Applicantion Of Treaty Interpertation Rule In The World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement

World Trade Organization is currently the most significant multilateral trading system,the healthy development of which has the effect that people from all over the world would benefit from multilateral trade. The WTO dispute settlement system could promote the judicialization of the multilateral trading dispute settlement,therefore ensures the healthy and steady development of the multilateral trading system.The judicialization of the WTO dispute settlement system finds expression in the application of the method of treaty interpretation by panels or the Appellate Body,in which they interpret the provisions of relevant agreements so as to clarify the respective rights and obligations of the parties to the disputes in question.Thus.to examine the treaty interpretation in the WTO dispute settlement system is of significance in both theoretical and practical aspects.This thesis begins by clarifying the relationship between the treaty interpretation rule in the WTO dispute settlement system and that in general international law.The author,by reference to the theories and doctrines in respect of treaty interpretation,uses case method to examine the application of various treaty interpretation method in the WTO dispute settlement.U.S.-Gambling Services,a classic case in the WTO dispute settlement system,is used in this thesis to demonstrate the development of the treaty interpretation rule on the technical and methodological aspects.This thesis is divided into three chapters.The first chapter.which is divided into three parts,elaborates the underlying theory.The first part elaborates the relationship between the treaty interpretation rule in the WTO dispute settlement system and that in general international law.that is,the'customary rules of interpretation of public international law'under Article 3.2 of the Dispute Settlement Understanding is a bridge between the WTO and general international law.The second part elaborates the content of the treaty interpretation rule in the WTO dispute settlement system in terms of the content of Articles 31 and 32 of the Vienna convention.The third part elaborates the major school of treaty interpretation in WTO practice.that is,strict textism approach and integrating approach.The second chapter.which clarifies the application of the treaty interpretation rule in U.S.-Gambling Services,is divided into two parts.The first part,through introducing the facts and figuring out disputed points.elaborates the key points of U.S.-Gambling Services,so as to form the preconditions of specific interpretation of relevant provisions of the treaty.The second part analyzes the interpretation of Article 16 of the GATS and Schedules of specific commitments.in terms of the application of various treaty interpretation rules and the relationship among different treaty interpretation rules.The third chapter provides the insight gained from analyzing the interpretation process of U.S.-Gambling Services.On the technical aspect.development can be seen in relation to the effect of linguistic texts,distinction between context and supplementary material,and the ranking of supplementary interpretation method.On the methodological aspect,there is a tendency that the interpretation approach of the Appellate Body has transformed from a textism approach into a integrating approach.