The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is a non-UN intergovernmental organization headquartered at the Peace Palace, in The Hague, Netherlands.

The PCA's headquarters, the Peace Palace, was built from 1907 to 1913 to house the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

[9][10] The PCA is not a court in the conventional understanding of that term but an administrative organization with the object of having permanent and readily available means to serve as the registry for purposes of international arbitration and other related procedures, including commissions of enquiry and conciliation.

Each Contracting Party may appoint up to four persons "of known competency in questions of international law, of the highest moral reputation and disposed to accept the duties of arbitrators" for a renewable 6-year term.

They were amended in 1907, the creation of a summary procedure for simple cases being the most conspicuous change, and were relevant in the 1920s development of rules for the Court of International Justice.

The first act of parties before the PCA is the submission of the so-called "compromisis", stating the issue and the competence of the arbitrator(s).

Early Court decisions were countersigned by the arbitrators themselves, but in 1907, that responsibility was passed to the president and secretary (of the PCA).

The distribution of the amounts to be paid by the individual Contracting Parties is based on the system in use by the Universal Postal Union.

Marcin Czepelak, who was elected on 14 February 2022 by the PCA Administrative Council for a term of 5 years (from 1 June 2022 until 31 May 2027).

[28] The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) provides for a dispute resolution mechanism regarding maritime boundaries in which member states can choose either the If two member states have elected different dispute resolution measures, the third option is to be used.

[29] As of August 2016, the PCA has administered twelve of the thirteen cases initiated by states under Annex VII to the UNCLOS.