Key Issues in WTO Dispute Settlement: The First Ten Years

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Notes on Contributors......Page 10
Preface......Page 19
Table of Cases......Page 21
Abbreviations......Page 39
PART I Introduction and General Considerations......Page 41
1 WTO dispute settlement and national sovereignty......Page 43
2 A contract between governments......Page 44
3 Ensuring credibility......Page 45
4 Conclusion......Page 46
2 The WTO dispute settlement and general international law......Page 47
PART II The WTO Dispute Settlement System: Its Processes and Its Institutions......Page 53
1 Introduction......Page 55
3 The dispute settlement process – a four-stage procedure......Page 56
Implementation/Compliance......Page 57
4 Key institutions involved in the operation of the system......Page 58
The role of the WTO Secretariat......Page 59
5 WTO dispute settlement activity: a statistical snapshot of the first ten years......Page 60
6 Member participation in the WTO dispute settlement system......Page 61
8 Compliance/retaliation – experience in the first ten years......Page 62
9 Some concluding observations......Page 63
4 The role of the Dispute Settlement Body in the dispute settlement process......Page 65
1 General features of the WTO dispute settlement system......Page 69
(b) Right of third parties during the consultation process......Page 71
(i) The measures at issue......Page 72
(ii) Claims: legal basis......Page 73
(b) Presumed economic and legal interest......Page 74
(i) Choosing panelists......Page 75
(ii) Rules of conduct......Page 76
(ii) Rules of procedure......Page 77
(iii) Use of experts......Page 78
(i) Oral presentations by the parties (and third parties)......Page 79
(iii) Burden of proof......Page 80
(v) Standard of review......Page 81
(k) Issuance of the panel’s interim report......Page 82
(iv) Judicial economy......Page 83
(n) Adoption of the panel report......Page 84
(p) Alternative dispute resolution......Page 85
1 Introduction......Page 86
2 Background – the nature of contingent trade remedies......Page 87
(a) Standard of review......Page 89
(b) Factual basis for the review......Page 92
(c) Confidential information......Page 93
(d) Nature of claims and findings......Page 96
(e) Implications for implementation......Page 98
(f) Conclusion......Page 101
1 Introduction......Page 103
2 The humble origins of the Appellate Body......Page 104
3 The Appellate Body as established......Page 105
(a) Composition of the Appellate Body......Page 108
(b) Working procedures for appellate review......Page 109
(c) Embracing the Vienna Convention rules on treaty interpretation......Page 112
(d) Frequent and broad recourse to appellate review......Page 113
(e) Use made of the authority of appellate review......Page 114
(f) Case law of the Appellate Body......Page 117
5 Conclusion......Page 119
1 WTO appellate procedure......Page 120
2 The appellate phase in US – Steel Safeguards: special challenges......Page 122
1 Introduction......Page 128
2 Ways to determine a reasonable period of time for implementation......Page 129
4 Factors and ‘particular circumstances’ relevant for determining the reasonable period of time......Page 130
6 Special rules applicable to prohibited subsidies......Page 133
7 DSU review negotiations regarding arbitrations on the determination of the reasonable period......Page 134
8 Summary and conclusion......Page 135
1 Introduction......Page 138
(a) General principles......Page 139
(b) Article 21.3 – Determination of the ‘reasonable period of time’ for the responding party to bring its measures into compliance......Page 140
(c) Article 21.5 – The compliance panel......Page 142
(d) Article 22.2 – Compensation......Page 143
(e) The relationship between Article 21.5 and Article 22.6 – The ‘sequencing’ issue......Page 145
(f) Article 22.2 – The ‘last resort’: retaliation......Page 146
(g) Article 22.8 – Ending retaliation......Page 147
(h) Article 22.8 – The surveillance function of the DSB: an unfulfilled promise......Page 148
3 Conclusion......Page 149
1 Introduction......Page 150
(b) Nature of countermeasures......Page 151
(c) Recourse to countermeasures......Page 153
3 Operation of the countermeasure system in practice......Page 154
(a) Request for authorization to take countermeasures......Page 155
(b) Arbitrations......Page 156
4 Concluding remarks......Page 158
PART III The WTO Dispute Settlement System: Systemic and Other Issues......Page 163
1 Lawyers as advocates: from international tribunals to the WTO dispute settlements organs......Page 165
2 Lawyers as counsellors of private firms in international trade litigation......Page 169
1 Introduction......Page 172
