WTO Law and Dispute Settlement (LAWS70322)

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is at the centre of ongoing debates concerning both fragmentation of public international law and persistent inequities between developed and developing countries. It also provides one of the most active systems in the world for resolving international disputes, with jurisdiction over some of the largest and most significant matters arising today. This subject offers a sophisticated understanding of the WTO and its dispute settlement system, including a detailed analysis of the fundamental principles and jurisprudence of WTO law. The instructors are both leading scholars in WTO law and former Legal Officers with the Appellate Body Secretariat of the WTO.

Principal topics include:

• History and objectives of the WTO
• WTO dispute settlement
• Core disciplines under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994):
  • Tariff bindings
  • Non-discrimination (most-favoured nation (MFN) and national treatment)
  • Prohibition on quantitative restrictions
• Exceptions to WTO commitments, eg environment, health, public morals, culture, free trade agreements, and special and differential treatment for developing countries
• The regulation of trade in services under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)
• Current challenges facing the WTO and the Doha Development Round of negotiations.