§ 474. The International Bureau (article 43) serves as the Registry for the Court. It is the intermediary for communications relating to the meetings of the Court. It has the custody of the archives and the conduct of all the administrative business of the Court. The contracting Powers have to furnish the Bureau with a certified copy of every stipulation concerning arbitration arrived at between them, and of any award concerning them rendered by a special tribunal. They likewise have to communicate to the Bureau the laws, regulations, and documents, if any, showing the execution of the awards given by the Court. The Bureau is (article 47) authorised to place its premises and its staff at the disposal of the contracting Powers for the work of any special[826] tribunal of arbitration not constituted within the International Court of Arbitration. The expense (article 50) of the Bureau is borne by the signatory Powers in the proportion established for the International Office of the International Postal Union.
[826] See below, [vol. II. § 20].
The Court of Arbitration.
§ 475. The Court of Arbitration (article 44) consists of a large number of individuals "of recognised competence in questions of International Law, enjoying the highest moral reputation," selected and appointed by the contracting Powers. No more than four members may be appointed by one Power, but two or more Powers may unite in the appointment of one or more members, and the same individual may be appointed by different Powers. Every member is appointed for a term of six years, but his appointment may be renewed. The place of a resigned or deceased member is to be refilled by the respective Powers, and in this case the appointment is made for a fresh period of six years. The names of the members of the Court thus appointed are enrolled upon a general list, which is to be kept up to date and communicated to all the contracting Powers. The Court thus constituted has jurisdiction over all cases of arbitration, unless there shall be an agreement between the parties for a special tribunal of arbitrators not selected from the list of the members of the Court (article 42).
The Deciding Tribunal.
§ 476. The Court of Arbitration does not as a body decide the cases brought before it, but a tribunal is created for every special case by selection of a number of arbitrators from the list of the members of the Court. This tribunal (article 45) may be created directly by agreement of the parties. If this is not done, the tribunal is formed in the following manner:—Each party selects two arbitrators from the list, of whom one only can be its national or chosen from the persons appointed by it as members of the Permanent Court, and the four arbitrators so appointed choose a fifth as umpire and president. If the votes of the four are equal, the parties entrust to a third Power the choice of the umpire. If the parties cannot agree in their choice of such third Power, each party nominates a different Power, and the umpire is chosen by the united action of the Powers thus nominated. If within two months' time these two Powers cannot come to an agreement, each of them presents two candidates from the list of members of the Permanent Court, exclusive of the members selected by the parties and not being nationals of either of them. Which of the candidates thus selected shall be the umpire is determined by lot.
After this is done, the tribunal is constituted, and the parties communicate to the International Bureau of the Court the names of the members of the tribunal, which meets at the time fixed by the parties; the members of the tribunal must be granted the privileges of diplomatic envoys when discharging their duties outside their own country (article 46). The tribunal sits at the Hague (article 43), and, except in case of force majeure, the place of session can only be altered by the tribunal with the assent of the parties, but the parties can from the beginning designate another place than the Hague as the venue of the tribunal (article 60). The expenses of the tribunal are paid by the parties in equal shares, and each party pays its own expenses (article 85).[827]
[827] The procedure to be followed by and before the Tribunal is described below, [vol. II. § 27].
The following nine awards have hitherto been given by the Permanent Court of Arbitration:—
(1) On October 14, 1902, in the case of the United States of America v. Mexico concerning the Fonds pieux des Californias; see Martens, N.R.G. 2nd Ser. XXXII. (1905), p. 193.