EXPERT GROUP ON THE FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PERMANENT COURT OF ARBITRATION
THE HAGUE, 28 MARCH 2025
To mark its 125th anniversary, the Administrative Council requested the Secretary-General of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (the “PCA”) to constitute the Expert Group on the Future Development of the PCA (the “Expert Group”). The Expert Group has been tasked with reflecting on the PCA’s historical contributions, evaluating its contemporary relevance, and charting a strategic course for its future. This initiative aims to ensure that the PCA remains at the forefront of international dispute resolution in the context of evolving global dynamics.
Co-chaired by Professor Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler and Sir Daniel Bethlehem KC, the Expert Group is composed of eminent international judges and arbitrators, legal practitioners, and academics, invited to serve in their personal capacities. Alongside its Co-Chairs, and reflecting balanced representation across geographic regions, genders, cultures, and legal systems, the Expert Group comprises the following 15 members: Prof. Dr. Mohamed Abdel Wahab, Prof. Dapo Akande, Mr. Gourab Banerji, Prof. Nadia de Araujo, Judge Joan E. Donoghue, Ms. Sarah Grimmer, Prof. Shotaro Hamamoto, Prof. Bing Bing Jia, Ms. Dyalá Jiménez, Judge Roman A. Kolodkin, Ambassador Rena Lee, Mr. Salim Moollan KC, Prof. Phoebe Okowa, Prof. Mónica Pinto, and Dr. Danilo Türk.
On 20-21 March 2025, the Expert Group convened at the Peace Palace in The Hague for its inaugural meeting, with a number of members participating via videoconference. The purpose of the meeting was to launch the Group’s mandate and initiate substantive discussions on the PCA’s role in the changing landscape of international dispute resolution.
During the meeting, the PCA Secretary-General and members of the International Bureau delivered a presentation to provide the Expert Group with a shared understanding of the PCA’s historical contributions. This was followed by an iterative and interactive dialogue with members of the Expert Group.
The meeting also included a session titled Looking to the Future, featuring contributions from Ms. Avril Haines and Lord Simon McDonald, in which participants reflected on the long-term global landscape and the evolving role of international dispute resolution institutions.
With the support of the International Bureau, the Expert Group will consider both historic and forward-looking perspectives on the PCA’s contributions to international law, with its recommendations to be reported to the Secretary-General and the Administrative Council in 2026.
More information about the Expert Group can be found at: https://pca-cpa.org/en/about/expert-group-on-the-future-development-of-the-permanent-court-of-arbitration/.
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Background on the Permanent Court of Arbitration
The Permanent Court of Arbitration is an intergovernmental organization established by the 1899 Hague Convention on the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes. The PCA has 124 Contracting Parties.
Headquartered at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the Netherlands, the PCA facilitates arbitration, conciliation, fact-finding, and other dispute resolution proceedings among various combinations of States, State entities, intergovernmental organizations, and private parties. The PCA’s International Bureau is currently administering seven inter-state arbitrations, one other inter-state proceeding, 95 arbitrations arising under bilateral or multilateral investment treaties or national investment laws, 109 arbitrations arising under contracts involving a State or other public entity, and 4 other proceedings.
More information about the PCA can be found at www.pca-cpa.org.
Contact:
Permanent Court of Arbitration
E-mail: bureau@pca-cpa.org
