Countries can only take advantage of the rule of law that WTO provides if they can effectively pursue their rights in a complex legal regime, which largely depends on having an adequate number of experienced legal, economic and diplomatic staff and a large network of external experts and private sector representatives.
The research undertaken by ICTSD has shown that to varying degrees, developing countries lack legal capacity, which impedes their ability to participate fully in WTO dispute settlement. Consequentially, developing countries cannot fully deploy the options provided by the WTO’s rules-based system.
There is a profound need to build greater legal capacity for strong and well informed stakeholder communities. Ideally, this capacity building will also facilitate exchange among key domestic, regional and international actors in the litigation process. In particular, the role of private sector representatives should not be underestimated.
ICTSD’s Programme on Dispute Settlement addresses these issues in the framework of regional dialogues and case studies. Among other things, the Programme recently published a book at Cambridge University Press entitled ‘Dispute Settlement at the WTO: The Developing Country Experience’.
List of publications
- ‘Trading Profiles and Developing Country Participation in the WTO Dispute Settlement System’ available here
- ‘Does Legal Capacity Matter? Explaining Dispute Initiation and Anti-dumping Actions in the WTO’ available here