Originally from:
The WTO: Governance, Dispute Settlement & Developing Countries
The WTO: Governance, Dispute Settlement & Developing Countries-Digital
Chapter 37 - Preview Page
An Outsider’s Look at the WTO Appellate Body
Patricia Wald
I want to make one thing clear at the start. I am certainly not a WTO expert and, if I make errors in my description of WTO processes, please forgive me; my knowledge is wholly derivative from reading and speaking with a few of those who do know what they are talking about. I have had over twenty years experience as a US appellate judge and two as an international judge at the ICTY. What I will try to do briefly is to extrapolate from my judicial experience those parts which seem relevant to the acknowledgedly unique and sui generis nature of the WTO’s Appellate Body, which, of course, is not a traditional court—not yet anyway—and indeed would be ill-advised to act like one across the board, but which nonetheless has significant attributes of a court and more power to enforce its decisions than do many international courts. Selective incorporation of judicial attributes as they fit its needs is a preferable alternative.
I. THE APPELLATE BODY’S INTERPRETIVE ROLE
From my readings, I surmise that the WTO Appellate Body is a hybrid body fulfilling many of the functions of a traditional court in the resolution of disputes and the enforcement of voluntary agreements between countries in international trade.
About the Author:
Patricia Wald has led a legal career that has made her one of the pre-eminent figures in the legal profession in the United States as well as a champion of legal reform across the globe.