4 Pinoys appointed to Permanent Court of Arbitration

MANILA, Philippines — The International Bureau of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) has confirmed the appointments of four Filipino members, the Department of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.

The four appointed Members of the Court are professors Raul Pangalangan, Antonio Gabriel La Viña, Sedfrey Candelaria and Ambassador J. Eduardo Malaya.

The PCA confirmed their appointments upon the submission of their names by Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo.

Pangalangan, law professor at the University of the Philippines, is former judge of the International Criminal Court (2015-2021), while Candelaria, a professor of law at the Ateneo de Manila University, is chief of Office of the Research, Publications and Linkages Office of the Philippine Judicial Academy.

La Viña is a former member of the PCA Specialized Panel of Arbitrators and Experts (Environmental Disputes, 2016-2022) and currently associate director for Climate Policy and International Relations of the Manila Observatory. Malaya is Philippine ambassador to the Netherlands and acting president of the PCA Administrative Council for 2023-2024.

Pursuant to the 1899 and 1907 Hague Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes, each member state may appoint up to four individuals who possess exceptional expertise in international law who will be included in the list of those who are available to serve as arbitrators under the auspices of the PCA, for a term of six years. 

The members of the court appointed by each member state shall comprise its national group, which grants them the privilege to nominate candidates for the International Court of Justice and propose candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize, in collaboration with the ICJ judges.

The previous Philippine members of the PCA were retired chief justices Artemio Panganiban and Reynato Puno, retired justice Jose Vitug and Pangalangan.

A Congress of the Members of the Court will convene in June 2024 as part of the activities for the PCA’s 125th anniversary this year. The congress will only be the third time in history when members of the court of the PCA from different member states will gather and chart the future of the organization. The first was during the first Hague Peace Conference in 1899 and the second during the centennial of the PCA in 1999. 

At the Administrative Council meeting held on Dec. 18, 2023 which was presided by Malaya as council president, he cited the milestones achieved by the PCA in 2023, most notably the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of a first time ever resolution which recognized the “important contribution of the PCA to the peaceful settlement of disputes.”

The PCA is the first and foremost permanent inter-governmental organization providing a forum for the resolution of international disputes through arbitration and other peaceful means.

The Administrative Council provides general guidance on the work and general direction of the PCA, and supervises its administration, budget and expenditure. It shapes the policy of the organization in consultation with the Secretary-General.