2 Jurisdiction over claims......Page 174
3 Jurisdiction to apply law......Page 175
4 Deference to other fora......Page 180
5 Ripeness, mandatory and discretionary legislation, claims against legislation ‘as such’, and exhaustion of local remedies......Page 181
7 Jurisdiction of the Appellate Body......Page 182
8 Jurisdiction over compliance and remedies......Page 183
1 Introduction......Page 184
(a) Due process in domestic law......Page 185
(b) Due process in international law......Page 188
(b) Bias rule......Page 190
(i) Prior notice......Page 192
(ii) Opportunity to be heard......Page 193
(d) No evidence rule......Page 194
(e) Additional procedures......Page 196
4 The inherent jurisdiction of WTO adjudicating bodies to protect due process......Page 197
5 Conclusion......Page 200
1 Introduction......Page 201
2 Definition......Page 202
(a) Questions of fact......Page 203
(b) Questions of WTO law......Page 205
4 ‘Article 11 of the DSU bears directly on this matter’......Page 206
5 Standards of review of facts......Page 207
(a) ‘Raw’ evidence and factual conclusions......Page 208
(b) Domestic law......Page 210
6 Standards of review of WTO law......Page 213
7 Epilogue......Page 215
2 Burdens of proof......Page 217
3 Current WTO rules and procedures governing the admissibility and submission of evidence......Page 219
4 Presentation of different types of factual evidence to WTO panels......Page 223
(a) Summary of types of evidence used in WTO proceedings......Page 224
(b) Right of parties under existing rules to object to evidence......Page 227
5 Meeting the burden of proof when evidence is not produced by an opposing Member: adverse inferences and use of available information......Page 228
6 Conclusions......Page 229
17 Confidentiality issues under the DSU: fact-finding process versus confidentiality......Page 230
1 The ‘dilemma’ between fact-finding and confidentiality......Page 231
2 Current DSU provisions on confidentiality......Page 234
3 Panels’ use of additional procedures to supplement DSU provisions on confidentiality......Page 236
4 Concerns about how the DSU has evolved on issues of confidentiality......Page 237
(b) Companies......Page 238
(c) Lawyers......Page 239
5 Further considerations, including the Canadian proposal on BCI proposal on BCI......Page 240
6 Conclusion......Page 242
1 Introduction......Page 244
2 The right to seek information – Article 13 of the DSU and other relevant provisions......Page 246
(a) Who decides whether experts should be consulted?......Page 247
(b) Individual experts or expert review groups?......Page 249
(c) How are experts selected?......Page 252
(d) What are scientific experts consulted on?......Page 255
(e) How do panels deal with scientific advice in their legal findings?......Page 257
4 Conclusion......Page 259
1 Introduction......Page 261
2 Amicus curiae in the first decade of the WTO and DSU......Page 262
3 Private actor arguments: to heed or not to heed?......Page 267
4 Amicus briefs: a contributing perspective......Page 268
5 The continued pre-eminence of the WTO Member government......Page 270
6 Conclusion......Page 271
1 Procedural background of the US – Steel Safeguards case......Page 272
2 DSU compliance procedures......Page 273
(a) Rebalancing mechanism......Page 275
(c) WTO-consistency of the measure......Page 277
4 The implementation of the US – Steel Safeguards reports: rebalancing by the European Communities......Page 279
5 Conclusion......Page 280
1 Overall record of compliance, including US compliance......Page 282
2 What might underlie occasional delayed compliance or non-compliance?......Page 284
4 How will we know if a real compliance crisis arises?......Page 289
1 The origins of the DSU......Page 291
2 Why review the DSU?......Page 292
(a) The ‘Seattle death rattle’......Page 294
(b) The Doha deadlines......Page 295
(a) General streamlining and time saving......Page 298
(b) Filling in gaps, dealing with inconsistencies, and clarifying what is currently unclear in the DSU......Page 299
(c) Proposals for more fundamental change......Page 301
5 Analysis of proposals: some broad considerations......Page 304
(a) The nature of law: balancing ‘great expectations’ with legal and political realism......Page 305
(b) The nature of the system – balancing the ‘judicial’ and the ‘diplomatic’......Page 306
(d) The nature of change – balancing ‘evolution’ with ‘revolution’......Page 307
6 Conclusion: never say never......Page 308
PART IV Annexes......Page 309
Annex I......Page 311
Annex II......Page 313
Annex III......Page 320
Annex IV......Page 328
Cases for Which Original Panel/AB Reports Have Been Circulated to Members (89)......Page 329