Permanent Court of Arbitration | |
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Cour permanente d'arbitrage | |
Seal of the court
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Established | 1899 |
Country | Worldwide, 117 state parties |
Location | The Hague, Netherlands |
Authorized by | Hague Peace Conference |
Website | www.pca-cpa.org |
The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is an international organization based in The Hague in the Netherlands. It was established in 1899 at the first Hague Peace Conference. The PCA encourages the resolution of disputes that involve states, state entities, intergovernmental organizations, and private parties by assisting in the establishment of arbitration tribunals and facilitating their work. The PCA is different from the International Court of Justice which is housed in the same building, the Peace Palace in The Hague.
Contents
History
The court was established in 1899 as one of the acts of the first Hague Peace Conference, which makes it one of the oldest institutions for international dispute resolution. Its creation is set out under Articles 20 to 29 of the 1899 Hague Convention for the pacific settlement of international disputes, which was a result of the first Hague Peace Conference. At the second Hague Peace Conference, the earlier Convention was revised by the 1907 Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes. 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 most concrete achievement of the Conference was the establishment of the PCA: the first global mechanism for the settlement of disputes between states. The 1899 Convention was revised at the second Hague Peace Conference in 1907.
State parties
As of November 2015, 118 countries are party to one or both of these founding Conventions of the PCA.[1]
State party
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1899 convention
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1907 convention
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28-10-2011
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15-06-1907
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01-04-1960
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21-02-1997
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04-09-1900
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26-01-1910
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30-06-2008
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26-02-2012
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04-06-1962
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04-04-1962
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04-09-1900
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07-10-1910
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21-01-2003
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16-09-2005
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15-06-1907
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26-10-1910
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15-06-1907
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06-03-1914
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04-09-1900
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10-06-2000
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30-08-1961
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30-08-1961
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04-01-1956
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04-01-1956
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01-08-1961
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01-08-1961
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19-08-1960
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09-07-1994
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15-06-1907
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18-01-1998
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21-11-1904
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26-01-1910
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15-06-1907
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17-03-1997
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25-03-1961
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25-03-1961
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20-07-1999
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08-10-1991
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15-06-1907
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22-04-1912
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12-11-1993
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01-01-1993
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04-09-1900
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26-01-1910
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15-06-1907
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07-09-1958
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03-07-1907
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04-11-1968
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20-06-1907
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26-01-1910
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04-10-1997
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01-09-2003
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30-07-2003
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02-04-1973
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09-06-1922
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04-09-1900
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06-12-1910
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04-09-1900
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26-01-1910
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21-01-2015
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04-04-1901
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15-06-1907
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14-05-1911
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25-01-1998
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15-06-1907
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03-04-1910
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01-12-1961
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30-01-1962
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04-09-1900
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26-01-1910
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08-12-1955
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08-12-1955
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29-07-1950
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04-09-1900
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31-08-1970
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30-10-1970
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06-07-2002
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17-06-1962
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04-09-1900
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06-10-1900
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11-02-1912
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27-01-1992
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11-06-2006
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21-02-2000
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06-11-2015
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14-09-2003
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04-06-1992
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04-06-1992
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18-07-1955
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18-07-1955
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12-08-2001
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14-02-1968
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14-04-1968
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02-09-1996
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23-09-1994
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09-01-2005
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12-07-1901
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04-11-1912
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17-11-1991
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17-02-2001
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07-10-2009
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06-05-2002
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07-09-1968
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03-08-1970
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17-04-1901
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26-01-1910
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03-06-2006
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04-06-2001
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04-09-1900
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26-01-1910
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10-02-1959
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13-04-2010
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15-06-1907
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14-02-1910
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16-02-1987
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04-09-1900
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18-11-1910
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05-08-1950
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15-06-1907
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10-11-1911
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15-06-1907
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24-06-1933
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15-06-1907
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26-05-1922
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14-07-2010
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04-09-1900
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12-06-1911
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02-12-2005
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04-09-1900
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30-04-1912
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07-03-1955
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07-03-1955
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19-04-2011
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20-10-2014
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20-01-2002
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01-08-1977
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30-09-1977
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05-06-2006
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05-06-2006
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11-09-1993
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01-01-1993
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01-10-1996
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29-03-2004
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21-12-1998
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04-09-1900
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17-05-1913
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09-02-1955
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02-12-1966
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27-12-1992
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25-12-1970
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04-09-1900
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26-01-1910
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29-12-1900
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11-07-1910
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04-09-1900
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11-05-1910
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17-12-2004
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12-06-1907
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30-04-1966
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04-04-1962
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04-04-1962
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06-11-2008
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04-09-1900
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26-01-1910
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04-09-1900
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12-10-1970
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17-06-1907
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15-06-1907
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29-12-2011
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27-02-2012
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31-12-1999
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19-09-1984
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Organization
The PCA is not a “court" in the conventional understanding of that term, but an administrative organization with the object of having permanent and readily available means to serve as the registry for purposes of international arbitration and other related procedures, including commissions of enquiry and conciliation.”[2] It is a permanent framework available to assist temporary arbitral tribunals or commissions. The judges or arbitrators that hear cases are officially called "Members" of the Court.
The PCA is housed in the Peace Palace in The Hague, which was built specially for the Court in 1913 with an endowment from Andrew Carnegie. From 1922 on, the building also housed the distinctly separate Permanent Court of International Justice, which was replaced by the International Court of Justice in 1946.
