The invitation-only roundtable will gather representatives of select governments with experts from CIGI and elsewhere to brainstorm ideas on how to break the deadlock in the WTO Dispute Settlement Body on the appointment of new members of the Appellate Body. As the deadlock heads into its second year, the critical pillar of dispute settlement is slowly grinding to a halt, and will be completely dysfunctional by the end of 2018 if no solution is found. The roundtable will focus on the broader systemic causes of the crisis, instead of just the technical elements that are publicly discussed, and will consider a number of practical and political solutions to moving forward in a manner to preserve binding dispute settlement in the WTO.
