On Sat, 16 May 2015 17:57:04 -0700, "Howard Beal"
wrote:

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- More than 1,000 people filed a lawsuit against the Japanese
government Friday seeking to halt its involvement in the 12-country talks
for a Pacific Rim free trade agreement as "unconstitutional."

The plaintiffs said, however, the TPP would change a number of rules and
regulations concerning people's lives "for the sake of the freedom and
profits of global corporations."

One lawyer in a 157-member legal team working for the plaintiffs said the
TPP is "a risky pact that would fundamentally overturn domestic systems."

As for an investor-state dispute settlement clause which the TPP member
nations are negotiating to introduce to give a multinational company the
right to sue a state for compensation, the plaintiffs expressed opposition
saying it would jeopardize Japan's judicial independence.


http://mainichi.jp/english/english/n...dm075000c.html

Seems people around the world are wising up to corporate goverence in the
form
of trade agreements.

Best Regards
Tom.

This is always a hot topic for debate, but the trouble with it is that
most people don't know that we already have such agreements --
probably over a hundred of them -- and we have since 1966. So has
Japan.

The press has done a terrible job of pointing this out to people.
There even is an organization under the WTO, formed in 1965, which
arbitrates and administers the legal proceedings in these suits: the
ICSID, which is the International Center for Settlement of Investment
Disputes.

Rather than get into a discussion about it now, take a look at this
very succinct explanation by an expert in the field, published in the
Washington Post. It will give you a very quick insight and perspective
into what's going on. Whether you like it or not is up to you:

http://tinyurl.com/mjgc3rb

--
Ed Huntress