A short history of the Rules Division

As explained in the Preface, this book evolved out of a conference held in 2011 to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the Legal Affairs Division (LAD). When the idea of publishing a book to commemorate and expand on that event was raised, it became clear that no history of law and lawyers in the WTO would be complete without discussion of, and contributions from, the many people working on legal matters outside LAD. Many observers are surprised to discover that, in addition to having lawyers working in various operational divisions, there are actually three divisions dealing specifically with legal matters in the WTO Secretariat: LAD, the Rules Division, and the Legal Counsel to the Administration. Of course, the Appellate Body Secretariat also does legal work; but, as its name suggests, it is a fully autonomous and independent Secretariat.