Living without the WTO Appellate Body – Procedural Developments in International Trade Dispute Settlement

Abstract

Abstract The current column covers selected procedural and institutional developments in international trade dispute settlement in 2020. During the reporting period, World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement has been facing unprecedented challenges due to the collapse of the Appellate Body. While this calls for a systemic reflection in the WTO forum regarding the future not only of appellate review but of the entire dispute settlement system, the current unavailability of the Appellate Body has triggered WTO Members into improvising temporary solutions. At the same time, some of them have equally seemed to turn to free trade agreements (FTAs) or otherwise to pursue solutions outside of the multilateral forum.