Legal Effects Of WTO Reports On National Legal System

With ten-year history, WTO dispute settlement system has been considered as the most important part of the WTO. During this period, WTO members have brought over 300 disputes to DSB, and most of the disputes have been solved through consultations, panel or appellate procedures, and DSB has adopted 95 panel reports and 65 appellate reports. Then, What is the legal status of these reports to WTO members and subsequent cases? By using methods of comparative analysis, and case-to-case analysis, this dissertation tries to discuss legal effects of these reports on national legal system.Firstly, from the point of WTO features, the article illustrates the "gradual evolvement" of GATT power orientation to WTO rule orientation, which improves members trusts and confidents on WTO dispute settlement system. And this article makes a conclusion that it is the judicial approach makes political facts gradually phase out such dispute settlement system, and makes such system prefer to interpretations of clauses and aims of the WTO treaties themselves, which makes it possible for the WTO reports to realize their effects on national legal system. Furthermore, with establishments of compulsive jurisdiction and implementation of reports, such possibility becomes to a kind of inevitability. At the same time, with a comparative analysis between the WTO, ICJ and NAFTA, the author points out not only on the coverage of jurisdiction, but on the compulsive means of implementation of reports, the former is wider and stronger than the later two. Then, through an analysis of the WTO treaties' clauses, it further proves the inevitability of such effects on national legal system. The author considers ,with the establishment of the principle of "de facto stare decisis", it builds a bridgebetween previous cases and subsequent ones, which makes the previous decisions of panel or appellate not only have legal effects on the parties of disputes, but on the third parties, even on the whole WTO members and the world society . Lastly, from points of different phrases of legal implementation, of application of laws, and of practice of the WTO reports implementation, this article discusses material legal effects of such reports.