Rebalancing the balance : How the WTO's HR policy impacts on its very objectives for welfare enhancement and development

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to highlight the lack of fairness in the international trading system, including the HR policies in the WTO which have wider implications on the participation of developing countries in the multilateral trading system. Design/methodology/approach – The main research methodology undertaken for this paper is based on the quantitative approach, predominantly from sources such as books, articles and WTO reports. Findings – There is a correlation between the HR policies employed by the WTO and the usage by developing countries of the WTO DSU. Practical implications – The implications of the research/paper indicate that discrimination against developing countries in the international system goes beyond their inherent weakness as poorer members of the international order. Such discrimination is deep rooted within the institutional governance of the system. Social implications – The need to re‐evaluate policies practices by international institutions in the light of the developments of the twenty‐first century. Originality/value – There has been no work undertaken in relation to the use of language as a criterion for job selection and its implications on the participatory value of developing countries in the WTO DSU.