Friday Lecture: 'After the Fall: the WTO Appellate Body and the Fragility of International Adjudication' - Dr Henry Lovat, University of Glasgow

There is a sandwich lunch at 12.30 pm in the Old Library at the Centre. All lecture attendees welcome.

In 2019 the World Trade Organization Appellate Body - the institution's 'apex court' - collapsed under US pressure. Since then efforts have been ongoing to reform the dispute settlement system, with the most recent (missed) target to have a functioning system in place by the end of 2024.

This talk examines these efforts to reform WTO dispute settlement through a combined International Law/International Relations lens. The analysis suggests that rejudicializing dispute settlement "after the fall" - which remains the notional aim of the vast majority of the WTO membership - is a highly challenging prospect given institutional and intertwined political and legal constraints. These challenges do not stem solely from US obstructionism, moreover, but rather also reflect wider developments in international politics and governance.

In broader perspective, the analysis underlines the fragility of international judicial institutions and in turn highlights associated risks to the 'rules-based international order'.
 

Henry Lovat is a Senior Lecturer in International Law and Politics within the School of Law at the University of Glasgow.

He has published widely on international law issues, including on treaty interpretation, multilateral treaty regime design, and the dynamics of international adjudication, including pushback and backlash against international courts. Areas of interest include the law of armed conflict, international criminal law and practice, international trade law and governance, international human rights law, and interdisciplinary approaches to International Law and International Relations.

Henry is currently a UKRI Policy Fellow with the Scottish Government, where he is seconded to the Trade and Investment Directorate.

He was formerly a legal adviser with the UK Government, prior to which he was in private practice as an English-qualified solicitor and worked with UNHCR in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Henry has also worked as an international legal consultant on human rights issues with the Council of Europe, with UNRWA in Jerusalem, and with a range of UK and international NGOs.

Henry holds degrees from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Toronto, McGill University, and the University of Manchester.

Chair: Prof Henning Grosse Ruse-Khan, Centre Fellow

The Friday Lunchtime Lecture series is kindly supported by Cambridge University Press & Assessment.