OSCE Court’s President and Vice-President address CAHDI 60th Meeting

On 24 March 2021, Emmanuel Decaux, President of the OSCE Court of Conciliation and Arbitration and Erkki Kourula, Vice-President, addressed the Committee of Legal Advisers on Public International Law of the Council of Europe (CAHDI) at its 60th meeting.

Decaux stressed that it is particularly important to recall what the Court of Conciliation and Arbitration within the OSCE is and, above all, what it should be while approaching the 30th anniversary of the signature of the Stockholm Convention.

The Convention marked the creation of a legal and institutional framework in line with the OSCE principles of peaceful settlement of disputes as laid down in the Helsinki Final Act.

“In this sense, the Stockholm Convention not only constitutes a solemn commitment of the States parties but also an essential component of the co-operative security in Europe, a pledge of the political will to build ‘a united and free Europe’. There is space in a Europe committed to the rule of law for a court of conciliation and arbitration, combining flexibility and pragmatism, while enshrined in a legal framework that guarantees its independence and impartiality”, said Decaux.

Kourula recalled the mechanisms of the conciliation and arbitration procedures provided by the Stockholm Convention. He emphasized the role of the conciliation commission in assisting parties in finding a settlement in accordance with international law and OSCE commitments. He specified that in contrast to conciliation, the nature of arbitration between states was to adjudicate the dispute submitted to the Court with the authority of a final decision.

Addressing the Legal Advisers on Public International Law of the Council of Europe, Decaux and Kourula insisted on the complementarity of both institutions and recalled that the procedures provided by the Stockholm Convention were available to States parties and, on an ad hoc basis, to OSCE participating States and thus open to all Member States of the Council of Europe.

The intervention of President Decaux and Vice-President Kourula was followed by an exchange with legal advisors participating in the online meeting.