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LL.B. (Three Years) Sem 4 International Economic Law Apr 2025 Question Paper with Solutions

SPPU Solved Question Papers

International Economic Law

Previous Year Question Paper with Solution

LL.B. (Three Years) · Sem 4

Apr 2025 Examination

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Mumbai

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First published on munotes.in on 5 November 2026.

Published by munotes.in, Mumbai.

Model answers written and edited by the munotes.in editorial desk.

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The University does not publish an official answer key for this paper. The answers in this volume are model answers, written to show how a full-mark answer is built. They are a study aid, not an authority on what an examiner marked.

The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Savitribai Phule Pune University at the Apr 2025 examination.

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Contents

The questions below are the paper as Savitribai Phule Pune University set it at the Apr 2025 examination, in the order it was set.

MarksPage

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The Paper as Set

The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the Apr 2025 examination, reproduced as Savitribai Phule Pune University set them, in the order it set them. Nothing has been reworded, added or left out. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.

Duration 3 hours  ·  Total marks 70  ·  13 questions answered

How to use this volume

Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.

Read the original question paper

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SECTION I

PART A

Answer any two · 30 Marks

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Q1)Explain the dispute settlement mechanism of the WTO.[15]

Answer

For full marks, cover: why a rule-based system matters; the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) and its coverage (Article 1); the Dispute Settlement Body and its powers, and reverse consensus (Article 2); the aims (Article 3.2, 3.7, 3.8); the stages: consultations (Article 4), good offices (Article 5), panels (Articles 6 to 16), appellate review (Article 17), implementation (Articles 19, 21), compensation and retaliation (Article 22); time limits; the cases (Canada: Aircraft, US: Stainless Steel (Mexico), EC: Bananas, US: Gambling, India: Patents); the Appellate Body crisis and the MPIA; India's record; a conclusion.

Introduction

A trade agreement is worth only as much as the means of enforcing it. Under GATT 1947, a losing party could block the adoption of a panel report. The Uruguay Round replaced this with the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (DSU). It came with the WTO on 1 January 1995. Its great change was automatic adoption: reports are adopted unless every member objects.

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1. Coverage (Article 1)

The DSU provides one procedure for disputes under the covered agreements. These are the Marrakesh Agreement, the agreements on goods (Annex 1A), the GATS (Annex 1B), TRIPS (Annex 1C) and the DSU itself. Some agreements carry special or additional rules, which prevail on a difference (Article 1.2).

Why compulsory settlement matters. Before the WTO, an economic dispute between States could reach the International Court of Justice only with their consent. In Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v. United States of America), decided on 27 June 1986, Nicaragua complained to the Court of, among other things, a general American trade embargo from 1 May 1985. The DSU instead gives every member a compulsory and fast procedure for trade disputes.

2. The Dispute Settlement Body (Article 2)

  1. Who. The DSB is the General Council of the WTO, meeting with its own chairman.
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  1. Powers. It has four powers: to establish panels, adopt panel and Appellate Body reports, maintain surveillance of implementation, and authorise suspension of concessions.
  2. Reverse consensus. The DSB decides by consensus, meaning no member present formally objects (Article 2.4). For establishing panels and adopting reports, the rule is reversed: these happen unless all members agree not to. Since the winning party will never agree, adoption is in practice automatic.

3. The aims (Article 3)

  1. Security and predictability. The system provides security and predictability to the trading system. It preserves rights and obligations and clarifies the agreements by the customary rules of interpretation. It cannot add to or diminish rights and obligations (Article 3.2).
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  1. Order of preference (Article 3.7). First, a mutually acceptable solution consistent with the agreements. Then withdrawal of the measure. Compensation is only temporary, and suspension of concessions is the last resort.
  2. Presumption (Article 3.8). A breach of an obligation is prima facie nullification or impairment, and the respondent must rebut it.

4. The stages

1. Consultations (Article 4). The complaining member requests consultations in writing, identifying the measure and the legal basis. The respondent must reply within ten days and consult within thirty days. If consultations fail within sixty days, the complainant may ask for a panel. In urgent cases, such as perishable goods, the times are shorter. Most disputes end here, in a settlement.

2. Good offices, conciliation and mediation (Article 5). These are voluntary and confidential, and the Director-General may offer them. They are rarely used.

