PCA Talk
PCA Talk
PCA Talk
History
You have the privilege to find yourselves in a historic space: The Peace Palace,
founded as a Temple to Peace and purpose-built for the PCA in 1913 thanks to
significant funding by the idealistic philanthropist, Scottish-born, American
success story Andrew Carnegie. Since WWII the building houses not only the
PCA but the International Court of Justice, the UN's judicial body.
The PCA was created in 1899 at the First Hague Peace Conference on the
initiative of the Russian Tsar Nicholas II. A ride down history's memory lane
might lead us to raise our eyebrows collectively at the thought of this particular
Tsar and his future role as peacemaker!! Nicholas succeeded his father's throne
in 1894. Nicholas was 26, stubborn and elitist. That same year he married
Princess Alexandra of Hesse-Darmstadt, Queen Victoria's grand-daughter. It
was Nicholas' cousin Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands who convinced him
to strike a bold move and persuade his royal counterparts )(consider how
many he was related to!) to convene a Peace Conference in 1899 at The
Hague. The resulting 1899 Convention for the Pacific Settlement of
International Disputes set out the noble goal: “seeking the most objective
means of ensuring to all peoples the benefits of a real and lasting peace...”
Princess Alexandra was wildly autocratic, obsessed by power and was
instrumental in convincing Nicholas to resist ever-growing calls for increased
democracy within Russia. Nicholas required little persuasion: as a fervent
nationalist he decried those who favored western style democracy.
Alexandra was unpopular with the Russian elite, more so as evidence emerged
of her increasing influence over her husband. Her reliance on the radical
Orthodox priest Rasputin for mentoring in the widest sense of the word in
angered many, ultimately leading to Rasputin's assassination.
In late 1904, Japan launched a surprise attack on the Russian fleet at Port
Arthur on the Eastern front----Russia had completed the Trans-Siberian railway
but was desperate for a sea port. Casualties in the 1904-1905 Russian
Japanese war were staggering. At the final battle alone (The Battle of Mukden)
330,000 Russians faced off to 250,000 Japanese with casualties surmounting
100,000. Defeat in the war with Japan of 1904-5 seriously damaged Russian
prestige - and with it the esteem of the monarchy. President Teddy Roosevelt
served as a mediator between the victorious Japanese and the Russians. The
Peace Treaty resulted in a return of southern Manchuria to its rightful owner
China and Japanese control over Port Arthur and the important railway lines
leading to it.
Russia's losses on the Eastern front paled in comparison to the situation in St.
Petersburg. Workers inspired by their American counterparts forming unions
protested against unreasonable conditions. Four days of strikes on the part of
100s of thousands of workers culminated in a massacre that went down in
history as Bloody Sunday, the spark that lit the fires of the 1905 Revolution
masterminded by Leo Trotsky.
• You all have been reminded that law calls for a study of history whether
you are examining precedents or drafting legislation. In our concise
introduction to modern international arbitration, we should return the
hapless Nicholas to his place of glory, The Hague. Arbitration played a
prominent role in the 1899 Convention for the Pacific Settlement of
International Disputes.
Title IV. On International Arbitration
Recognizing the solidarity which unites the members of the society of civilized
nations;
Article 15
Article 16
In questions of a legal nature, and especially in the
interpretation or application of International Conventions,
arbitration is recognized by the Signatory Powers as the
most effective, and at the same time the most equitable,
means of settling disputes which diplomacy has failed to
settle.
Article 20
Arbitration in General
The PCA is not a court but a permanent administrative framework for arbitral
tribunals
Three-part organization
• Administrative Council (Member States 110 in total)
• Members of the Court (Panel of Arbitrators)
• International Bureau (Secretariat)