WTO dispute settlement and the reign of strong states : how developing and developed states exercise influence in an international juridical institution

This paper examines the ways in which Developing and Developed Member States utilise the dispute settlement mechanism of the World Trade Organization. It is a study of how the characteristics of this form of juridical institution affect strong and weak states in different ways. The paper is an analysis of the changes in the practices of developing and developed member states over time at the three stages of WTO dispute settlement (notifications, panels and the Appellate Body). This paper addresses to two inter-related problems: first, whether international dispute settlement by juridical institutions actually can assist less powerful states and second, why aspects of rules-based settlement nonetheless still favour powerful interests. The paper explores the notions of equality in access to understand the operation of the WTO's dispute settlement system.