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5 Int'l J. Advanced Legal Stud. & Governance 1 (2015)

handle is hein.journals/ijalsg5 and id is 1 raw text is: The World Trade Organisation (WTO) Dispute Settlement Mechanism in Developing Countries Otor, E. I. ABSTRACT This review on the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Dispute Settlement Mechanism in Developing Countries aims at discussing how WTO dispute settlement works, the prospective benefits and hurdles to effective use of the regime by developing countries, and some potential directions for technical assistance and capacity building, focusing on WTO dispute settlement in particular. The Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) in several provisions has made some ways to help the developing and less developed countries access the benefits provided by the DSU. Hence, the operation of the system could be improved from the perspective of developing countries, by reforms that provide more effective remedies for smaller countries and help to defray the cost of WTO litigations and save more time and resources for these countries. Keywords: World Trade Organisation, Dispute Settlement Mechanism, dispute settlement understanding, Developing Countries INTRODUCTION An effective dispute settlement system is critical to the operation of the World Trade Organisation. It will make little sense to spend years negotiating detailed rles in international trade agreements if those rles could be ignored. In the WTO, dispute settlement is governed by the Dispute Settlement understanding (DSU), which is effectively an interpretation and elaboration of GATT Article xxiii. Essentially the dispute settlement process of WTO is considered in four phases namely: consultations, the panel process, the appellate process, and surveillance of implementation. AWTO member may ask for consultations with another WTO member if the complaining member believes that the other member has violated a WTO agreement or otherwise nullified or impaired benefits accruing to it. The goal of the consultation is to enable the disputing parties to understand better the factual situation and the legal claims in respect of the dispute and to resolve the matter without further proceedings. The manner in which the consultations are conducted is up to the parties as the DSU has no rules on consultations beyond that they are to be entered into in good faith and are to be held within 30 days of a request. Normally, they are held in Geneva and involved capital- based officials, as well as the local WTO delegates of the parties. If consultations fail to resolve the dispute within 60 days of the request for consultations, the complaining party may request the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), the WTO body that oversees the operations of the dispute settlement system (DSS) to establish a panel to rule on the dispute. Thus, unless the member requesting the establishment of a Otor, E. L, LLB, LLM, BL is a Lecturer at Faculty of Law, Uniersity of Jos, Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria. E-mail: otorenochi@yahoo.co.uk International Journal of Advanced Legal Sudies and Governance, Vol.5 No. 1, April 2015 1 ISSN: 2141-6710

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