Any experienced lawyer knows that cases are most often won or lost on procedural grounds; yet procedural issues are often considered too technical for proper treatment in legal literature. In this extensively revised new edition of Palmeter and Mavroidis' authoritative book on WTO dispute settlement, the authors discuss all WTO dispute settlement provisions and their interpretation in WTO jurisprudence. All the decisions of panels and the Appellate Body are discussed, from the inception of the WTO in 1995 until the end of May 2003. Although the book contains considerable technical expertise, it is at the same time written for accessibility to a wide readership. This volume - an essential tool for practitioners, diplomats and government lawyers - is a comprehensive study of compulsory third party adjudication in international law.

This book examines the effectiveness of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) in pursuing the developmental objectives of the WTO is a whole.

Addresses the process of dispute resolution and appeal under the DSU of the WTO. This book covers politics and disputes between sovereign nations; power inequities in access to the DSU; specific categories of disputes, such as in agriculture and in intellectual property; and issues pertaining to compliance, enforcement and remedies.

This book offers a multidisciplinary approach to the Dispute Settlement Mechanism (DSM) by bringing together contributions from legal scholars and political scientists. Most of the authors belong to a tightly knit legal epistemic community, trained at the University of São Paulo and at the top-ranked research and policy centers on WTO law in Europe. Presenting a novel and unique perspective on the DSM, it provides an analysis of current themes at the heart of the WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism through the lenses of scholars with a “developing country” perspective. Focusing on assessment, substance, and process, it presents a three-fold approach to the analysis and offers a singular contribution to the scholarly literature on the WTO. The book discusses the topic from the viewpoint of individuals deeply involved in the scholarly production as well as the daily operation of the mechanism. The contributors include academics in the fields of international economic law and political science, diplomats, individuals engaged in legal private practice, and individuals affiliated with the WTO as well as WTO-related think tanks. The result is a balanced perspective on pressing issues that have arisen and that are likely to remain at the center of the scholarly and policy debate for years to come.

The GATT and WTO dispute settlement systems have become the most frequently used international mechanisms for the settlement of trade disputes among governments. The 1994 Agreement Establishing the WTO introduced a historically unprecedented new dispute settlement procedure for conflicts involving trade in goods and services, trade-related investment measures, and intellectual property rights. This procedure provided for the compulsory jurisdiction of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body, WTO Panels, and the WTO Appellate Body. The first 18 months from the time the WTO Agreement came into force on 1 January 1995 witnessed more than 50 invocations of the new dispute settlement procedures by a large number of countries, including many from the developing world. This large response, and the proposals for further extending the scope of WTO law, suggest that the WTO dispute settlement system will continue to be the most frequently applied, worldwide systems for the legal settlement of trade disputes among governments. This book provides students, lawyers and diplomats a thought-provoking and practice-oriented analysis of the GATT/WTO dispute settlement rules, procedures, and problems. The Annexes include a useful collection of relevant texts and tables of past GATT and WTO case law.

This is primarily a textbook for graduate and upper-level undergraduate students of law. However, practising lawyers and policy-makers who are looking for an introduction to WTO law will also find it invaluable. The book covers both the institutional and substantive law of the WTO. While the treatment of the law is often quite detailed, the main aim of this textbook is to make clear the basic principles and underlying logic of WTO law and the world trading system. Each section contains questions and assignments, to allow students to assess their understanding and develop useful practical skills. At the end of each chapter there is a helpful summary, as well as an exercise on specific, true-to-life international trade problems.

Since its foundation in 1995, the World Trade Organization, with its extensive legal provisions, has been defining the world trade relations and also had an enormous impact on both European and national economic law. At the same time, the WTO is perceived within the political discussion as a symbol for the world trade relations as a whole, the challenges of globalization and justice of the world trade order. Due to the expansion, consolidation and the increased enforcement of its rules, the relevance of the World Trade Organization will continue to increase. This book describes the institutional system, the basic principles and the vast variety of rules of the World Trade Organization. It aims at clarifying the structures and the general concepts, in order to enable the reader to get a better understanding of the issues at stake in many of the discussions and controversies on world trade.

This detailed and perceptive book examines the extent and scope of how rules for accession to the WTO may vary between countries, approaching the concerns that some countries enter with a better deal than others. Dylan Geraets critiques these additional ‘rules’ and aims to answer the question of whether new Members of the WTO are under stricter rules than the original Members, whilst analysing the accession process to the multilateral trading system.