Are the Fingerprints of WTO Staff on Panel Rulings a Problem? A Reply to Joost Pauwelyn and Krzysztof Pelc

By employing stylometric data analysis, Joost Pauwelyn and Krzysztof Pelc underpin the narrative of a power-mongering World Trade Organization (WTO) Secretariat. As ‘holder of the pen’ in writing WTO rulings, the Secretariat would absorb control over WTO adjudicators and the dispute settlement procedure. This reply disagrees. First, with stylometric analysis informing style rather than substance, this technique does not encrypt the intellectual ownership of WTO rulings, nor does it offer account of the deliberation between bureaucrats and adjudicators. Second, with public power typically deriving legitimacy from both political or judicial accountability as well as rational and de-politicized bureaucracies, an assertive WTO Secretariat under the direction of panellists is normatively desirable. Third, a WTO Secretariat pursuing consistent application of the growing WTO acquis does not impair the members-driven adjudication process.