A Statistical Profile of GATT Dispute Settlement Cases: 1948-1989

Abstract

In eighty-eight of the 207 complaints, a GATT panel and/or the plenary assembly of member countries has ruled on the legal validity of the complaint. 3 Such a ruling is the 3.The term "plenary assembly," or "plenary" for short, refers to the ulti-[Vol.2:1 0 Settled, or Validity Otherwise Conceded.In sixty-four of the 207 complaints, the defendant settled or otherwise conceded the validity of the claim against it without any legal ruling having been issued. 5 For the purposes of this study, all cases that fall into this category are deemed to rest on legally valid complaints.Cases involving an express concession of legal validity by the defendant must obviously be categorized as involving valid claims.They account for only one-fifth of this category, however.The remaining four-fifths involve what might be called an implicit concession of validity.The concession is implied when a party agrees to a settlement in which it will either partially or completely remove the measure complained of.Although it is true that settlements are sometimes brought about as much by practical considerations as by recognition of legal obligation, experience indicates that most settlements rest on an implicit acknowledgement that the complaint has meritat least the equitable merit recognized in the GATT's equity concept of "nonviolation nullification and impairment."'6 0 Withdrawn or Abandoned.In fifty-five of the 207 complaints, complaints were withdrawn or abandoned without any ruling having been made, or without any settlement or concession having been achieved.In nine of these cases, sufficient information exists to permit a dual conclusion: (a) that the complaint was legally valid, and (b) that the complaint was abandoned because the complainant believed that the GATT dispute settlement procedure would not respond effectively to the complaint.These nine cases must be considered legal failures, and they must be counted in order to present a complete picture of GATT's legal effectiveness. CATEGORIES OF SUBSTANTIVE OUTCOMESOnce the cases with legally valid complaints are identified, the next step is to categorize the substantive outcome of those casessuccess, failure, or result unknown.The following four main categories are used in describing substantive outcomes: * Result Unknown."Result unknown" cases are those in 5. Cases in which the parties settle after a panel ruling without taking the ruling to the plenary body are categorized as cases involving a legal ruling and are counted in that category.6.