The International Law Association – GCC Branch is pleased to draw the attention of members and friends of the Branch to the forthcoming Geneva launch of Trade Restrictions, Sustainable Development and the Law: International and Regional Perspectives (Routledge, 2025), co-edited by our President, Dr. Ahmed Essa Al-Sulaiti – Lecturer at the HBKU College of Law and former Director of the Office of the State of Qatar to the WTO, WIPO and UNCTAD – and Professor Damilola Olawuyi SAN, FCIArb. The discussion is convened by the Centre for Trade and Economic Integration (CTEI) at the Geneva Graduate Institute and will open with a keynote address by H.E. Dr. Hend Al-Muftah, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
ABOUT THE VOLUME
The volume arrives at a moment when trade multilateralism is under sustained pressure, supply chains are fracturing along geopolitical lines, and the World Trade Organization’s dispute settlement system remains in search of stable footing. Drawing on international and regional case studies – with the State of Qatar as a principal lens – the work interrogates the legal frameworks governing trade restrictions, assesses the capacity of dispute resolution mechanisms to deliver timely outcomes, and offers practical tools for building trade resilience. It gathers contributions from academics and practitioners across multiple jurisdictions, with chapters that move between WTO doctrine, regional architectures, and lessons drawn from concrete episodes of trade disruption.
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Office at Geneva
H.E. Dr. Al-Muftah has served as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Office at Geneva since July 2022. She holds a doctorate in human capital formation from the University of Exeter and a master’s in management science from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and previously served as a member of Qatar’s Shura Council. Her research and public service span human development, the empowerment of women, and the multilateral standing of small and middle-sized States — questions that resonate closely with the volume’s regional case studies.
SPEAKERS
President, ILA GCC Branch · Lawyer admitted before the Appellate Court in Qatar
Mr. Al-Sulaiti is a licensed lawyer admitted to practice before the Appellate Court in Qatar and currently serves as a Lecturer at the College of Law, Hamad Bin Khalifa University. He previously served as Director of the Office of the State of Qatar to the World Trade Organization (WTO), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and UNCTAD. With over 14 years of experience in international negotiations, mediations, and arbitrations, he has held key leadership roles including President of the Berne Union (WIPO), Chair of the WTO Committee on Anti-Dumping Practices, and President of the ILA GCC Branch. He has represented Qatar before the WTO Dispute Settlement Body and has published peer-reviewed articles in the Arab Law Quarterly, the Journal of World Trade, and the Global Journal of Comparative Law.
Editor of the Volume · Associate Dean for Research, Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), Qatar
Professor Olawuyi is Associate Dean for Research at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) in Qatar, where he holds the UNESCO Chair on Environmental Law and Sustainable Development. He chairs the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights and is widely recognised as a leading authority on international trade law, energy law, and sustainable development. He has advised UN agencies, the World Bank, governments and civil society on the human rights and environmental dimensions of natural resource governance.
BRANCH CONNECTION
The Branch notes with particular pride that our President, Dr. Ahmed Essa Al-Sulaiti, has co-edited the volume with Professor Olawuyi. Dr. Al-Sulaiti – a Lecturer at the HBKU College of Law and a licensed attorney before the Qatari Appellate Court – earlier served, from 2022 to 2025, as Director of the Office of the State of Qatar to the World Trade Organization, the World Intellectual Property Organization and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, having previously been a diplomat and legal counsel at Qatar’s Permanent Mission in Geneva (2018–2022). He has chaired the WTO Committee on Anti-Dumping Practices and served as President of the Executive Committee of the Berne Union and President of the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances. That the volume should be launched in Geneva – the city in which Dr. Al Sulaiti long represented the State of Qatar – lends the discussion a particular resonance for the Branch.
