'The WTO Dispute Settlement System – What Does the Future Hold?'

Mon 09/07/2012

Time: 12:45 PM - 2:00 PM

Speaker:

Ms Valerie Hughes (Director, Legal Affairs Division, World Trade Organization, Geneva)

Description:

(Convenor: Associate Professor Tania Voon)

This public lunch-time seminar is hosted by the Institute for International Law and the Humanities (IILAH) and will be chaired by Associate Professor Tania Voon, Programme Director of IILAH Global Trade Research Programme, Melbourne Law School.

Abstract: The WTO dispute settlement system, created in 1995, has been described as one of, if not THE, most successful international adjudicative system in history.  This seminar will explore that claim and address whether the stellar reputation is deserved.  It will also consider what the future has in store for WTO dispute settlements.  Will WTO Members continue to bring their disputes to the WTO for resolution?  Or will they turn instead to the numerous regional dispute settlement systems that have been created?  Will the inability of WTO Members to move forward on the DDA trade negotiations undermine the legitimacy of the WTO dispute settlement system?  Is the WTO dispute settlement system up to the challenge of resolving disputes on sensitive policy issues like United States labeling for dolphin-safe tuna or Australia's tobacco plain packaging law? 

Valerie Hughes is Director of the Legal Affairs Division of the World Trade Organization (WTO), where she provides legal advice to the Director-General of the WTO and assists dispute settlement panels in deciding trade disputes between WTO Members.  Previously, Ms Hughes served for five years as Director of the Appellate Body Secretariat of the WTO, where she assisted the WTO Appellate Body in deciding appeals of trade cases.  Ms Hughes spent 22 years with the Government of Canada, during which time she held various positions, including Assistant Deputy Minister at the Department of Finance, General Counsel of the Trade Law Division at Foreign Affairs, and Senior Counsel in the International Law Division of the Department of Justice.  Ms Hughes has also served as counsel for Canada before numerous international courts and tribunals on trade, fisheries and law of the sea matters.

REGISTRATION LINK

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DATE: Monday, 9 July 2012

TIME: 1:00 - 2:00pm
(Light lunch provided from 12:45 - 1:00pm)

VENUE: Room 920, Level 9, Melbourne Law School
185 Pelham Street, Parkville (Carlton)

RSVP: Above registration link or via law-iilah@unimelb.edu.au

ENQUIRIES: Ms Vesna Stefanovski, law-iilah@unimelb.edu.au or (03) 8344 6589



     

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