Emmanuel Decaux elected President of the OSCE Court of Conciliation and Arbitration

Emmanuel Decaux of France has been elected as new President of the OSCE Court of Conciliation and Arbitration on 14 October 2019 after members of the Court, appointed by the States parties to the Convention on Conciliation and Arbitration within the OSCE, were invited to elect a new Bureau of the Court for a mandate of six years. Decaux succeeds Christian Tomuschat of Germany who served in the position from 2013 to 2019.

Decaux is Professor emeritus of the University of Paris II – Panthéon-Assas, where he taught public international law and international human rights law. He was also Director of the Doctorate School of International Law, European Law, International Relations and Comparative Law. He has published on topics of public international law and international organizations, with a focus on the peaceful settlement of disputes and human rights. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Security and Human Rights Monitor publication.

In addition to his academic career, Decaux has held several functions within the United Nations. He was a member and then President of the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances between 2011 and 2019. Prior to that, 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.

Decaux also participated as a member of the French delegation to three meetings of the Human Dimension Conference (1989-1991) and to the first Human Dimension Implementation meetings organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in Warsaw. Later he was nominated as an expert as part of the Moscow Mechanism on the Human Dimension on behalf of which he acted twice (in 2003 and 2011) as Rapporteur.

As well as electing a new President, the Court’s members also voted on new members to the Court’s Bureau. 

Tomuschat and Erkki Kourula of Finland were elected to membership of the Bureau. Following a tied vote for several candidates, a second ballot is being organized to complete the Bureau’s membership.

The elections of the President of the Court and the Bureau members were carried out in a written procedure and in line with the provisions set forth in Article 9(3) of the Rules of Procedure of the Court. The election process generated great interest among the appointed members entitled to cast a vote with a participation rate of 73%.

The Bureau is the Court’s executive body and consists of the President, four members (including the Vice-President) and four alternate members.

The OSCE Court of Conciliation and Arbitration is based in Geneva. It was established in 1995 by the Convention on Conciliation and Arbitration as a mechanism for the peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with international law and the OSCE commitments of the parties. Thirty-four states have now ratified the Convention. Sweden is the Depositary State of the Convention.