| Legal interpretation developed by the penal and Appellate Body of GATT/WTO has played an important role in dispute settlement under the multilateral trading system. The author in this article attempts to make a pilot research on the characters, customary rules, features, functioning and object of legal interpretation contained and embodied in the numerous case reports adopted by the former GATT CONTRACTING PARTIES since 1948 and the DSB of WTO since 1995 until nowadays.Legal interpretation in GATT/WTO dispute settlement has the common characters of treaty interpretation under international law, but it also has unique features of multilateral trading system, such as its quasi-judicial interpretation character, because the legal interpretation is developed by the penal and reviewed or revised by the Appellate Body, and it is not effective until the report is finally adopted by the DSB which usually takes into account not only legal arguments, but also economic, political and diplomatic elements. Another feature is that the interpretative rule has gradually changed from tracing original drafting documents to adopting the customary rules of interpretation of public international law, particularly §§ 31 and 32 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. The most unique and significant feature is that the penal and Appellate Body’s practice of consistent invocation of the interpretation in previous reports has constituted a “subsequent practice” in treaty law. In addition, some interpretative approaches have been applied by the penal and Appellate Body, such as the restrict interpretation on exception articles so as to bring the exceptive measure in dispute backwards to the general principle of multilateral trading system, and also making concordant and consistent interpretation between general provisions and other supplementary clauses. Finally, legal interpretation developed by the penal and Appellate Body has made the ambiguity clarified and developed certain supplementary rules so as to bring the agreements more precise and applicable.A sound grasp of these rules and features will be beneficial and necessary for China to take an active part in WTO dispute settlement for maintenance of a proper balance between the rights and obligations of Members. |
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