Energy Charter Treaty

150 on the arguments and submissions of the disputing Contracting Parties. Panels shall be guided by the interpretations given to the WTO Agreement within the framework of the WTO Agreement and shall not question the compatibility with Article 5 or 29 of practices applied by any Contracting Party which is a member of the WTO to other members of the WTO to which it applies the WTO Agreement and which have not been taken by those other members to dispute resolution under the WTO Agreement. 165 Unless otherwise agreed by the disputing Contracting Parties, all procedures involving a panel, including the issuance of its final report, should be completed within 180 days of the date of establishment of the panel; however, a failure to complete all procedures within this period shall not affect the validity of a final report. (b) A panel shall determine its jurisdiction; such determination shall be final and binding. Any objection by a disputing Contracting Party that a dispute is not within the jurisdiction of the panel shall be considered by the panel, which shall decide whether to deal with the objection as a preliminary question or to join it to the merits of the dispute. (c) In the event of two or more requests for establishment of a panel in relation to disputes that are substantively similar, the Secretary General may with the consent of all the disputing Contracting Parties appoint a single panel. (4) (a) After having considered rebuttal arguments, a panel shall submit to the disputing Contracting Parties the descriptive sections of its draft written report, including a statement of the facts and a summary of the arguments made by the disputing Contracting Parties. The disputing Contracting Parties shall be afforded an opportunity to submit written comments on the descriptive sections within a period set by the panel. Following the date set for receipt of comments from the Contracting Parties, the panel shall issue to the disputing Contracting Parties an interimwritten report, including both the descriptive sections and the panel’s proposed findings and conclusions. Within a period set by the panel a disputing Contracting Party may submit to the panel a written request that the panel review specific aspects of 165 Modification based on Art. 3 of the Amendment to the Trade-Related Provisions of the Energy Charter Treaty.