Who Guards the “Guardians of the System”? The Role of the Secretariat in WTO Dispute Settlement

For all the attention paid to the panelists and Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Secretariat plays an overlooked and increasingly important role in the dispute settlement mechanism (DSM), including in selecting panelists, writing “issue papers” for adjudicators, providing ec...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inThe American journal of international law Vol. 116; no. 3; pp. 534 - 566
Main Authors Pauwelyn, Joost, Pelc, Krzysztof
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York, USA Cambridge University Press 01.07.2022
Subjects
Accountability
Attorneys
Courts
Dispute resolution (Law)
Econometrics
Economists
Guardians
International Court of Justice
International trade
Judicial review of administrative acts
Judicial reviews
Jurisprudence
Laws, regulations and rules
Lead Articles
Management
Power
Separation of powers
Sui generis
Trade disputes
Transparency
World Trade Organization. Appellate Body
United States > US
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:For all the attention paid to the panelists and Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Secretariat plays an overlooked and increasingly important role in the dispute settlement mechanism (DSM), including in selecting panelists, writing “issue papers” for adjudicators, providing economic expert advice, participating in internal deliberations, and drafting actual rulings. This Article argues that, given these functions, the DSM is better understood to be a sui generis administrative review process than it is a “World Trade Court.”
Bibliography:AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW, Vol. 116, No. 3, Sep 2022, 534-566
Informit, Melbourne (Vic)
ISSN:0002-9300
2161-7953
DOI:10.1017/ajil.2022.20