Delivering International Legal Aid in the Twenty-First Century: Twenty Years of Experience at the ACWL - Global Trade and Customs Journal View Delivering International Legal Aid in the Twenty-First Century: Twenty Years of Experience at the ACWL by - Global Trade and Customs Journal Delivering International Legal Aid in the Twenty-First Century: Twenty Years of Experience at the ACWL 16 10

When it began in 2001, the Advisory Centre on WTO Law (ACWL) was an experiment in providing legal aid at the international level. This essay examines the reasons for the success of this experiment by explaining the mandate and structure of the ACWL. It also describes the services provided by the ACWL and discusses how the ACWL has sought to ensure that it provides these services in response to the needs expressed by developing and least-developed countries and in a manner consistent with its mandate. The essay concludes that the ACWL owes its success to the manner in which clarity of its mandate and a governance structure that ensures its impartiality and independence have enabled it to maintain the confidence of its users. The essay notes also that recent developments in international trade have not reduced the demand for the ACWL’s service

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