3. The panel (Articles 6 to 16).

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  1. Establishment. A panel is established at the second DSB meeting at which the request appears, unless the DSB decides by consensus not to (Article 6.1). The request fixes the panel's jurisdiction (Article 6.2).
  2. Composition. Usually three panellists, not nationals of the parties without their agreement. If the parties cannot agree within twenty days, the Director-General appoints them (Article 8.7).
  3. Function. The panel makes an objective assessment of the matter, including the facts and the conformity of the measure with the agreements (Article 11).
  4. Information. It may seek information from any source (Article 13). The leading case is Canada: Measures Affecting the Export of Civilian Aircraft (Brazil v. Canada), adopted on 20 August 1999. The Appellate Body held that a panel may draw adverse inferences from a party's refusal to provide information.
  5. Time. The panel should report within six months, and in no case more than nine (Article 12.8, 12.9). Third parties with a substantial interest may be heard (Article 10).
  6. Adoption. The report is adopted within sixty days by reverse consensus, unless a party appeals (Article 16.4).

4. Appellate review (Article 17).

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  1. The body. A standing Appellate Body of seven members, three hearing each case, serving four-year terms renewable once.
  2. Scope. Only parties may appeal, and only on issues of law and legal interpretation (Article 17.6).
  3. Time. Within sixty days, and no more than ninety (Article 17.5).
  4. Powers. It may uphold, modify or reverse the panel. Its report is adopted by reverse consensus within thirty days (Article 17.14).
  5. Consistency. The case is United States: Final Anti-Dumping Measures on Stainless Steel from Mexico, adopted on 20 May 2008. It held that, absent cogent reasons, the same legal question should be resolved in the same way. This gives its reports something like precedent.

5. Implementation (Articles 19 and 21). A report finding a breach recommends that the member bring its measure into conformity (Article 19.1). The member states its intentions within thirty days. If immediate compliance is impracticable, it gets a reasonable period of time, fixed by agreement or arbitration, with fifteen months as a guideline (Article 21.3). A dispute about compliance goes to a compliance panel (Article 21.5), and the DSB keeps the matter under surveillance (Article 21.6).

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6. Compensation and retaliation (Article 22). If the member does not comply, the parties may agree on compensation, which is voluntary. Otherwise the complainant may seek authorisation to suspend concessions (Article 22.3). It must first try the same sector, then other sectors under the same agreement. Where serious enough, it may go to another agreement, which is cross-retaliation. The level must be equivalent to the harm (Article 22.4), and disputes about it go to arbitration (Article 22.6).

5. Cases on enforcement

  1. Cross-retaliation. In European Communities: Regime for the Importation, Sale and Distribution of Bananas, Ecuador could not usefully retaliate in goods. In 2000 it was authorised to cross-retaliate under TRIPS, up to 201.6 million dollars a year, the first cross-retaliation.
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  1. A small economy's win. In United States: Measures Affecting the Cross-Border Supply of Gambling and Betting Services, adopted on 20 April 2005, Antigua won against the United States. An arbitrator fixed the retaliation level at twenty-one million dollars a year.
  2. India complies. In India: Patent Protection for Pharmaceutical and Agricultural Chemical Products, adopted on 16 January 1998, India lost because it had no proper "mailbox" for patent applications. It complied by passing the Patents (Amendment) Act, 1999.

6. The Appellate Body crisis

Appellate Body members are appointed by the DSB by consensus, so one member can block appointments. From 2017 the United States blocked them. The Appellate Body lost its quorum on 11 December 2019. Since then, a losing party can appeal "into the void": the report is never adopted, so it never binds (Article 16.4). For example, India appealed the panel reports in India: Measures Concerning Sugar and Sugarcane into the void in December 2021.

The MPIA. Some members set up the Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement, notified on 30 April 2020. It uses arbitration under Article 25 of the DSU as a substitute appeal. India is not a participant.

7. Strengths and weaknesses

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  1. Strengths. Automatic adoption, strict time limits, a standing appellate body (until 2019), and a strong compliance record. Small members have won against large ones.
  2. Weaknesses. Retaliation is of little use to small economies, remedies are only forward-looking, and since 2019 the system has lacked a working appeal.

Conclusion

Conclusion. The WTO's dispute settlement mechanism, under the DSU, is run by the Dispute Settlement Body. It establishes panels, adopts reports by reverse consensus, watches implementation and authorises retaliation. A dispute moves from consultations to a panel's objective assessment, and then to the Appellate Body on law. Implementation follows within a reasonable period, with compensation and suspension of concessions as last resorts. The cases show adverse inferences (Canada: Aircraft), consistency (US: Stainless Steel), cross-retaliation (EC: Bananas) and compliance by India (India: Patents). But since December 2019 the Appellate Body has had no quorum, so appeals into the void can stall a dispute. The MPIA is only a partial substitute.

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