The Relevance of WTO Dispute Settlement Decisions in the US Legal Order

In: Legal issues of economic integration: law journal of the Europa Instituut and the Amsterdam Center for International Law, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Band 36, Heft 4, S. 285-312

Abstract

This article addresses the issue of the relevance of World Trade Organization (WTO) adopted reports in the US legal order with specific attention paid to the role of the judiciary. Far from being limited to the issue of direct effect, the analysis here is an attempt to look at how the US judiciary takes into account these adopted reports, also considering other softer effects, such as their persuasive authority and interpretative significance, which are thoroughly examined in light of the Charming Betsy doctrine. The conclusion is that in US judicial venues, WTO adopted reports are not totally neglected and that, if due account is taken of the case law of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Chapter 19 binational panels, they are granted an ever more solid indirect effect. This judicial trend is analysed also in light of the somehow similar evolution that took place in the recent case law of the European Community Courts.