The public at large is usually more familiar with the International Court of Justice than with the Permanent Court of Arbitration, partly because of the closed nature of cases handled by the PCA and due to the small number of cases dealt with between 1946 and 1990. The PCA's caseload has, however, increased since then.[3]
The PCA administers cases arising out of international treaties (including bilateral and multilateral investment treaties) and other agreements to arbitrate. The cases conducted by the PCA span a wide range of legal issues, including disputes over territorial and maritime boundaries, sovereignty, human rights, international investment (investor-state arbitrations), and matters concerning international and regional trade.
Hearings are rarely open to the public and sometimes even the decision itself is kept confidential at the request of the parties. Many decisions and related documents are available on the PCA website.
Cases
- Pious Fund of the Californias (1902)
- Savarkar Case (1911)
- Island of Palmas Case (1928)
- In the early 1980s, the PCA helped in setting up the administrative services of the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal.[4]
- Hanish Islands conflict (1998 and 1999)
- Decision Regarding Delimitation of the Border between The State of Eritrea and The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (2002) The Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission was organized through the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
- Iron Rhine (Belgium v. The Netherlands) [5] (2005)
- Barbados v. Trinidad and Tobago (2006)
- Abyei Arbitration (2009)
- Hulley Enterprises Limited (Cyprus), Yukos Universal Limited (Isle of Man) and Veteran Petroleum Limited (Cyprus) v. The Russian Federation.[6] (2014)
- Bay of Bengal Maritime Boundary (Bangladesh v. India)[7] (2014)
- Yukos shareholders vs.Russia (July 18, 2014, total award of $50 billion)
- Mauritius v United Kingdom (18 March 2015, ruled that the Chagos Marine Protected Area was illegal)
- Philippines v. China (pending)
- Croatia–Slovenia border disputes (pending)
Controversies
On 22 July 2015 major international scandal occurred during Croatia–Slovenia border disputes arbitration procedure, when Croatian daily newspaper revealed it was in possession of transcripts and audio recordings[8] showing that a Slovenian judge on the arbitration panel mr. Jernej Sekolec has been agreeing his steps with a case representative of the Slovenian government ms. Simona Drenik. According to the newspaper's transcripts and audio recordings, Slovenian judge as a member of the arbitration panel made unlawful pressure on the rest of the arbitration panel members, mr. Gilbert Guillaume (France), mr. Bruno Simma (Germany) and mr. Vaughan Lowe (UK), to rule in Slovenian favor, and also helped Slovenian side by revealing their secret communication, which was strictly forbidden by arbitration rules. While there were previous indications of information leakage from arbitration panel when Slovenian Minister of foreign affairs, mr. Karl Erjavec, disclosed confidential information about arbitrary decision,[9] PCA's internal investigation allegedly showed no information leak occurred. On the other hand, Croatian daily newspaper article on 22 July 2015 showed that PCA arbitration panel may have been under unlawful influence of Slovenian party in this arbitration case. On 23 July 2015 Jernej Sekolec resigned, and Simona Drenik resigned a day later.[10] On 28 July 2015 Slovenia appointed mr. Ronny Abraham, president of International Court of Justice as their choice on arbitration panel.[11] On 29 July 2015 Croatian parliament made unanimous decision to start the procedure of cancelling arbitration agreement due to significant breach of arbitration rules by Republic of Slovenia. After only 8 days, on 05 Aug 2015 Slovenian arbiter of choice, mr. Ronny Abraham also resigned on his position at arbitration panel in this arbitration case.[12]
See also
References
- ^ Member States
- ^ Shabtai Rosenne, “The Hague Peace Conferences of 1899 and 1907 and International Arbitration: Reports and Documents”, T.M.C. Asser Press (2001), page xxi.
- ^ Sir Kenneth Keith ONZ QBE QC, "Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration" in Timothy L.H. McCormack & Cheryl Saunders, ed., Sir Ninian Stephen: A Tribute, Miegunnyah Press (2007), p. 174. See also Permanent Court of Arbitration 106th Annual Report, p.1, available at http://www.pca-cpa.org/upload/files/03%202006%20Summary%20Report%20FINAL%20en.pdf
- ^ Judge George H. Aldrich, "The Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal" in P. Hamilton et al., ed., The Permanent Court of Arbitration: International Arbitration and Dispute Resolution, Kluwer Law International (1999), p. 208.
- ^ [1]
- ^ award on PCA website
- ^ award on PCA website
- ^ "EKSKLUZIVNO Donosimo audiosnimku razgovora arbitra i slovenske predstavnice! Poslušajte!". Večernji list. 22 July 2015.
- ^ "ARBITRAŽA ĆE BITI U KORIST SLOVENIJE? 'Imam informacije da će nam dati kontakt s otvorenim morem'". Jutarnji list. 22 April 2015.
- ^ "Slovenski član Arbitražnog suda Jernej Sekolec podnio ostavku, ostavku ponudila i Simona Drenik!". Večernji list. 23 July 2015.
- ^ "Ronny Abraham je novi arbiter". Delo.si. 28 July 2015.
- ^ "Ronny Abraham odstopil kot arbiter". Delo.si. 5 August 2015.
Further reading
- Hudson, Manley O. (June 1943). "Chapter 1. The Permanent Court of Arbitration". The Permanent Court of International Justice 1920-1942 (A Treatise). New York: The Macmillan Company. pp. 3–36 Sections 1–32. - The relevant chapter includes information about a number of cases referred to the Permanent Court of Arbitration.