Thesis

The WTO dispute settlement system : one size does not fit all

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Awarding institution
  • University of Strathclyde
Date of award
  • 2023
Thesis identifier
  • T16724
Person Identifier (Local)
  • 201472273
Qualification Level
Qualification Name
Department, School or Faculty
Abstract
  • This thesis examines the operation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) from the perspective of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Ensuring predictability and stability in the rules-based international trading system requires the DSU to be accessible, efficient, reliable, and able to redress imbalances. The inability of the LDCs to fully utilise with the DSU, thus denigrates their ability to redress imbalances and, by extension, their ability to fully engage in international trade, which logically could restrict their economic growth. This thesis builds upon our existing knowledge by exploring and examining why the LDCs, having brought only one dispute, appear to have difficulties -engaging with the DSU, and this thesis reveals a series of issues and concerns. Since the 1990s, the DSU has been the subject of review, and this thesis also explores these ongoing review negotiations from an LDC viewpoint.This LDC-focused analysis and evaluation represent an original and important contribution to the general body of academic knowledge, illuminating areas of these negotiations which have hitherto been overlooked within the academic fora. The thesis also narrates how during both the negotiations which led to the creation of the DSU and those relating to its review, the repeated failure of the LDC proposals to either gain traction or even, upon occasion, be discussed by the wider WTO membership, contributed towards a growing bias amongst the LDCs against engaging with the DSU which is a recurring theme of this thesis. The thesis makes recommendations to address some of the engagement issues faced by the LDCs. Arguing that WTO action alone will not address all these issues, the thesis advocates that the LDCs must themselves be prepared to take measures to address their structural and other weaknesses.
Advisor / supervisor
  • Switzer, Stephanie
  • Sindico, Francesco
Resource Type
DOI
Date Created
  • 2022

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