BURDEN OF PROOF AND PRIMA FACIE CASE IN WTO DISPUTES SETTLEMENT — A PERSPECTIVE OF CHINESE LAW

Abstract

This paper discusses the concept of burden of proof and prima facie case, respectively, in WTO dispute settlement based on the legal doctrine on burden of proof in Chinese law. From the perspective of Chinese law, the burden of proof has three implications on two levels, namely the behavior burden of production and the behavior burden of persuasion in the procedural sense, and the result burden of bearing unfavorable consequence in its substantive sense. A prima facie case also includes the weaker account and the stricter account. They do not mean the same in different contexts, but what is the exact meaning thereof in a given context is clear. The real confusion of the burden of proof in WTO dispute settlement is prima facie standard which, in practice, to some extent, relies on the determination by the panel on case-to-case basis.

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