Ryzhov, V.B. Manifestation of integration patterns in the organization of the activities of the World Trade Organization

Abstract: Taking an example of the World Trade Organization, the author evaluate the infl uence of the integration phenomenon on the democracy and institutional organization of states and international organizations. The author considers that the only reliable method for centralization and integration in the international cooperation in an important sphere of activities, such as trade, is judicial resolution of disputes among the states regarding interpretation of the said norms. However, the transfer of judicial competence from the states to the international organization raises the issue of its compliance with the national constitutions. Additionally, revision of the national legislation by the judicial bodies of the organization threatens with the unpredictable widening of the competence of organization outside the scope provided for it by the sovereign member states. There may be a confl ict between the acts of an organization and national legislation, refl ecting differences in values. Providing the organization law with the direct effect without prior approval by the representative bodies challenges one of the necessary conditions for the existence of international relations: supremacy of law, causing doubts in legitimacy and democracy of such a situation. As a conclusion the author states that the only reservoir of experience in this situation lies with the states themselves. However, this experience can hardly be directly transferred to the international level. Therefore, one may state that the contradiction between two vital problems: integration and democracy is not yet resolved, and there is no satisfactory theory for dealing with this contradiction.

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