Title: The Implicit Standard of Exercising Judicial Economy and Its Possible Applications

Author: Liang Yi

Abstract: The implicit standard of judicial economy indicates that a panel or the Appellate Body tends to exercise judicial economy regarding knotty issues, or exercise judicial economy to narrow the scope of verdicts for knotty cases. Currently, the main method of identifying knotty issues is to refer to the submissions or opinions of “mixed third parties”. Another method is to refer to the consensus among dispute participants. Sometimes, a panel combines these two methods to identify knotty issues. Generally speaking, non-violation, agriculture, sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) cases, as well as those involving national security issues are usually more politically sensitive and thus more likely to gain recognition as knotty cases, which may trigger the application of judicial economy. The implicit standard of judicial economy may be applied to US — Steel and Aluminium Products. In this case, the panel can examine the procedural issues under Article XXI of GATT 1994, and exercise judicial economy regarding its substantive issues.

Keywords: Judicial Economy, Implicit Standard, Sino-US Trade War, Section 232 Measures, Security Exceptions