The British Government has appointed Sir Frank Berman QC to be a Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (‘the PCA’) in The Hague. Founded under the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, the PCA is the oldest standing institution in the field of international dispute settlement (www.pca-cpa.org).
Members of the Court are potential arbitrators appointed by member States. Each member State is entitled to nominate 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” as “Members of the Court.” Members of the Court are appointed for a term of six years, and their appointments can be renewed.
In addition to forming a panel of potential arbitrators, the Members of the Court from each member state constitute “national groups,” which have the sole entitlement to nominate candidates for the election to the International Court of Justice (Article 4(1) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice). The Members of the Court (along with the judges of the ICJ) are among a handful of groups entitled to nominate candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize.
