Third Party Participation at the WTO: What Have We Learned?

Assessing the World Trade Organization: Fit for Purpose?, 2017. Edited by Manfred Elsig and Joost Pauwelyn. Cambridge University Press.

22 Pages Posted: 3 Mar 2020

See all articles by Krzysztof Pelc

Krzysztof Pelc

McGill University; Oxford University

Date Written: November 5, 2017

Abstract

The issue of participation has always loomed large in the World Trade Organization. The question is, who is allowed into the room? When it comes to dispute settlement, the issue largely falls under a single mechanism. The one means by which countries other than the litigants can enter the room during WTO disputes is by joining as third parties. Third party status allows members to become privy to otherwise private consultations, as well as to voice their views to the panel and AB during litigation and have them recorded in the final ruling. Third party status has only gained in importance through time, as the institution has encouraged participation and gradually expanded third party rights. Since 1995, member states have entered the room on nearly a thousand occasions, to observe dispute proceedings or make their views heard. This chapter asks, what have we learned from 20 years of third party participation?

Suggested Citation

Pelc, Krzysztof, Third Party Participation at the WTO: What Have We Learned? (November 5, 2017). Assessing the World Trade Organization: Fit for Purpose?, 2017. Edited by Manfred Elsig and Joost Pauwelyn. Cambridge University Press., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3532742 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3532742

Krzysztof Pelc (Contact Author)

McGill University ( email )

855 Sherbrooke St. W
Montreal, Quebec H3A 2T7
Canada

Oxford University ( email )

Department of Politics and International Relations
Manor Road Building
Oxford, OX2 6LE

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.politics.ox.ac.uk/person/krzysztof-pelc

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