Permanent Court of Arbitration

Permanent Court of Arbitration, panel of arbitrators established by the Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes, signed by 24 nations at the first of the international Hague conferences in 1899. The panel was set up to facilitate the arbitration of international disputes. Under the convention, each of the contracting nations was permitted to select as many as four arbitrators, who were listed as members of the court and served for six years. The names of the members were kept on record, and disputing nations had access to the list to choose a tribunal of arbitrators to settle their differences. The court has never met as a body and is permanent only in that a panel exists from which arbitrators can be chosen.

Before World War I the court participated in the settlement of 15 cases, among which were the North Atlantic Coast Fisheries Arbitration between the United States and the United Kingdom; the Preferential Claims Arbitration among the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, and Venezuela; and the Casablanca Deserters Arbitration between Germany and France. After World War I most nations came to believe that arbitration was not a satisfactory means of settling disputes, and the court was utilized less often. The example and reputation of the court were, however, influential in the decision to create the Permanent Court of International Justice in 1921.