Standards of Appellate Review in International Dispute Settlement: Current Use and Conceptual Challenges

What is it about?

This article assesses the use deferential standards of review as a tool to restrain the intensity of the review carried by appeal mechanisms in international law. It discusses the WTO dispute settlement mechanisms, the review of ICAO Council decisions by the ICJ and the proposed standard of review of a future appellate tribunal for investor-State disputes. While standards of review can signal to appellate adjudicators that they should exercise restraint, they are unlikely to provide clear benchmarks as to when a first instance decision should be overturned.

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