§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether World Trade Organisation adjudicators may take democratic, social or environmental criteria into account in their adjudications; and, if not, what steps are being taken to ensure that they should. [HL2008]
§ Lord Simon of HighburyIn each case, WTO panels, the appellate body and arbitrators base their rulings on relevant WTO rules which have been agreed by WTO member governments by consensus. New rules must also be agreed by consensus. At present there is no consensus for social criteria. There are some environmental criteria in WTO agreements, including in GATT Article XX, which are taken into account. The UK and the EU are pressing for further work on the interaction between WTO rules and environmental policies as part of the next WTO round of trade negotiations.
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§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the World Trade Organisation's adjudications are immune from lobbying by interested parties; and, if so, how this immunity is secured. [HL2007]
§ Lord Simon of HighburyOnly parties to the dispute (plaintiff and defendant) and those WTO member governments who have registered an interest as a third party can be party to any WTO panel. Third party submissions are generally on points of law and do not have to state a position in favour of either the plaintiff or defendant. Panel proceedings are confidential and rulings must be made in line with the WTO's rules, as must appellate body rulings. The rules of procedure for panels and appellate bodies, which can be found in the Dispute Settlement Understanding (which is publicly available), provide for the integrity of those processes.
§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
What evidence the World Trade Organisation's technical experts solicit and from whom in the course of their adjudication's; whether their adjudication's are published; and, if so, with what evidence attached; and how the adjudication's are funded. [HL2005]
§ Lord Simon of HighburyWTO panels and the appellate body take decisions on the basis of evidence submitted to them by the parties to a dispute. Reports by WTO panels and the appellate body are made publicly available. Documents submitted to panels and the appellate body in the course of their inquiries are kept confidential, although the parties can also be requested to provide a non-confidential summary of the information contained in the submission, which can be disclosed to the public. As with all WTO functions, the activities of panels and the appellate body are funded through annual WTO member government subscriptions.