ASEAN Dispute Settlement Mechanisms; A Model for the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO)

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (“ASEAN”) is regarded as one of the most important economic-trade blocks around the world and one the few successful international organizations among the developing countries. A great deal of such success could be attributed to the integrated legal infrastructures which ASEAN benefits from; legal infrastructures which the members have designed and implemented on a step by step basis since the establishment of the organization. Among these, the multi-facet ASEAN system of dispute settlement is a cornerstone. This paper seeks to examine the applicability, competent authorities and the procedures of this system in deciding a broad range of disputes. Accordingly and by the way describing this part of the legal system of ASEAN, this paper is based on the belief that modeling the ASEAN dispute settlement mechanisms in similar international organizations among developing countries, specifically the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), can make a significant contribution as to improving the functioning of such organizations.