Necessity Killed the Gatt - Art XX Gatt and the Misleading Rhetoric about ‘Weighing and Balancing’

Filippo Fontanelli 

University of Surrey
November 30, 2012

European Journal of Legal Studies, Volume 5, Issue 2 (Autumn/Winter 2012/13), pp 36-56 
Abstract:      
Art XX GATT, listing the policy grounds available to WTO Members that wish to deviate from their GATT obligations, makes some of them conditional on a requirement of necessity in relation to the pursued interest. In their reports, Panels and the AB have developed the analysis of this element in two separate but interlaced tests: one whereby they allegedly perform an exercise of ‘weighing and balancing’ of the interests involved (a value-judgment), the other ascertaining the trade-restrictiveness of the measures challenged (an optimization analysis). It is submitted that an appraisal of the case-law demonstrates that this distinction is artificial, and most importantly, that no real balancing is ever performed - or in any event, relied on - to determine the outcome of a dispute (Claim 1). However, a diffuse trend of ‘strict proportionality’ is discernible in the case-law, not so much within the ‘weigh and balance’ analysis, but within the trade-restrictiveness test. The latter, therefore, is arguably less value-neutral than the quasi-judicial bodies would claim it to be, and then WTO Members tend to understand, when construing the necessity requirement (Claim 2).

Number of Pages in PDF File: 22

Keywords: WTO, Art. XX GATT, necessity, proportionality, deference

Full text available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2207206