Since the establishment, after World War I, of the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ), judicial settlement by standing international courts has been more popular than inter-State arbitration as a means of settling inter-state disputes (except perhaps in the trade context where the GATT/WTO panels can be characterised as a form of arbitration). However, it may be that inter-state arbitration, is now eclipsing, or, is perhaps now as popular as, judicial settlement, even by the International Court of Justice. A look at the docket of the ICJ as it currently stands, and at the list of inter-state arbitrations currently being administered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration is very revealing. The PCA now has about as many active inter-state disputes as the ICJ. As far as I can tell, this is the first time that this has happened in the almost century long history of the World Court (the PCIJ and the ICJ). In 1991, the American international lawyer, Keith Highet, who was counsel in many cases before the International Court of Justice, wrote a piece in the American Journal of…
Inter-State Arbitration
Page 7 of 8
Espionage & Good Faith in Treaty Negotiations: East Timor v Australia
In April last year, East Timor instituted arbitral proceedings against Australia at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (‘PCA’) in relation to a dispute arising under the 2006 Treaty on Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea (‘CMATS Treaty’). Timor Leste (as East Timor is formally known) alleges that the CMATS Treaty is invalid because Australia engaged…
East Timor Takes Australia to ICJ over Documents Seized by Australian Intelligence
By an application deposited with the International Court of Justice on 17 December 2013 (not yet on the Court’s website), East Timor has instituted proceedings against Australia over the seizure and detention by ‘agents of Australia of documents, data and other property’ belonging to East Timor or which it ‘has the right to protect under international law’. Simultaneously,…
Ripples in the East and South China Seas: Aid, ADIZs, Aircraft Carriers, and Arbitration
In the past few weeks throughout November 2013, various incidents have sharply demonstrated China’s foreign policy preferences in relation to disputes with neighbors over the East and South China Seas (pictured above left, credit), as well as its self-perception of its broader hegemonic role in the Asian region. I recently spoke on regulatory freedom and control…
Greenpeace ‘Pirates’ and the MV Arctic Sunrise
As is now well-known, on 18 September several Greenpeace activists attempted to board Gazprom’s oil platform, the Prirazlomnaya, in the Russian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) bearing ropes and posters. They did do in inflatable craft launched from the Greenpeace vessel the MV Arctic Sunrise. They were soon arrested by the Russian Coast Guard. On 19 September…