The Court's work

The Court offers two complementary tracks for dispute settlement: conciliation and arbitration. Both procedures are open to OSCE participating States that have not ratified the Convention, based on a bilateral or multilateral agreement between the States concerned.

The Court has wide competence regarding the subject matter it deals with. It may get involved in conflicts regarding questions of territorial integrity, maritime boundary delimitation, or environmental and economic issues. Its scope of intervention is limited to disputes between States.

The Court is a non-permanent body and creates conciliation commissions and arbitral tribunals on an ad hoc basis when a dispute is submitted.

The Convention’s cornerstone is the conciliation procedure. It aims at helping the parties to find a settlement in accordance with international law and OSCE commitments. The fact that the conciliation commission can also take into consideration OSCE commitments gives it a special competence in the matter and offers greater flexibility than other conciliation procedures. The conciliation mechanism can be activated unilaterally by any State party to the Convention for a dispute between it and one or more other States parties.

The purpose of conciliation is to bring together, in a confidential procedure, the points of view of the parties to a dispute, to clarify their positions and to propose a solution to the dispute. To this end, a Conciliation Commission is set up that prepares a final report with its proposals, which the States are then free to accept or reject.

In contrast to conciliation, the nature of inter-State arbitration is to adjudicate the dispute submitted to the Court with the authority of a final decision. According to the principle of a fair trial, all the parties to a dispute have the right to be heard during the arbitration proceedings. The proceedings consist of a written and an oral part. The award of the Tribunal is binding on the parties and not subject to appeal.

The arbitration procedure can be initiated by agreement between States parties or OSCE participating States. Each party to the dispute appoints its arbitrator who become members of the Arbitral Tribunal. The Bureau completes the appointment of arbitrators, ensuring an uneven number of members of the Tribunal.

Since 2020, the Faculty of Law of the University of Ljubljana has hosted a Moot Court competition every year under the provisions of the Convention on Conciliation and Arbitration within the OSCE. The University of Ljubljana’s holds the simulation of arbitral proceedings in the framework of the conference of the Model United Nations Club, offering an ideal setting for young students to gain deeper insight and practical training in the Convention’s provisions.

Participants in the Moot Court act as agents for the claimant and the respondent, as well as judges, in a fictional case presented. Student teams from all over the world can enrol to take part. Applications are made through the Faculty of Law of the University of Ljubljana.