International Economical Law's level of jurisdiction has increased in the last years. This increase changed the logic of international economical dispute settlement system. The jurisdiction increase also gave more legitimacy and importance to dispute settlement mechanisms, specially the mechanisms pointed out by the World Trade Organization (WTO) which is the main international trade regulating institution. According to the new logic of dispute settlement countries considered economically strong began to accept losses related to specific sectors in order to win with the establishment of the whole new system. The new system consists of rules that are clearly defined and that are specifically created for international dispute settlement. The new rule-oriented system replaces the power-oriented system that solved its disputes by using force, unilateral sanctions or pressuring sensible sectors. Moreover, the analysis of orientation changes shows that the WTO and its Dispute Settlement Body have gain more credibility and respect from their users since, for example, agricultural cases that involve developed and developing countries have shown that it is possible to use retaliation mechanisms even when weaker countries are against strong countries.
Power-oriented; rule-oriented; Dispute Settlement Body; WTO