WTO Case Review 2000

Abstract

In the six and a half years since the World Trade Organization was created, the WTO's Appellate Body has become perhaps the most effective, and certainly the most prolific, international adjudicatory body. It has issued numerous "reports" (decisions) applying and interpreting various provisions of the general Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 and other WTO agreements. While the Appellate Body's jurisprudence is highly significant, insofar as the authors are aware, no comprehensive, critical, summaries of reports are currently being made available. This Article seeks to begin a process of satisfying the need for such analysis by reviewing the eight Appellate Body Disputes during the year 2000. Hopefully, such reviews will appear on an annual basis in the Journal, to provide over time a useful and reliable record of the jurisprudence of the Appellate Body.