Open dispute settlement hearings in the World Trade Organization

The Center for International Environmental Law and WWF European Policy Office urge the European Commission to move beyond closed-circuit television and adopt a policy of web-casting WTO dispute settlement hearings to ensure global public access, particularly for citizens in the Global South.

• The European Commission is credited for increasing transparency by allowing the public to view the WTO Beef Hormones case hearings in September 2005 and September/October 2006 via closed-circuit television in Geneva.
• Current access to WTO hearings is limited to those with the financial means to travel to Geneva, which effectively excludes civil society, ordinary citizens, and non-industry groups from the Global South.
• Web-casting is proposed as a more efficient and inclusive alternative to closed-circuit television because it removes the need for physical space, security clearances, and pre-hearing clearance processes.
• The WTO is deemed to have the necessary technical capacity and willingness to implement web-casting, as it already uses the technology for training and major events.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (2006). Open dispute settlement hearings in the World Trade Organization. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WTODispute_EC_Oct06.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. Open dispute settlement hearings in the World Trade Organization. 2006. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WTODispute_EC_Oct06.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=Open dispute settlement hearings in the World Trade Organization |date=4 October 2006 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WTODispute_EC_Oct06.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw2006open, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{Open dispute settlement hearings in the World Trade Organization}}, publisher = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2006}, month = oct, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WTODispute_EC_Oct06.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }