Trinidad and Tobago.

“Caribbean Adjudication of Trade Disputes: The CCJ’s Compulsory and Exclusive Jurisdiction”, Paper presented at the 2^nd Caribbean Academy for Law and Court Administration (CALCA) Conference on International Law, in association with the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), September 24-28, 2012, Hyatt Regency, Trinidad and Tobago.

Basic Features of the CARIFORUM-European Partnership Agreement”, Paper presented at the 2^nd Caribbean Academy for Law and Court Administration (CALCA) Conference on International Law, in association with the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), September 24-28, 2012, Hyatt Regency, Trinidad and Tobago.

“Implementing Effective Competition Policy through Regional Trading Agreements: The case of CARICOM”, Paper presented at Seminar on Competition Policy and Regional Integration in Developing Countries, organized by The Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property, Competition and Tax Law, Frauenchiemsee, Bavaria, Germany, July 11-13, 2010.

“The Appropriate Design and Enforcement of Competition law and Policy in Countries at Different Stages of Market Development-The Case of CARICOM”, Paper presented at II Regional Seminar on UNCTAD-SELA on Trade and Competition in Collaboration with the Brazilian Competition System, Brasilia, DF, Brazil, May 26-28, 2010.

“Article XXIV of GATT and Tax Implications of European Partnership Agreements (EPAs): Content of Duties and Other Regulations, Implications Related to the Creation of the EPAs, Trade Diversion, Scope of Possible Compensation”, Paper presented at the ACP Dialogue on Legal and Systematic Issues in the EPAs and organized by the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) and ENDA TIERS MONDE, at the Hotel des Almadies, Dakar, Senegal, 14, 15, and 16 April, 2009.

“Enforcement of Competition Law in CARICOM: Perspectives on Challenges to Meeting Regional and Multilateral Obligations”, Paper presented at the regional seminar on Trade and Competition: Prospects and Future Challenges for Latin America and the Caribbean, April 20-21, 2010, Caracas, Venezuela, organized by the Caribbean and Latin American Economic System (SELA)and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development ( UNCTAD).

“Regulation of Cross-Border Financial Services Under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS): Implications for Domestic Regulatory Autonomy”, Paper presented at the 25^th Commonwealth Law Conference under the theme Globalization and Legal Practice: Regulation and Monitoring of Cross-Border Financial Transactions: October 16-19, 2008, Montego Bay, Jamaica.

“Global Health Governance in the WTO: A Preliminary Assessment of the Appellate Body’s Interpretation of the SPS Agreement and the Legitimacy of SPS Measures, paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association 49^th Annual Convention, Bridging Multiple Divides, Hilton, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, U.S.A., March 26, 2008.

“Enforcement of Competition Policy: Challenges in the Interface between Regional and Multilateral Trade Regimes”- paper presented to Supreme Court Judges as part of the Caricom Secretariat’s sensitization seminar for the inauguration of the Community Commission on October 24, 2007.

“Overview of the WTO Trade Remedies Framework,” “The Antidumping Procedures in the United States” presented to the Guyana Association of Trawler Owners and Seafood Processors, Georgetown Guyana, January 21-24, 2004.

sion of Global Affairs, Centre for Law and Justice, RutgersUniversity, Newark, New Jersey, and Co-Founder of the Global Trade Law and Development Centre. Dr. Beckford is a Member of the Jamaican Bar Association and a Member of the American Society of International Law, where he is a Contributing Editor to its publication, International Legal Materials (ILM).

In 1992 he completed a Bachelor’s degree in History and Political Science at the University of the West Indies (First Class Honours) and in 1994 a Bachelor of Laws degree, also at the University of the West Indies. In 2000, he completed his master’s degree in international commercial law at the Columbia University School of Law in New York, and in 2007 a Ph.D. in Global Affairs with Distinction (specializing in International Economic Law) at the Division of Global Affairs, Centre for Law and Justice,RutgersUniversity,Newark,New Jersey, U.SA.

He has worked as Senior Legal Counsel to the Jamaica Fair Trading Commission, and Adjunct Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies, Mona. Prior to joining the Fair Trading Commission, Dr. Beckford worked as Legal Counsel to the Jamaica Customs Department, Litigation Associate at Dunn Cox, Group Legal Counsel to Caricom Investments Limited, Senior Legal Counsel to the Anti-dumping and Subsidies Commission, and has lectured at the University of the West Indies in public international law and the law of international economic development. His research interests include international business transactions law and the law relating to the World Trade Organization. He has published numerous articles in the area of international economic law and is the author of Power and Judicial Activism in the WTO: The Appellate Body’s Interpretation of Trade Remedy Agreements which examines the extent to which WTO Appellate Body decisions that may be characterized as activist are attributable to power configurations within trade remedy disputes.

Read full profile here…