With the Appellate Body appointments process still blocked, people have been looking for alternative approaches in WTO dispute settlement. The MPIA is one alternative. With Paraguay recently joining, the MPIA is now up to 28 parties (including the EU-27). And as noted here, the MPIA is about to hear its second appeal. Beyond the MPIA, there was recently a WTO arbitration related to Australia's modification of its GATS commitments.
All of this makes it a good time to talk about alternative dispute resolution in international law, with a focus on trade law. For those interested in these issues, the ILA Committee on ADR in International Law will be hosting a webinar on May 28 on "Resolving international trade disputes through ADR: Ambitions, possibilities, practicalities." The description of the event is as follows:
Stakeholders have long called for more use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) to resolve trade disputes – yet use of formal ADR in the WTO has been low. Our speakers will examine past use of ADR in trade disputes, obstacles to ADR, and proposals to facilitate ADR. When are disputes amenable to ADR – or not? Why do governments and stakeholders choose ADR – or not? Would ADR procedures help – or not? When can ADR deliver a better solution than adjudication?
Amy Porges is the moderator, and the speakers are:
- Smrithi Bhaskar and Katherine Connolly (Sidley Austin LLP Geneva)
- Marco Tulio Molina Tejeda. (Molina & Associates, Geneva. As DCM of the Guatemalan Mission to the WTO, Molina was the convenor of the WTO informal process on DS reform which produced the ADR proposals in JOB/GC/385)
- Hunter Nottage (Director, Economic Growth, New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment)
- Discussant: Niall Meagher (Executive Director, ACWL)
You can register here.
