The Studying On The Issue Of "Amicus Curiae" In WTO Dispute Settlement System

One of the most important achievements of The Uruguay Round Negotiation is the establishment of DSU (Dispute Settlement Understanding), DSB (The Dispute Settlement Body) and the uniform dispute settlement system for WTO, which overcomes many intrinsic drawbacks and transforms the impetus of world trade from the political guidance to the regulatory one. Therefore, the dispute settlement system is named "The Pearl on The Crown of WTO".Along with the constant development of the multilateral trade, the dispute settlement system of WTO has been encountering more and more problems. The issue of "Amicus Curiae" is one of them. Deriving from the ancient Rome laws, the term of "Amicus Curiae" is eventually adopted in the jurisdictional practice of UK and has been drastically developed through the legal practice of America. Currently, "Amicus Curiae" has been increasingly understood and accepted by more and more people due to its inherent values and has been recognized by many international organizations. However, no provision involving "Amicus Curiae" has been indicated in any WTO agreement or any of its attachments. When it appears in the WTO dispute resolution process, the practice of DSB will obtain more and more concerns, arguments and discussions of scholars.Based on the method of historical study, this thesis focuses on outlining the structure of "Amicus Curiae" by reviewing its formation and development and introduces the methods adopted by different international organizations on the settlement of the issue; based on the typical WTO cases involving "Amicus Curiae" , the author has checked the attitude of the Appellate Body and the Panel toward "Amicus Curiae" by empirical methods and has analyzed the reason why there is any systematical space related to the issue of "Amicus Curiae" in WTO as well as the judicial activism tendencies of the Appellate Body and the Panel, which is followed by the deeper reasons behind the issue of "Amicus Curiae" such as the conflict between the North and the South, the one between the trade and non-trade values. Based on analysis on the origination of the issue of "Amicus Curiae", considering the status quo of the Appellate Body and the Panel and the opinions of WTO members, this paper holds that the Appellate Body and the Panel may recognize the opinion in respect to "Amicus Curiae ", which is attached to the materials given by the parties involved in the relevant disputes, as a part of the materials; provided that the " doctrine of judicial restraint" shall be employed, and the opinion only being based on "Amicus Curiae " and delivered to DBS shall be objected, the relevant problems shall be resolved by relevant WTO members in the subsequent rounds of negotiations. At the end of this paper, based on the reality that China is still a developing country and in a pragmatism attitude, the author proposes the strategy which may be adopted by our country when encountering the problem related to "Amicus Curiae".