Thursday, January 15, 2015

Pauwelyn: WTO Panelists Are From Mars, ICSID Arbitrators Are From Venus: Why? And Does it Matter?

Joost Pauwelyn (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies) has posted WTO Panelists Are From Mars, ICSID Arbitrators Are From Venus: Why? And Does it Matter? Here's the abstract:

Who are the individuals deciding today’s international disputes? Is the pool of people, their nationality, professional background, diversity, status or ideology different across international tribunals? If so, why? And does it matter in terms of outcomes, or the effectiveness or legitimacy of the tribunal or the broader legal system within which the tribunal operates?

This contribution focuses on adjudicators in World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement and investor-state arbitration at the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Part II identifies six striking differences between WTO panelists and ICSID arbitrators. Part III offers a number of factors that explain these differences. Part IV points at some of the possible consequences of these differences, a full assessment of which is left for future research. Part V concludes.