Maintaining Relevance in a Much-Changed World: Reforming WTO Dispute Settlement

The World Trade Organization (WTO) and its dispute settlement mechanism were established in 1995 to great acclaim. Both have seen much success: WTO membership expanded apace, and the WTO dispute settlement mechanism proved to be the most active state-to-state dispute settlement mechanism in history. However, in recent years, the WTO has come under increasing criticism as negotiations to expand and modernize WTO disciplines have produced limited results and dissatisfaction with the dispute settlement system on the part of the system’s most active user led to the paralysis of appellate review. Calls for WTO reform have become widespread. At the June 2022 Ministerial Conference, WTO members committed to work toward necessary reform, including by conducting discussions with a view to having a fully and well-functioning dispute settlement system in place by 2024. This is a tall order, given that long-standing efforts to agree on amendments to the dispute settlement system not only failed but also highlighted significant differences in members’ preferred approaches for resolving disputes. In addition, the legal processes required to implement the major change could take years. This paper identifies adjustments to the dispute settlement system that could lead to important efficiencies and that can be effected before the 2024 deadline arrives.