Vaibhavi Guruprasad Rane, LLM, International Trade and Investment Law Candidate (2020-21), O.P. Jindal Global University
ABSTRACT
Disagreements leading to disputes between States are inevitable under international law; however, what matters is that, as a civilized society we settle disputes amicably. While Article 33 of Charter of United Nations provides means of peaceful settlement of dispute, there are certain specialized forums, which ensure speedy, expert and dedicated service for international settlement of disputes. One of the notable forums is the World Trade Organization’s Dispute Settlement Mechanism, which refers trade disputes between states to arbitration, establishes panels and appellate body, and supervises implementation of panel reports. This forum has been termed as the “single most important development in post-world war II trading regime”1 However, it hasn’t been a smooth path for this dispute settlement mechanism; it has been faced with myriad of challenges in the recent past. Its foremost challenge is the WTO dispute settlement crisis, due to paralysis of the Appellate Body. This paper aims to study the reasons for WTO Appellate Body paralysis in Part two and three, followed by analyzing the way forward to revive the AB in light of suggestions from scholars, efforts of WTO members and changing world dynamics in Part four, concluding with the current likely solutions.
