World Trade Organization and Judicial Enforcement of International Trade Law
Title
World Trade Organization and Judicial Enforcement of International Trade Law
Author
Pelc, Krzysztof J.
Research Area
Social Processes
Topic
International Relations
Abstract
The Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is an international court of unprecedented ambition. This essay examines why countries agreed to delegate as much power as they did to this international legal body, by looking to the rise of US unilateralism during the 1970s. I then offer an overview of the DSU's functioning, which concludes that its effectiveness derives more from the way it forces countries to negotiate in the shadow of the law than from the threat of material sanctions following noncompliance. Finally, I assess some widespread concerns about how developing countries fare in the system. I show that while there does exist a cleavage between rich and poor countries in dispute settlement, it does not lie where conventional wisdom often has it.