Purpose of this database

This database seeks to provide comprehensive information about GATT disputes and to bring an updated perspective on GATT dispute settlement based on a thorough review of primary sources. It has benefited from previous research conducted in the 1990s by Professor Robert E. Hudec and Eric E. Reinhardt, and the database of GATT dispute settlement prepared by Santana and Jackson, as well as a number of both public and previously inaccessible sources. These include:

  • digital copies of GATT documents on the WTO website;

  • documents scanned and saved for the internal use of the GATT and WTO Secretariats;

  • publicly available scanned documents in the GATT Digital Library of Stanford University;

  • internal GATT Secretariat documents recently uncovered by the WTO Information Management Section; and

  • manual searches through hard copies stored in the GATT/WTO official archives, which allowed to verify and complete the above information.