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Introductory RemarksIn his monumental study of 1993, Hudec made a very persuasive claim to the effect that the WTO dispute settlement system did not transition to compulsory third party adjudication overnight. The GATT started as a 'relational contract' among few, like-minded players. Years of pragmatic judgments that followed, developed a trade ethos of respecting the agreed deeds, while deviations would be tolerated in the short run.The typical GATT Panelist would be a trade delegate usually present in Geneva when disputes arose. The advent of the WTO has not changed this picture. Both Panelists, as well as members of the Appellate Body (AB) are typically current or former national delegates. It is of course difficult to 'measure' the impact that similar profiles might have on the shaping of outcomes. It is quite telling though, that whereas the WTO has been hailed as a departure from GATT's pragmatism and the beginning of a new era-namely 'legalization'-it is the people who largely contributed to the shaping of the GATT-era that are called to shape the new, changed image.In Section 2, we discuss the identity and function of WTO 'judges', and their selection process. In Section 3, we focus on the identity and role of clerks aiding them. It is in thisSection where we present our thoughts regarding the incentive structure of WTO judges to dedicate time and effort in resolving disputes submitted before them. Section 4 recaps the main observations. 'composing' the Panel. The DSU does not include any 'checks and balances' regarding the manner in which the DG will perform his/her choice. As a result, we can only go by 'revealed preferences' and observe the people that have eventually got the nod.
Who Gets the Nod?We provide our Panelists' classification in order to facilitate the discussion and provide some hopefully useful conclusions. We make a general division across Panelists depending on whether the Panelists' main employer is governmental or non-governmental. We further § This happens routinely though before the AB. In the GATT years, nationals did serve on occasion on Panels. Bob Hudec for example, a US citizen, served as Panelist in US-Customs User Fee; Andy Lowenfeld (US), and Pierre Pescatore (Luxembourg) served as Panelists in US-Section 337, a dispute between the EU and the US. Prior to their first Panel appointment, 66-76% of all Panelists had previously been in contact with WTO in some capacity and/or wer...