PCA hosts Meeting of the Judicial Club of The Hague

The Hague, 26 June 2014.

The Secretary-General of the PCA, Hugo H. Siblesz, hosted a meeting of The Hague’s Judicial Club gathering judges and registrars from the international courts based in The Hague and members of the Dutch Supreme Court.

Some 40 participants from the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and the Dutch Supreme Court were received at the Peace Palace by the PCA’s Secretary General and PCA Senior Legal Counsel Judith Levine. Other members of the PCA-staff were also present. Participants included President Peter Tomka of the ICJ, President Theodore Meron of the ICTY, President Sang-Hyun Song of the ICC, President Hans van Houtte of the Iran-US Claims Tribunal and President Geert Corstens of the Dutch Supreme Court.

The distinguished guests were welcomed by President Tomka of the ICJ, co-president of this group of eminent lawyers. The Secretary-General then gave a presentation on the PCA’s history, structure and increased activities over the past decade. He described the PCA’s present docket of 95 cases, encompassing 8 inter-state arbitrations, 53 cases investment treaty arbitrations, 28 arbitrations arising from contracts between private parties and States, state-controlled entities or intergovernmental organizations and four other types of international disputes. His presentation was followed by a lively and informative exchange of questions and answers, in which PCA Senior Legal Counsel Judith Levine also participated. President Geert Corstens of the Dutch Supreme Court presented the closing remarks in his capacity of co-president of the Hague Judicial Club. Copies of the PCA’s 2013 Annual Report were provided to the guests.

This was the first time that the PCA hosted this event, which provided participants with an opportunity to meet, to get acquainted with the work of the oldest international judicial institution, the PCA, and share their experiences.