The emergence of non-state actors in international commercial disputes through WTO Appellate Body case-law

During the first ten years of its existence, the global legitimacy of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has frequently been called into question by ‘civil society’, and particularly by non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Everyone recalls, for example, the events during the conference in Seattle. One of the main criticisms is that the WTO’s decisions, and especially those taken within a dispute settlement context, are arrived at ‘behind closed doors’ and take into account only the trade-offs between state interests with no consideration for the rights and interests of private individuals. To make up for these shortcomings, NGOs and various private bodies, including those that represent multinational corporations, have been demanding, among other things, the right to join WTO dispute settlement proceedings, as ‘friends of the court’ and, in that capacity, submit amicus curiae briefs.