(Photo courtesy of the Permanent Court of Arbitration)
MANILA – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Thursday said four Filipino international law experts have been appointed as members of the court of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA).
The four are Dr. Raul Pangalangan, Prof. Sedfrey Candelaria, Dr. Antonio Gabriel M. La Viña and Philippine Ambassador J. Eduardo Malaya.
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.
It has previously served as registry in the South China Sea Arbitration between China and the Philippines.
Members of the court are potential arbitrators appointed by the contracting parties. In addition, they constitute a “national group,” entitled to nominate candidates for the election to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Pangalangan, professor of Law 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, on the other hand, is Philippine Ambassador to the Netherlands and the Acting President of the PCA Administrative Council for term 2023-2024.
The International Bureau of the PCA confirmed their appointments upon the submission of their names by Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo
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 six years.
The members of the court along with the judges of the ICJ are among a handful of groups also entitled to nominate candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize.
The previous Philippine Members of the PCA were Chief Justice (ret) Artemio Panganiban, Chief Justice (ret.) Reynato Puno, Justice (ret.) Jose Vitug and Dr. Pangalangan.
The DFA said a Congress of the Members of the Court will convene in June 2024 as part of the activities for the PCA's 125th anniversary.
The Congress will only be the third time in history when the Members of the Court of the PCA from the 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. (PNA)
