GENEVA, Dec 18 (Reuters) - South African law expert David Unterhalter is to take over as head of the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) top court, the Appellate Body, a WTO document said. The document on the WTO website, dated Dec. 15, said the seven-member body, among whom the chair rotates each year, had elected Unterhalter as chairman from Dec. 18.
The WTO referees world trade and rules on disputes involving billions of dollars.
Unterhalter succeeds Brazilian lawyer Luiz Olavo Baptista, who is leaving the appellate body in February for health reasons.
Unterhalter, 50, joined the appellate body in September 2006, and is due to step down at the end of 2009.
He is a law professor at Witwatersrand university, and as a member of the Johannesburg bar has appeared as an advocate in a large number of commercial and other cases, as well as advising the South African government. (Reporting by Jonathan Lynn; Editing by Alison Williams)