Symposium Introduction: The WTO’s Dispute Settlement Reform and Developing Countries

Dispute settlement at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is in urgent need of reform. For nearly two decades, the USA had accused the Appellate Body of judicial overreach and action against the institution escalated under both the Obama and Trump administrations. In November 2022, the quasi-judicial system that has long been referred to as the ‘jewel in the crown’ of the WTO lost its appellate function as the term of its final Member, Dr Hong Zhao, expired. With the US refusal to reappoint members to the Appellate Body, the WTO’s dispute settlement system has been slowly asphyxiated. The WTO’s two-tier dispute settlement system was designed to ensure that Members had access to transparent, independent and timely decision-making. With dispute settlement reform as a focal point for the WTO’s thirteenth Ministerial Conference (known as ‘MC13’) agenda in February 2024, this symposium problematises the existing crisis and articulate possible alternatives in an era of ‘deglobalisation’. Our contributors offer their expert insights into dispute settlement reform with developing countries at the centre of their analysis and evaluate the mechanisms that have been implemented or proposed with a view to imagining alternative possibilities in the lead up to MC13.