PCA holds hearing at the IACHR in San José, Costa Rica

During July 1-5, 2015, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) held a five-day hearing at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) in San José, Costa Rica, in the arbitration between Consorcio John W. McDougall Company Inc. y Dredge & Marine Corporation (U.S.A.) and El Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad – ICE (Costa Rica).

This hearing marks the third occasion on which the PCA has held hearings at the IACHR in Costa Rica under the 2008 PCA-IACHR Inter-Institutional Cooperation Agreement, and the 2003 host country agreement between the PCA and Costa Rica.

The arbitration, for which the PCA acts as registry, is conducted in conformity with the 2010 UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules. The Tribunal is composed of Messrs. Salvador Fonseca González, César Hines Céspedes and Diego Brian Gosis, who acts as the presiding arbitrator. The Claimant is represented by Messrs. Alberto Pauly Sáenz and Mauricio París of Expertis GHP Abogados, and the Respondent is represented by its in-house counsel Ms. Damaris González Ledezma of its Corporate Legal Department.

While the PCA’s headquarters at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the Netherlands, are available for meetings and hearings in PCA-administered proceedings, the PCA has also concluded host country agreements or cooperation agreements to facilitate the conduct of meetings and hearings in other parts of the world, including, among others, Argentina, Austria, Bahrain, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, India, Mauritius, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates.

The PCA is currently administering 94 pending cases, 18 of which involve one or several parties from Latin America or the Caribbean.