Triggs: WTO Disputes Settlement – An Evolving Jurisprudence

Gillian Triggs (Univ. of Sydney - Law) has posted WTO Disputes Settlement – An Evolving Jurisprudence (in International Commercial Law, Litigation and Arbitration, K.E. Lindgren & N. Perram eds., 2011). Here's the abstract:

An examination of some of the recent decisions of the panels and Appellate Body demonstrates the continuing evolution of WTO trade rules through traditional processes of treaty interpretation, reference to earlier jurisprudence and judicial reasoning. The quasi-judicial development of the law in these ways has facilitated finding that reflect contemporary concerns for the environment and human health, even for political concerns about public morals. The WTO trade rules can be flexible in the face of efforts to protect endangered species or to protect against the spread of disease. Recent disputes suggest that threats to orderly international trade do not lie in inflexible or out-dated rules, but rather in the failure by Members themselves to conduct proper risk assessments and by their imposition of measures that are little more than ill-disguised restrictions on international trade.