Effectiveness of Dispute Settlement System in World Trade Organization

The dispute settlement system used by the World Trade Organization (WTO) was born out of Uruguay round of negotiations after the establishment of WTO. The most important goals of the organization include creating an effective mechanism for friendly settlement of disputes، reducing the range of unilateral measures and taking advantage of a multifaceted system for dispute settlement. In fact، one of the main disadvantages of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)، which was introduced in 1947، was the absence of a solid mechanism for judicial settlement of disputes. That flaw was corrected in Uruguay round and an effective system of dispute settlement was introduced. This paper aims to answer the question about whether WTO’s dispute settlement system can play an effective role in the settlement of trade disputes. It concludes that by using two main tools; that is، a dispute settlement system and supervision over the implementation of decisions، WTO plays an effective role in fair settlement of trade disputes. In other words، all member states of WTO are entitled to resort to the dispute settlement system. On the other hand، the dispute settlement system is authorized to supervise the implementation of its decisions and making sure that the plaintiff states have been satisfied.