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Appellate Body

71 posts

The Tuna/Dolphin Appellate Body 21.5 Ruling: A decision that could threaten the integrity and efficiency of WTO dispute settlement

As Susan Esserman and I pointed out in Foreign Affairs some years back, the WTO dispute settlement system is among the most advanced adjudicative mechanisms yet devised for international law. One of its innovative features is a means by which disagreements over compliance are themselves subject to resolution by the

Financial University Organizes Conference on Russia and the WTO

On 19-20 May 2015, the Financial University of the Russian Federation held its first international conference on the topic of "WTO Law in the Legal System of the Russian Federation: Problems of Application and Teaching." To my knowledge, this was the first international legal conference held to address

Russia’s Account of Negotiation History: Reason for Deletion Further Explained

On the question raised in my last post – what was the reason for deleting from Russia’s accession protocol the sentence on non-derogation of its rights under the WTO Agreement – I have now located further explanation in Annex C-9 to the Panel Report in Rare Earths, INTEGRATED EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF

Negotiation History and Interpretation of WTO Accession Protocols

As indicated in my previous post, South Korea, a third party in the Rare Earths appeal, advocated referencing negotiation history in the interpretation of Paragraph 11.3 of China’s Accession Protocol. Para. 2.7.7of the AB Report reads in part: In Korea's view, the interpretation pursuant

A Lost Opportunity: Thoughts on the Result of China’s Appeal in Rare Earths

China lost its appeal in Rare Earths last week. The main issue on appeal: the availability of GATT XX exceptions to paragraph 11.3 of China’s Accession Protocol (AP), which contains China’s WTO-plus commitment to eliminate export duties and does not refer to GATT XX exceptions. This may

The Tests of Public Morals Under the TBT and the GATT

[This post is from my good colleague, Kyle Dickson-Smith. He is interested in some of the issues that appear to be unresolved in the Panel Report]. Now that the AB decision is out, I anticipate that he will follow up to evaluate if the AB has resolved these issues. -

The Other Appellate Body Position

Thanks to a commenter for reminding me that there is another Appellate Body position up for grabs: India and Pakistan are going to battle it hard for a vacancy for judge at the WTO's highest court for trade disputes- the Appellate Body-- after New Delhi nominated former trade

The U.S. Appellate Body Nominations: Graham and Greenwald

From the USTR press release (I added the links to their law firm profiles): United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk today nominated Thomas Graham and John Greenwald to serve as members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Appellate Body. Graham and Greenwald are acknowledged leaders in the field of international

More on Appellate Body Nominations

From Gary Hufbauer: The office of the US Trade Representative has taken the little noticed but highly unfortunate step of blocking Jennifer Hillman’s second term on the WTO Appellate Body. This is a bad omen, both for the World Trade Organization and the United States. ... The United States has

The Politicization of the Appellate Body Nomination Process

With two Appellate Body appointments coming soon, this paper -- entitled "Agents, Trustees, and International Courts: The Politics of Judicial Appointment at the World Trade Organization" -- by Manfred Elsig and Mark Pollack is very well-timed. From the intro: We present a view of an AB selection process