The Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes, which has been a priority of mine for some time, provides three principal methods for the peaceful and equitable settlement of disputes between states that cannot be settled by negotiation, namely mediation by a third party, the International Commission of Inquiry and referral of the dispute to the Permanent Court of Arbitration. The referral of a dispute to one of these methods is completely voluntary and requires the agreement of the parties to the dispute.
The most significant of these methods of dispute resolution is the Permanent Court of Arbitration. The Permanent Court of Arbitration is not a court in the generally accepted sense of the term, but is a panel of suitably qualified persons from which parties to a dispute may choose to form a tribunal for the purpose of settling their dispute. The convention sets out rules to be followed by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in conducting arbitration proceedings in disputes between states.
For many years, the Permanent Court of Arbitration was not very active because states did not often agree to submit their disputes to arbitration. However, in recent years the court has carved out a much more relevant role for itself. It has done this by developing a series of rules for the conduct of arbitration proceedings and disputes between different types of party, including international organisations and legal and private persons, as well as states. These rules are available for use by arbitrators everywhere, whether or not they are connected to the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration also offers its registry services for all kinds of arbitrations, whether or not they are conducted under its own rules. The principal reasons for adhering to the convention at this time are the following: Article 29.2 of the Constitution affirms the State's "adherence to the principle of the pacific settlement of international disputes by international arbitration or judicial determination" - adhesion is therefore in pursuance of this constitutional principle; adhesion will demonstrate Ireland's support for the recent work undertaken in developing the role of the Permanent Court of Arbitration by making it more relevant to the modern world - this development has attracted strong backing and encouragement from the international community; adhesion will allow Ireland to participate in shaping the future direction of the court's work; adhesion will also contribute to the further development of Ireland as a centre of excellence in the field of international arbitration, a Government objective that recognises the benefits such a reputation would bring to the economy; and Ireland is the only member state in the EU and OECD that is not a party to the convention. In all, there are 96 parties to the convention. Adhesion would remedy this obvious omission.
