Editing Permanent Court of Arbitration (section)

==Organization==
[[File:International Court of Justice HQ 2006.jpg|thumb|Seat of the PCA: The [[Peace Palace]] ("Vredespaleis"), The Hague.]]
[[File:Permanent-Court-of-Arbitration-Members.svg|thumb|Parties of the Permanent Court of Arbitration {{legend|#007f00|according to the convention of 1907}} {{legend|#0000ff|according to the convention of 1899}}{{legend|#C0C0C0|not a party}}]]
[[File:Une des salles de réunion de la Cour permanente d'arbitrage.jpg|thumb|PCA courtroom.]]
[[File:Public Hearing in PCA Case No. 2015-28.jpg|thumb|Public Hearing in PCA Case No. 2015-28, the Enrica Lexie Incident (Italy v. India)]]
[[File:Den Haag - Prinsegracht 71.JPG|thumb|Prinsegracht 71, The Hague, a building dating from about 1728, which was the seat of the PCA between 1901 and 1913, when the construction of the Peace Palace was completed.]]
[[File:North Atlantic Fisheries Arbitration, The Hague, 1910.jpg|thumbnail|North Atlantic Fisheries Arbitration at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, Prinsegracht 71, The Hague, 1910.]]
The PCA is not a conventional court, but an administrative organization with the objective of having permanent and readily available means to serve as the registry for purposes of international arbitration and other related procedures, including commissions of enquiry and conciliation.<ref>Shabtai Rosenne, "The Hague Peace Conferences of 1899 and 1907 and International Arbitration: Reports and Documents", T.M.C. Asser Press (2001), page xxi.</ref>

The ''Administrative Council'' (formally the ''Permanent Administrative Council'') is a body composed of all the diplomatic representatives of the Contracting Parties accredited to the Netherlands.<ref name=AC>{{cite web |url=https://pca-cpa.org/en/about/structure/administrative-council/ |title=Administrative Council |publisher=PCA |access-date=30 July 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160827193746/https://pca-cpa.org/en/about/structure/administrative-council/ |archive-date=27 August 2016 }}</ref> It is presided by the [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (Netherlands)|Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands]], who is also a Contracting Party.<ref name=Art49>Article 49</ref> It is responsible for the "direction and control" of the International Bureau, directs the organisation's budget and reports on its activities.<ref name=Art49/>

The ''International Bureau'' is the Secretariat of the PCA and is headed by the Secretary-General. It provides linguistic, research, administrative and financial support to PCA arbitration tribunals.<ref name=IB>{{cite web|url=https://pca-cpa.org/en/about/structure/international-bureau/|title=International Bureau|access-date=2 August 2016|work=PCA|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160827191721/https://pca-cpa.org/en/about/structure/international-bureau/|archive-date=27 August 2016}}</ref>

The third organ of the PCA are the ''Members of the Court''. Each Contracting Party may appoint up to four persons "of known competency in questions of international law, of the highest moral reputation and disposed to accept the duties of arbitrators" for a renewable 6-year term. In addition to forming a panel of potential arbitrators, the Members of the Court from each Contracting Party constitute a “national group,”<ref name="MotC">{{cite web|url=https://pca-cpa.org/en/about/structure/members-of-the-court/|title=Members of the Court|access-date=2 August 2016|work=PCA|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160827181430/https://pca-cpa.org/en/about/structure/members-of-the-court/|archive-date=27 August 2016}}</ref> which is entitled to nominate candidates for the election to the [[International Court of Justice]].<ref name=MotC/> The Members of the Court (along with the judges of the [[International Court of Justice]]) are among a handful of groups entitled to nominate candidates for the [[Nobel Peace Prize]].<ref name="MotC"/>

Parties to a dispute may, but are not obliged to, select arbitrators from the list of the Members of the Court.

The PCA sometimes gets confused with the [[International Court of Justice]], which also has its seat in the Peace Palace.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.icj-cij.org/homepage/index.php?lang=en |title=International Court of Justice |quote=The International Court of Justice (ICJ) wishes to draw the attention of the media and the public to the fact that the Award in the South China Sea Arbitration (The Republic of the Philippines v. The People’s Republic of China) was issued by an Arbitral Tribunal acting with the secretarial assistance of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA). The relevant information can be found on the PCA’s website (www.pca-cpa.org). The ICJ, which is a totally distinct institution, has had no involvement in the above mentioned case and, for that reason, there is no information about it on the ICJ’s website. |publisher=ICJ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160714151430/http://www.icj-cij.org/homepage/index.php?lang=en |archive-date=2016-07-14 |access-date=2016-07-14 }}</ref> The PCA is not part of the UN system,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.asianews.network/content/arbitral-court-not-un-agency-22594|title=Arbitral court not a UN agency|access-date=20 July 2016|quote=... they confuse the PCA with the UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ).|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160716053028/http://www.asianews.network/content/arbitral-court-not-un-agency-22594|archive-date=16 July 2016}}</ref> holding observer status in the UN General Assembly since 1993.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/48/a48r003.htm |title=A/RES/48/3 29th plenary meeting 13 October 1993 |publisher=United Nations General Assembly |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060124040848/http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/48/a48r003.htm |archive-date=24 January 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/en/ga/about/observers.shtml |title=General Assembly of the United Nations - Observers |publisher=UN |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170616125103/http://www.un.org/en/ga/about/observers.shtml |archive-date=2017-06-16 }}</ref>
[[File:Public Hearing in PCA Case 2012-04.jpg|thumb|Public Hearing in the Administrative Council Chamber of the PCA in Case No. 2012-04 (Arbitration between the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Slovenia)]]