OSCE Court of Conciliation and Arbitration publishes its report of activities for 2013-2016

The Geneva-based OSCE Court of Conciliation and Arbitration on 12 January 2017 released its periodic report of activities covering 2013 to 2016, offering an overview of institutional matters, activities and the financial situation, as well as its awareness-raising work.

The report describes how the current presidency, elected by the members of the Court in October 2013, launched a programme to reactivate the interest of States parties and OSCE participating States.

There was a presentation before the OSCE Permanent Council in June 2014, followed by a meeting with representatives of States parties. President Christian Tomuschat recalled that the Court was enacted by the Stockholm Convention on 15 December 1992, and was conceived as a mechanism under which countries could settle their problems in a spirit of mutual understanding.

In 2015, the Court, with the financial support of Austria, Germany, Finland and Switzerland, organized a colloquium that focused on conciliation as a means of peaceful settlement of disputes.

With a view to assessing the different tools for the peaceful settlement of disputes and the role of the Court in particular, Professor Riccardo Pisillo Mazzeschi of the University of Siena and Member of the Bureau, wrote a paper with suggestions on how to make the Court effective.

In 2016, Montenegro became the 34th State recognizing the jurisdiction of the Court and this was interpreted as a very encouraging signal for the future.

With regard to institutional matters, the periodic report gives an account of conciliators, arbitrators and alternate arbitrators that have been nominated by their respective State party. Finally, an overview of the financial situation of the Court is provided in the report.

The report is available at: www.osce.org/cca/293571