There are two Appellate Body positions coming open in the next year. Reuters reports on the nominees:
Hector Torres (Argentina) - former representative at the International Monetary Fund.
Ellen Gracie Northfleet (Brazil) - supreme court judge.
Ronald Saborio Soto (Costa Rica) - long-serving WTO ambassador.
Peter Van den Bossche (EU - Belgium) - professor at Maastricht University.
Pieter-Jan Kuijper (EU - Netherlands) - professor at the University of Amsterdam.
Ricardo Ramirez (Mexico) - former deputy general counsel for trade negotiations in the economy ministry.
Reuters explains that "One vacancy must be filled in July, replacing a Brazilian lawyer [Luiz Olavo Baptista] who left earlier this year, and one in December to replace the Italian law professor Giorgio Sacerdoti." It's probably safe to assume that Sacerdoti's slot will be filled by one of the EU candidates and Baptista's slot will be filled by one of the others.
