ABSTRACT
The fact that trade remedies could be considered as particular measures of self-help underlines the fact that international law changes in order to offer new responses to the new challenges of international society. It could be argued that using traditional concepts to understand modern and particular aspects of World Trade Organisation (WTO) law could be meaningless. The creation of peaceful and judicial means of dispute settlement in international law, and in particular the WTO Dispute Settlement System in the trade field, reflects the progress in the international legal system to contribute to reducing unilateral reactions and forms of self-help. The concept of self-help is evolving and its evolution includes such reactions which differ from classic forms of self-help. International law evolves and, as in many other fields of law, its evolution reflects change in society and political and philosophical theories. Traditional international law could be considered as an ineffective instrument to cope with new challenges.
