This is an announcement from New Zealand last week:
The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade today announced Dr Penelope Ridings as New Zealand’s nomination for the pool of arbitrators established under the WTO interim appeals arrangement.
The Ministry welcomes the Cabinet decision to nominate Dr Ridings for the pool of arbitrators. Dr Ridings is a person of recognised standing in the international legal community, and brings with her extensive experience in trade law.
Dr Ridings was formerly the New Zealand Government’s Chief International Legal Adviser, and acted as Counsel in a range of disputes before panels and the Appellate Body at the WTO. Dr Ridings has also served as an independent first-stage panellist in a number of WTO disputes. She has also appeared as Counsel before the International Court of Justice and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.
The deadline set by the MPIA in Annex 2, para. 2 for these nominations was yesterday. So far only two names are public.
What happens next? Here's what the MPIA tells us:
3. The candidates will undergo a pre-selection process in order to ensure that the pool of arbitrators comprises only persons of recognised authority, with demonstrated expertise in law, international trade and the subject matter of the covered agreements generally.
The participating Members envisage that this pre-selection process will be carried out by a preselection committee composed of the WTO Director General, and the Chairperson of the DSB, the Chairpersons of the Goods, Services, TRIPS and General Councils. The pre-selection committee will, after appropriate consultations, recommend to the participating Members the candidates who meet the above criteria.
The participating Members envisage the completion of this pre-selection process within one month following the expiry of the deadline to nominate candidates.
4. The participating Members will compose the pool of arbitrators by consensus. The participating Members will endeavour to compose the pool of arbitrators within three months following the date of this communication. They will notify the pool of arbitrators to the DSB, as addendum to this communication. The composition of the pool of arbitrators will ensure an appropriate overall balance.
