Mercosur's dispute settlement system

20 years after the creation of the Permanent Review Tribunal (PRT)

Abstract

The rise and consolidation of integration processes, which emerged after the end of World War II, expanded in Latin America as a strategy in the face of globalization. Following the proliferation of regional blocs in the 1990s, the Common Market of the South (MERCOSUR) was created with an institutional structure that includes permanent bodies aimed at increasing levels of interregional development. This article analyzes the evolution of the bloc's dispute settlement system, from its beginnings with the signing of the Brasilia Protocol, which established ad hoc arbitral tribunals, to the conclusion of the Olivos Protocol, which consolidates the Permanent Review Tribunal (PRT) as part of a dispute settlement system that guarantees the correct interpretation and application of the bloc's regulations. Considering that 20 years have passed since the PRT's creation, it is deemed timely to analyze the tribunal's performance, its interventions and results, exploring its functioning and examining the procedure developed for dispute settlement, in order to identify its effectiveness and whether the tribunal's contributions have been decisive in continuing to justify its permanence, or if perhaps a renewal of the body is required.