Permanent court of arbitration (PCA): optional rules for arbitration of disputes relating to natural resources and /or the environment

摘要

In an Extraordinary Meeting held on June 19, 2001, the ninety-four Member States of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) adopted by consensus a set of Optional Rules to be used in the arbitration of environmental disputes based upon the highly regarded and widely used UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules. In adapting the Rules to multiparty environmental dispute resolution, the drafting committee, chaired by Professor Philippe Sands, has sought to make the fewest possible changes from the UNCITRAL Rules, consistent with the goal of facilitating consensual resolution of environmental disputes. The Rules seek to address the principal lacunae in environmental dispute resolution. Until the adoption of these Rules, there had been no unified forum to which States, inter-governmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, multinational corporations and private parties could have recourse when they had agreed to seek resolution of controversies concerning environmental protection or conservation of natural resources. In more than half of the instances this year in which the International Bureau of the PCA has provided information to States concerning arbitration, there has been a need for consideration of issues in these fields. Moreover, recent case-law indicates a growing willingness of States and other actors to have recourse to international mechanisms to resolve disputes relating to natural resources and the environment.