Study On Expert Evidence Rules In WTO Dispute Settlement Procedure

The cases submitted to the WTO dispute settlement body are increasingly showing the characteristics of scientific,technological and even economic intensity.It is the challenge which WTO dispute settlement should not ignore.In order to achieve the objective of setting up the WTO dispute settlement body,the Panel must fulfill the obligation of objective examination of facts under Article 11 of the DSU when deciding on cases of international disputes.Given the lack of professional knowledge on science,technology and even the economy,in order to fulfill this obligation,it is a very advantageous tool for the Panel to apply the rules of expert evidence to help understand and review the expert evidences submitted by the parties to the dispute.With regard to the rules of expert evidence,article 13 of the DSU gives the Panel the "right to seek information" to help the Panel review the facts.However,in the judgment practice of WTO dispute settlement,there is an abnormal phenomenon of the disjointed relationship between the applicable practice and the actual needs.The Panel should have applied the rules of expert evidence to seek information from experts to help the Panel better review and objectively evaluate the facts,however,the Panel has little or no application of the rule in a number of disputes involving complex scientific and technical issues.This paper studies the rules of expert evidence,and provides suggestions for the perfection and development of expert evidence rules by analyzing the reasons for the disconnections between the application practice of expert evidence rules and the actual needs.This article is comprised of three parts:The first part is a comprehensive survey of the expert evidence rules in the WTO dispute settlement mechanism,which introduces the necessity,function and legitimacy of expert evidence rules in WTO dispute settlement,and introduces the main content.At the same time,it puts forward the problem of the disconnections between the application practice of the rules of expert evidence and the actual needs.The second part analyzes the reasons why the application practice of expert evidence rules is out of touch with the actual needs.On the one hand,the imperfect rules of expert evidence limit the enthusiasm of the Panel to apply the expert evidence rules,such as the imperfection of the application of the rules of expert evidence,the mandatory rules prevent the Panel from applying the expert evidence rules,the application of the rules of expert evidence may prolong the resolution of disputes,and the "Amicus Curiae" brief is not included in the expert evidence rule system,etc.,which limits the incentive of the Panel to apply the rule.On the other hand,there is also the lack of due process guarantee in the application of the rules of expert evidence,which makes the Panel do not have the normative basis for the application of the expert evidence rules,and also hinders the Panel from applying the expert evidence rules actively.It is analyzed in this paper that these problems may be the reason why the Panel does not actively apply the rules of expert evidence in dispute settlement.Therefore,in order to make the WTO dispute settlement mechanism play its role and maintain the world trade order,we should constantly improve and develop the rules of expert evidence in the future development of WTO dispute settlement rules.The third part gives some suggestions on the development and perfection of the rules of expert evidence.Based on the analysis of the basic characteristics of three different kinds of expert evidence,this paper thinks that the appropriate and reasonable rules of expert evidence can effectively improve the admissibility and proof power of different types of expert evidences.For example,improve the system of expert evidence rules by establishing uniform rules of expert evidence by more appropriate rule-making subjects,and by incorporating "Amicus Curiae" brief into thesystem of expert evidence rules,and by improving more specific rules of expert evidence.And enhance the stability,consistency and predictability of expert evidence rules in WTO dispute settlement,by making the provision of applying rules of expert evidence,and by establishing a reasonable schedule of expert evidence rules application,and by retaining Panel's appropriate discretion of expert report,and so on.