Necessity Killed the GATT: Art XX GATT and the misleading rhetoric about 'weighing and balancing'

Abstract

Art XX GATT, listing the policy grounds available to WTO Members that wish to deviate from their GATT obligations, makes some of them conditional on a requirement of necessity in relation to the pursued interest. In their reports, Panels and the AB have developed the analysis of this element in two separate but interlaced tests: one whereby they allegedly perform an exercise of ‘weighing and balancing’ of the interests involved (a value-judgment), the other ascertaining the trade-restrictiveness of the measures challenged (an optimization analysis). It is submitted that an appraisal of the case-law demonstrates that this distinction is artificial, and most importantly, that no real balancing is ever performed - or in any event, relied on - to determine the outcome of a dispute (Claim 1). However, a diffuse trend of ‘strict proportionality’ is discernible in the case-law, not so much within the ‘weigh and balance’ analysis, but within the trade-restrictiveness test. The latter, therefore, is arguably less value-neutral than the quasi-judicial bodies would claim it to be, and then WTO Members tend to understand, when construing the necessity requirement (Claim 2).