Tjaco van den Hout said the Permanent Court of
Arbitration (PCA) administers several different procedures,
including arbitration, conciliation and fact-finding in
disputes involving various combinations of states, private
parties and intergovernmental organizations. He pointed
to an increase in cases brought before the PCA over
the last five years, explaining that cases submitted for
arbitration are divided into two categories: one concerns
existing treaties and the other includes disputes relating to
matters of national sovereignty, environmental rights or
other subjects. He explained the advantages of arbitration
and its mechanisms where a team of experienced
arbitrators are appointed by consent of both disputing
parties and each party has the right to appoint at least one
arbitrator. In addition, both parties agree on the selection
of three additional arbitrators. Countries have the right
to participate directly in the formation of the court panel
and nominate its citizens to it. Both parties and arbitrators
must agree on the date and time, and the arbitration
procedures are carried out at a venue agreed upon by the
concerned parties as well as the language to be used in the
arbitration process. He mentioned examples of successful
arbitration such as the territorial dispute between Yemen
and Eritrea when the Eritrean armed forces occupied an
island in the Red Sea and the Yemeni forces occupied
another. Eritrea claimed that it inherited the islands from
Ethiopia while Yemen claimed it inherited them since the
Middle Ages before the Ottoman occupation. The PCA
ruled that Eritrea has the sovereignty over two islands and
Yemen has the sovereignty over other islands.