SEE ALSO:
press releases
WTO news
Mike Moore's speeches
Renato Ruggiero's speeches,
1995-99
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These
appointments will commence in June 2000. Appellate Body Members are generally appointed
for a four-year term, but as Mr Taniguchi is replacing Mr Beeby, he will serve for the
remainder of Mr Beeby's term (which is approximately three and a half years). The
appointments were made according to the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) which
stipulates that the Appellate Body shall "comprise persons of recognized authority
with demonstrated expertise in law, international trade and the subject matter of the WTO
agreements generally." The DSU also requires that the Appellate Body be broadly
representative of the WTO membership. These appointments were based on a proposal by a
Selection Committee comprising the Director-General, and the Chairmen of the General
Council, the DSB, the Council for Trade in Goods, the Council for Trade in Services and
the TRIPS Council, after consultations with WTO Members.Notes
to editors Back to top
1. Biographical notes on Messrs
Abi-Saab, Ganesan and Taniguchi are attached. Notes on the four other Appellate Body
members – James Bacchus of the United States, Claus-Dieter Ehlermann of Germany,
Florentino Feliciano of the Philippines and Julio Lacarte-Muró of Uruguay – are
contained in Press/32, dated 29 November 1995.
2.
The Appellate Body hears appeals from dispute panel reports on issues of law covered in
the panel report and legal interpretations developed by the panel. Three members of the
Appellate Body hear and determine any one appeal. The Appellate Body can uphold, modify or
reverse the legal findings and conclusions of a panel. Thirty days after it is issued, an
Appellate Body report is adopted by the Dispute Settlement Body, and unconditionally
accepted by the parties to the dispute, unless there is a consensus against its adoption.
Since its establishment in November 1995, the Appellate Body has issued 27 reports.
Biographical
notes
Georges Michel ABI-SAAB Back to top
Born in Egypt on 3 June 1933,
Georges Michel Abi-Saab is Professor of International Law at the Graduate Institute of
International Studies in Geneva, Honorary Professor at Cairo University’s Faculty of
Law, and a Member of the Institute of International Law.
Mr
Abi-Saab served as consultant to the Secretary-General of the United Nations for the
preparation of two reports on "Respect of Human Rights in Armed Conflicts" (1969
and 1970), and for the report on "Progressive Development of Principles and Norms of
International Law relating to the New International Economic Order" (1984). He has
also served as a Judge on the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunals for
the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda, and as a Member of the Administrative Tribunal of
the International Monetary Fund and of various international arbitral tribunals.
Mr
Abi-Saab is the author of two courses at the Hague Academy of International Law, and of
several books and articles, including "International Crises and the Role of Law: The
United Nations Operation in the Congo 1960-1964" (Oxford University Press 1978).
Arumugamangalam
Venkatachalam GANESAN Back to top
Born
in India on 7 June 1935, Arumugamangalam Venkatachalam Ganesan served in the Government of
India for 34 years until his retirement on 30 June 1993. During his long career, he held
various positions in his Government and at the United Nations Headquarters in New York,
including: Commerce Secretary (1991-1993) in charge of India’s foreign trade policy
and chief negotiator of India in the Uruguay Round; Civil Aviation Secretary (1990-1991);
Additional Secretary at the Ministry of Industry (1986-1989) in charge of industrial
policies, foreign investment in India, administration of India’s laws on patents,
designs and trade marks, closely associated with the TRIPS agenda in the Uruguay Round;
and Inter-Regional Adviser (1980-1985) at the United Nations Centre on Transnational
Corporations in New York.
Since
his retirement from government service, Mr Ganesan has been active as a consultant for the
UNDP and for the private and public sectors in India. He was, until recently, a member of
the Permanent Group of Experts under the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing
Measures; a member of the Indian Government's Trade Advisory Committee on multilateral
trade negotiations; and a member of a WTO dispute settlement panel examining the European
Communities’ complaint against Section 110(5) of the US Copyright Act.
Mr
Ganesan has written numerous newspaper articles and monographs dealing with the Uruguay
Round, the WTO and the Seattle Ministerial Conference. He is the author of several papers
on trade and investment issues published by various UN agencies such as UNCTAD and UNIDO,
and has contributed to many books published in India concerning the Uruguay Round and
intellectual property rights.
Yasuhei
TANIGUCHI Back to top
Born in Japan on 26 December
1934, Yasuhei Taniguchi is Professor of Law at Tokyo Keizai University, and an Attorney at
Law in Tokyo. He has been a Visiting Professor at several universities, including:
University of Hong Kong; Georgetown University Law Center, Washington DC; Stanford Law
School, University of California; Murdoch University, Perth; University of Melbourne;
Harvard Law School; University of Paris XII; and New York University School of Law.
Mr
Taniguchi is affiliated to several legal institutions including the Japan Commercial
Arbitration Association; International Council for Commercial Arbitration; the American
Law Institute; and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He has handled many
international arbitration cases and is listed in the arbitrators’ panel of the Japan
Commercial Arbitration Association; the American Arbitration Association; the Hong Kong
International Arbitration Centre; the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration
Commission; and the Cairo Regional Centre of Commercial Arbitration.
He
has written numerous books and articles in the fields of civil procedure, arbitration,
judicial system/legal profession, and comparative/international law. His publications have
appeared in Japanese, Chinese, English, French, Italian and German. |
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