A History of Law and Lawyers in the GATT/WTO
The Development of the Rule of Law in the Multilateral Trading System

Lunes 1° de junio de 2015
Sede de la OMC en Ginebra (Suiza), Centro William Rappard, sala W

El 1° de junio de 2015 la OMC presentará un nueva publicación, titulada “A History of Law and Lawyers in the GATT/WTO”, coeditada con Cambridge University Press.

(de momento sólo en inglés)

This book paints an interesting and sometimes surprising portrait of the evolution of the role that law and lawyers have played throughout the history of the multilateral trading system. It brings together original contributions from an unprecedented number of eminent current and former GATT and WTO staff members, including many current and former Appellate Body members, to trace the history of law and lawyers in the GATT/WTO and explore how the nature of legal work has evolved over the institution’s sixty-year history.

Programme
Moderator: Gabrielle Marceau, editor

11.30

 

Introductory presentation
Gabrielle Marceau, editor and counsellor in the Legal Affairs Division
11.35 — 12.00

Opening remarks and launch of the book
WTO Director-General, Roberto Azevêdo

  12.00 — 13.30

The Development of the rule of law in the GATT, 1947 — 94

Jennifer Hillman — What is the rule of law?

Peter Williams — GATT’s first two Directors-General — both lawyers and diplomats

Stuart Robinson — Serving as a lawyer in GATT during the 1960s and 1970s

Frieder Roessler — A changing attitude towards the role of Law in GATT

Ulrich Petersmann — What the rule of law meant in the 1980s

Rosine Plank-Brumback — Setting the stage for reform

Mark Koulen — Anti-dumping disputes: leading the changes

Amy Porges — The place of law in the Uruguay Round negotiations
Audio

 

 
  13.30 — 14.00

Invitation to refreshments

 

 
  14.00 — 15.30

The expansion of the rule of law in the WTO, 1994 — today

Debra Steger — The establishment of the Appellate Body

Pieter-Jan Kuijper — Institutionalising the rule of law

A.V. Ganesan — Developing countries in the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU)

Valerie Hughes — Panels and the Appellate Body: shared responsibility

Reto Malacrida — Insight into panel composition

Alejandro Jara — The future of legal work in the WTO

Ricardo Ramirez — The impact of the WTO’s increasing dispute settlement workload
Audio

 

 
  15.30 — 15.35

Concluding remarks
WTO Deputy Director-General, Karl Brauner

Audio

 

 
  15.35 — 15.40

WTO 20th anniversary message
WTO Deputy Director-General, Yi Xiaozhun

Audio

 

 

The book will be offered at a special 25% discount following the event.

Registration is mandatory for those who do not have WTO accreditation. Should you wish to register, please send an email to [email protected] by 28 May. Registered participants will need to leave their passport or ID card at the registration office before entering the building.

Launch event co-sponsored by Cambridge University Press and the World Trade Organization.