About the Court

In 1978, the Swiss city of Montreux hosted a Meeting of Experts on Peaceful Settlement of Disputes, at which the CSCECSCE
Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe participating States discussed this central element of the Helsinki process. This event was the starting point of a series of expert meetings in the following decade that would eventually lead to the adoption of the Convention on Conciliation and Arbitration within the CSCE in Stockholm 1992 and to the creation of the Court of Conciliation and Arbitration in 1995.

A legal mechanism for the peaceful settlement of disputes

The Court builds on the commitments made by OSCE participating States to settle disputes by peaceful means, which is articulated in principle V of the Helsinki Final Act. In the 1990 Charter of Paris for a New Europe, the States reaffirmed their engagement to develop mechanisms for the prevention and resolution of conflicts among them, laying the foundation for the creation of the OSCE Court.

The Convention was adopted during a period of profound change in inter-European relations and within a context that made it important to establish and solidify European unity and peace. The adoption of the Convention—also referred to as the 1992 Stockholm Convention—was the culmination of efforts by OSCE participating States to decide on and adopt mechanisms for the peaceful settlement of disputes between States, generating great expectations.

The Court of Conciliation and Arbitration has several unique features: first, it operates as an independent institution; and while it is an OSCE-related body, it is binding only on States parties to the Convention. The Court is based on a full-fledged international treaty—the Convention—representing one of the rare legal frameworks adopted within the OSCE. Finally, the Court is not a permanent jurisdiction but a roster of conciliators and arbitrators. A Conciliation Commission or Arbitral Tribunal is established on an ad hoc basis when a dispute is submitted to the Court.

Compared to other systems or international tribunals, the Court offers a certain number of advantages: modest cost of procedures, low number of staff, a certain measure of control of the parties to a dispute in the choice of conciliators and arbitrators, and the competence of the Conciliation Commission to decide not only on the basis of international law but also of the OSCE commitments laid down in the 1975 Final Act of Helsinki (specifically the Decalogue) and possible involvement of the OSCE Permanent Council in the conciliation procedure.

The Court is composed of members—conciliators and arbitrators—who are appointed by the States parties. They are eminent personalities with wide experience in both international affairs and international law. The Bureau of the Court is the Court’s permanent executive body, chaired since 2019 by Emmanuel Decaux, Professor emeritus of the University of Paris II – Panthéon-Assas.

Each State party appoints two conciliators, one arbitrator and one alternate, for a mandate of six years. Parties to disputes may select conciliators or arbitrators from the register of appointed members, compiled by the Court’s registry, to act in a conciliation commission or arbitral tribunal. They also take part in the election procedure for President of the Court and membership of the Bureau, both as potential candidates and to cast their vote.

List of appointed members and alternate members of the Court

Emmanuel Decaux of France was elected President of the OSCE Court of Conciliation and Arbitration in October 2019. Decaux is Professor emeritus of the University of Paris II – Panthéon-Assas, where he taught public international law and international human rights law. In addition to his academic career, Decaux held several functions in the United Nations. Between 2011 and 2019, he was a member and then President of the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances. Prior to this, he was a member of the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and a member of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee.