Reflections on the concept of ‘judicial economy’ in WTO dispute settlement

The concept of ‘judicial economy’ has become ubiquitous in World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement. In General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and WTO practice, ‘judicial economy’ has come to describe the discretionary practice of a panel to abstain from making a finding on a claim presented by a complaining party, on the grounds that another finding (or findings) of inconsistency already sufficiently resolves the dispute at hand. In other words, as put by the Appellate Body in the Canada – Wheat Exports and Grain Imports, the practice of ‘judicial economy’ is one allowing a panel