WTO Dispute Settlement at 30:

A Period of Embedded Internal Reform

Müslüm Yilmaz and Jenya Grigorova

 

ABSTRACT: Through the use of the flexibilities found in the WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding, panels have contributed since 1995 to a significant evolution of the WTO dispute settlement system. This evolution has manifested itself in terms of enhanced efficiency, transparency and versatility of the dispute settlement process. Its extent has been so significant that it could be described as a form of ‘embedded’ internal reform process circumscribed by the manoeuvring space provided by the Dispute Settlement Understanding. WTO members have been the driving force behind such process, and it is they who, through negotiations, will decide its future course.