The so-called Administrative Council comprised 122 member States governing the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA). The PCA was established in The Hague in 1899 during the first Hague Peace Conference. It provides services to resolve disputes that arise out of international agreements between member States, international organizations or private parties and deals with a variety of cases.
In 2021, the PCA registered 204 cases, consisting of seven inter-State arbitrations, 114 investor-State arbitrations, 80 contract-based arbitrations and 2 other proceedings. Topics are for instance inter-State arbitrations arising from the Constitution of the Universal Postal Union and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. It deals with a wide range of economic sectors like oil and gas, mining and quarrying, construction, real estate, financial and insurance, electricity and power, telecommunications, and transportation and storage.
The Administrative Council is responsible for the general governance and oversight of the PCA’s activities, as well as financial and budgetary matters. The ambassador of The Philippines in The Hague, H.E. J. Eduardo Malaya, has been appointed President for the period 2023-2024 during a Council meeting this month. Ambassador Malaya is a lawyer himself, vice-president of Philippine Society of International Law and a distinguished member of the Executive Council of Asian Society of International Law.
Ambassador Malaya is the first Philippine national to have been elected to this relevant position. He is a renowned figure in diplomatic circles. Ambassador Malaya is the author (or editor) of nine books on international law, diplomacy and history, such as “Stewards of the Nation” considered a classic for everyone who is interested in the history of the Republic of Philippines.
