PCA signs a Cooperation Agreement with CAM-CCBC

At a ceremony held on 15 September 2014 at the Peace Palace, the Secretary-General of the PCA, Mr. Hugo H. Siblesz, and the President of the CAM-CCBC (Arbitration and Mediation Center of the Brazil-Canada Chamber of Commerce), Mr. Frederico José Straube, signed a cooperation agreement with the purpose of strengthening ties between the CAM-CCBC and the PCA.

The cooperation agreement establishes a legal framework according to which both organizations join forces to promote the use of international arbitration and to raise awareness about developments in the field. In addition, it recognizes formally the benefits of promoting cooperation and of strengthening ties among international arbitral institutions.

On a practical level, under this agreement, each institution will be able to hold hearings and meetings at the other’s premises and will assist with the arrangement of local support services for such events.

(PCA Secretary-General, Hugo H. Siblesz, and CAM-CCBC President, Frederico José Straube, sign the cooperation agreement at the Peace Palace.)

The PCA has also signed cooperation agreements with other arbitration institutions and international organizations worldwide, such as the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), American Arbitration Association (AAA), China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), Association for the Promotion of Arbitration in Africa (APAA), Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (ACICA), Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC), Bahrain Chamber for Dispute Resolution (BCDR-AAA), Center for Arbitration and Conciliation of the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce (CAC-CCB), Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), Organization of American States (OAS), Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa (AFSA), and Central American Court of Justice (CACJ).

In recent years, the PCA caseload in Latin America has increased sizably, with approximately 15% of the cases currently administered by the PCA involving a Latin American State or entity, including cases with arbitrators of Brazilian nationality, with the legal seat of the arbitration in Sao Paulo, or with Portuguese as the language of the arbitration.