The evolving WTO dispute settlement system

The dispute settlement system of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is generally regarded as a big success. Most commentators agree that the system has worked remarkably well in its first ten years.1 Many factors explain the system’s success. In this chapter, I focus on one factor that, in my view, helps explain this success: the WTO dispute settlement system’s ability to evolve. Indeed, the WTO dispute settlement system has not remained static. Rather, the system has been evolving as each case raises new issues and poses new challenges.