Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA)
The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) was the first permanent intergovernmental organization to provide a forum for the resolution of international disputes through arbitration and other peaceful means.
It was established by the Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes, concluded at The Hague in 1899 during the first Hague Peace Conference. 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”.
Among the aims of the Conference was the strengthening of systems of international dispute resolution—especially international arbitration. The 1899 Convention was revised at the second Hague Peace Conference in 1907. Both Conventions serve as the PCA’s founding conventions.
Today, the PCA provides services for the resolution of disputes involving various combinations of states, state entities, intergovernmental organizations, and private parties. The PCA’s caseload reflects the breadth of its involvement in international dispute resolution, encompassing territorial, treaty, and human rights disputes between states, as well as commercial and investment disputes.
