The Attack on the Appellate Body- Events of 5 December 2019
Steve Charnovitz
A story on World Trade Online by Hannah Monicken just crossed my desk in which she wrote: "Even those who do not view Zdouc as part of the problem could begin to view his now-public divisiveness as a reason he should go, according to one source -- especially if (sic) would be key to appeasing the U.S. and getting the Appellate Body back in business."
The idea of "appeasing" the US government prompts me to take note of some guidance that I have offered numerous times over the past two years and memorialized recently in my essay "A WTO if you can keep it" published 30 November 2019 http://www.qil-qdi.org/a-wto-if-you-can-keep-it/
Let me restate the guidance here:
"Both in the workshops and in the public fora, the key advice I constantly offer is that other WTO members should not make the situation worse by offering to appease the Trump Administration. As history has shown, the appeasement of dictators never works."
As a longtime USTR watcher, I can assure everyone that firing Werner Zdouc is not going to appease the Trump Administration regarding the WTO. It won't move the ball on issues such as reappointing 8 WTO appellate judges or getting multilateral trade negotiations moving forward.
In my Blog posting of 2 December "Comments on the Appellator Graham Affair," I discussed the shameful efforts to oust Mr. Zdouc, the Appellate Body (AB) Secretariat Director.
Amazingly to me, one respected trade law scholar commented "I agree, but to sacrifice the AB in order to save the job of one person (or even out of principle) also appears shortsighted."
Let me briefly respond by stating what should be obvious in an international legal system. Acting out of principle is what makes such systems work. Resisting extortionist demands to remove Mr. Zdouc is a step that will help preserve the rule of law at the WTO. If the AB is to be sacrificed on the altar of Trumpism, then let it be sacrificed. But one should not commit acts of injustice as a way of trying to save a judicial system.
