This text serves as an introduction to the GATT and WTO dispute settlement systems, which have become the most frequently used international mechanisms for the settlement of disputes among governments. The 1994 Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO) introduced an historically unprecedented new dispute settlement procedure with compulsory jurisdiction of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body, WTO Panels and the WTO Appellate Body for disputes governing trade in goods and services, trade-related investment measures and intellectual property rights. In the first 18 months since the WTO Agreement came into force on 1 January 1995, there have been more than 50 invocations of the new dispute settlement procedures by a large number of coiuntries, including many from the developing world. This large number, and the proposals for further extending the scope of WTO law, suggest that the WTO dispute settlement system will continue to be the most frequently applied, worldwide system for the legal settlement of disputes among governments.
This book provides students, lawyers and diplomats a thought-provoking and practice-oritented analysis of the GATT/WTO dispute settlement rules, procedures and problems. It also include a collection of relevant texts and tables of past GATT and WTO case law.