Dispute Resolution as Institutionalization in International Trade and Technology
16 Pages Posted: 1 Feb 2009
Date Written: February 1, 2005
Abstract
This paper looks at the dispute settlement system of the World Trade Organization from the point of view of "creeping institutionalization". Creeping institutionalization is described as the indirect creation of a new source of normative authority which generates a form of self-standing international legitimacy. This phenomenon has two vectors. First, the judicialization of decision-making imports a legal rationality that cannot ignore precedent despite treaty-based attempts to the contrary. Second, the recognition of public interest by panels calls for input into the process that state parties are not necessarily interested in bringing.
Keywords: Dispute Resolution Theory, WTO, Constitutionalization, Judicialization, Precedent, Arbitration
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