Hague Tribunal

The Court of Arbitration established by the Hague Peace Conference of 1899. The object of the establishment was to facilitate the immediate recourse to arbitration for the settlement of international differences by providing a permanent court, “accessible at all times, and acting, in default of agreement to the contrary between the parties, in accordance with the rules of procedure inserted in the present convention.” The court is given jurisdiction over all arbitration cases, provided the parties do not agree to institute a special tribunal. Each power signing the Convention selects four persons of known competency in questions of international law and of the highest moral reputation. These persons form the members of the court, and their names are inscribed upon a list which is notified to the contracting powers. When a case to be arbitrated arises between two of the signatory powers, the arbitrators must be choseu from the above mentioned list, each party appointing two arbitrators who together choose an umpire. An international Bureau was likewise established to serv^e as a registry for the court and to be the channel of communications relative to the meetings of the court. The court, although called “permanent,” is really so only in the fact that there is a permanent list of members from among whom the arbitrators in a given case are selected. At the Second Hague Conference of 1907, apart from minor changes made in the court, it was provided that, of appointing state. This was done with the object of securing a more impartial tribunal. 1 Scott, 274r-318, 423-464.