A tussle between rule of law and power based system under the world trade organisation dispute settlement system

Abstract

After the establishment of the World Trade Organisation, with a new agreement for dispute settlement, the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes, it was believed that a rule based dispute settlement system was established. In the functioning of this new dispute settlement system for the last 26 years, it can be seen that there is a scope for the exercise of power play by some WTO Members. In this context, this Thesis identifies such exercise of power play in past disputes as well the possibilities for the exercise of power play in the different stages of the dispute settlement system, like, drawing up of mutually agreed solutions, adjudication stage, adoption of reports stage, implementation stage and the invocation of remedies stage. newline