Assistants in International Dispute Settlement: Navigating Legitimacy

Gabrielle Marceau, Maria George

ISBN: 9781509992218

Published: September 2026

Format: Hardcover

Language: English

Publisher: Hart Publishing

Description

Legal officers, référendaires and registry or secretariat staff quietly shape how international disputes are decided, yet their work is rarely studied. This book analyses the role of the actors who assist adjudicators at every stage of the dispute resolution process across 20 international dispute resolution bodies, referred to collectively as Legal Assistants.

Combining doctrinal research with interviews of relevant actors in each body, it gives a comparative and practice-based view of what Legal Assistants actually do. It then addresses the legitimacy concerns raised about their possible influence over adjudicators and decision-making, and proposes solutions for using their expertise to strengthen the legitimacy of outcomes.

Key Features

• Comparative study of the functions of Legal Assistants across 20 international courts, tribunals and dispute settlement systems.
• Based on doctrinal research supplemented by interviews with relevant actors in each body.
• Traces legitimacy concerns through judicial and quasi-judicial decisions, statements by States parties, academic and practitioner criticism, and conversations with judges and Legal Assistants.
• Moves from concerns specific to each institution towards general concerns, and identifies useful practices across institutions.
• Practical applications: benchmarking registry and legal-officer practices across courts, informing institutional design and reform, and supporting the WTO dispute settlement reform debate.

Coverage

• International courts and tribunals, including the International Court of Justice, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the Permanent Court of Arbitration and the International Criminal Tribunals.
• Human rights courts: the European Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the African Court of Human and Peoples' Rights.
• Regional and economic courts: the Court of Justice of the EU, the EFTA Court, COMESA, the East African Court of Justice, the ECOWAS Court of Justice and MERCOSUR.
• Economic dispute settlement: the WTO dispute settlement system, ICSID, the USMCA and commercial arbitration, plus the Iran-US Claims Tribunal.

About the Authors

Gabrielle Marceau is Associate Professor at the University of Geneva and has taught at several institutions, including the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Monash Law School and the University of Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne). She has been President of the Society of International Economic Law and is widely published on WTO law and dispute settlement. Maria George is co-author of the volume.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
Part I: Overview of Institutions: Structure, Procedure, and Observations on the role of Legal Assistants
2. African Court of Human and Peoples' Rights
3. Court of Justice of the European Union
4. Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa Court of Justice
5. Commercial Arbitration
6. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement
7. East African Court of Justice
8. Economic Community of West African States Court of Justice
9. European Court of Human Rights
10. Court of Justice of the European Free Trade Association
11. Inter-American Court of Human Rights
12. International Court of Justice
13. International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes
14. International Criminal Tribunals
15. International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea
16. Iran-US Claims Tribunal
17. Mercado Común Del Sur
18. Permanent Court of Arbitration
19. World Trade Organisation Dispute Settlement System
Part II: Comparative Practices, Concerns, and Proposed Solutions across Institutions
20. Situating the Legal Assistants within the Institutions: A Comparative Perspective
21. Legal Assistants and the Dispute Resolution Process
22. Concerns and Criticisms on the Influence of Legal Assistants
23. Comparative Analysis and Identification of Useful Practices
Part III: Application of Findings to the WTO DSS
24. A Case Study on the WTO Dispute Settlement System: Reform and More
25. How to Implement Possible Reform into the WTO DSS?
26. Conclusion

Why buy this book?

It is one of the few comparative studies of the people who support adjudicators across the main international courts and tribunals. For institutions, counsel and researchers it turns an often-debated question into evidence: what Legal Assistants do, where legitimacy concerns arise, and which practices from other institutions can address them.

Keywords

international dispute settlement, legal assistants, legal officers, référendaires, registry staff, international courts and tribunals, adjudicator legitimacy, WTO dispute settlement reform, international adjudication, comparative international law

Target Audience

Dispute resolution lawyers, International lawyers, Legal Academics

Genre

Public International Law, Arbitration and Dispute Resolution, International Law

Q&A

What do legal assistants do in international courts and tribunals?
They are legal officers, référendaires and registry or secretariat staff who aid adjudicators at different stages of the dispute resolution process. This book compares their functions across 20 international dispute resolution bodies.

Why does the role of legal assistants raise legitimacy concerns?
Concerns have been raised, in decisions, by States parties, academics and practitioners, about the influence Legal Assistants may exercise over adjudicators and the decision-making process. The book traces these concerns and proposes ways to address them.

Which international bodies does the book cover?
The International Court of Justice, ITLOS, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, ICSID, the European and Inter-American human rights courts, the Court of Justice of the EU, several African regional courts and the WTO dispute settlement system, among others.

How does the book relate to WTO dispute settlement reform?
Part III applies the comparative findings to the WTO dispute settlement system as a case study, and discusses how possible reforms could be implemented.

Where can I buy Assistants in International Dispute Settlement: Navigating Legitimacy?
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