MANILA, Philippines – After 125 years, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) has recorded its biggest number of new cases in 2023, with 82 new cases filed on top of the 246 proceedings handled by the Court in the same year.

Members of the Court of the PCA held a three-day session to mark its 125th anniversary at the Peace Palace in the Hague from June 12 to 14, with 163 members of the court and legal advisers present from 110 of the 123 Contracting Parties of the organization. The last time members gathered together was to mark the centennial of the PCA in 1999.

“The PCA can be proud of its significant contributions to the peaceful settlement of disputes, as cited by the UN General Assembly in a unanimous resolution in August last year, as well as in the development of international law,” said Philippine ambassador to the Netherlands J. Eduardo Malaya, who is also the acting president of the PCA Administrative Council.

Malaya also called on Member States “to more proactively support the PCA and its activities and fully utilize its dispute settlement facilities in the interest of the maintenance and preservation of peace and the promotion of justice.”

Its keynote speaker, a former legal adviser to the UK Foreign and Commonwealth, has recognized that the Court “has been an unqualified success” but noted that “it can do more.”

The PCA was created during the first Hague Peace Conference in 1899 through the Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes.

“The 1899 Hague Peace Conference was the first truly international assembly of states for the promotion of peace, a precursor of the League of Nations, and has witnessed the growth of the United Nations and shaped the current international law landscape,” PCA Secretary General Marcin Czepelak said.

The PCA remains the only intergovernmental organization that helps states, state entities, intergovernmental organizations, and private parties resolve inter-party disputes.

Among the cases the PCA handled is the Philippines’ arbitration case against China in 2013, which the court ruled on July 12, 2016, on Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea that included parts of the West Philippine Sea.

It is currently handling six inter-state arbitrations, an inter-state proceeding, 102 arbitrations under bilateral or multilateral investment treaties or national investment laws, and 97 arbitrations under contracts either involving a state or some other public entities, among five other proceedings.

According to Malaya, the Court recognizes the call to remain responsive to the needs of the international community, especially at this time.

“With the resurgence of grave armed conflicts around the world, including in the doorsteps of Europe, it is our generation’s turn to carry on this solemn trust and collective duty to do our utmost for the cause of peace and justice and the rule of law, with the PCA – ‘accessible to all’ and ‘at all times’ – at the heart of this endeavor,” Malaya said.

The three other members of the Court from the Philippines – Raul Pangalangan, Sedfrey Candelaria, and Antonio Gabriel La Viña – were in attendance at the Congress, along with Assistant Solicitor General George Ortha and Senior State Solicitor Joel Villaceran. – Rappler.com