Emmanuel Decaux and Erkki Kourula, the President and Vice-President of the OSCE Court of Conciliation and Arbitration at the International Secretariat, 25 April 2023COPENHAGEN, 25 April 2023 – The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly International Secretariat today hosted a meeting with Emmanuel Decaux and Erkki Kourula, the President and Vice-President, respectively, of the OSCE Court of Conciliation and Arbitration to hear about the court’s work.

The meeting was initiated by OSCE PA President Margareta Cederfelt (Sweden) and included the participation of Costel Neculai Dunava (Romania), Vice-Chair of the OSCE PA Committee on Political Affairs and Security, as well as Secretary General Roberto Montella, Deputy Secretary General Gustavo Pallares and several other PA staff members. Christa Allot, Executive Officer at the Court of Conciliation and Arbitration, also participated.

President Decaux and Vice-President Kourula described the court’s background and mandate, explaining that it was established by the Convention on Conciliation and Arbitration within the OSCE, adopted in 1992 and since ratified by 34 OSCE participating States. Despite having existed for more than a quarter-century, however, it has never been fully exploited and is yet to hear a case.

The discussion focused on the role of the court within the OSCE and the need for governments to pay more attention the toolbox that the organization offers. There was an exchange of views on whether to the codify the OSCE’s legal personality and on ways to increase awareness of the services that the court offers, as well as strengthen co-operation with the Parliamentary Assembly.

Based in Geneva, the court’s competence is limited to inter-state arbitration, for example on issues such as territorial integrity cases or maritime disputes, and it may also issue advisory opinions. Available to OSCE participating States that have not ratified the convention, as well as those that have, the court is unique within the OSCE, it was noted, for being treaty-based. While it remains underutilized, it continues to liaise with OSCE institutions to highlight conciliation and arbitration as effective means of conflict resolution.

Photos of the visit are available on Flickr.

For more information on the OSCE Court of Conciliation and Arbitration, please click here.