直接适用抑或非直接适用:WTO争端解决中的非WTO国际法规则

尽管WTO法没有明确规定专家组和上诉机构可适用法律的范围,但是在WTO争端解决中,直接适用非WTO国际法规则仍缺乏充分的法理依据。适用于WTO成员方之间经济关系的法律并不当然构成WTO争端解决中可适用法律的一部分。DSU的有关条款,比如第7条和第11条,也排除了直接适用其他国际法规则的可能性。DSU第7条限定专家组行使职权时必须适用WTO涵盖协定的有关规定,而DSU第11条仅提到客观评估"有关涵盖协定的适用性",从而排除了非WTO国际法规则的"适用性"。在WTO争端解决中,专家组和上诉机构未被授权直接适用非WTO国际法规则,但可以将其作为解释WTO涵盖协定的有用工具。

Direct or Indirect Application:Non-WTO Rules of International Law in WTO Dispute Settlement

Even though WTO law does not definitely state the scope of the applicable law for the panel and appellate body, direct application of non-WTO rules of international law still lacks enough legal basis. Law applicable to the economic relationships among WTO members does not necessarily compose a part of the applicable law in WTO dispute settlement. Some articles of DSU, such as Article 7 and 11 also exclude the possibility of direct application of other international law. Article 7 of DSU specifies the applicable law for the panel： ＂relevant provisions of the covered agreements＂. Article 11 only mentions an objective assessment of ＂the applicability of and conformity with the relevant covered agreements＂, which excludes ＂application＂ of non-WTO rules of international law. In conclusion, the panel and the appellate body can only apply WTO covered agreements. They are not authorized to apply non-WTO rules of international law directly. These rules can only be considered as useful tools to interpret WTO covered agreements.