Originally from World Arbitration Reporter (WAR) - 2nd Edition

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THE PERMANENT COURT OF ARBITRATION

Brooks W. Daly*

I. BASIC INFORMATION

A. History and Background of the Institution

The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is an
intergovernmental organization established in 1899 to facilitate
arbitration and other forms of dispute resolution between states. It
was the first global institution created for the adjudication of
international disputes and has developed into a modern, multifaceted
arbitral institution prepared to meet the rapidly evolving
dispute resolution needs of the international community. Today the
PCA provides services for the resolution of disputes involving
various combinations of states, state entities, intergovernmental
organizations, and private parties. Its caseload encompasses
territorial, treaty, and human rights disputes between states, as well
as commercial and investment disputes, including many disputes
arising under bilateral and multilateral investment treaties.

The PCA was established by the Convention for the Pacific
Settlement of International Disputes, concluded at The Hague in 1899
during the first Hague Peace Conference. The Conference was
convened at the initiative of Czar Nicolas II of Russia "with the object
of seeking the most objective means of ensuring to all peoples the
benefits of a real and lasting peace, and above all, of limiting the
progressive development of existing armaments." The 1899 Hague
Convention was revised at the second Hague Peace Conference in
1907 and, as of December 2011, 115 States have ratified one or both
of the Hague Conventions. Matters of policy are decided by an
Administrative Council, composed of the diplomatic representatives
accredited to the Netherlands of the State Parties to the Hague
Conventions.

The seat of the PCA is the Peace Palace in The Hague, the
Netherlands, which was constructed in 1913 to serve as the PCA
Headquarters. The Peace Palace also provides accommodation to the
International Court of Justice, the Hague Academy of International
Law and the Peace Palace Library, which is one of the most
comprehensive and current international law libraries in the world.