HAGUE COURT, The, a permanent tri bunal for international arbitration established as a result of The International Peace Confer ence, held in May, June and July 1899 at The Hague, the governmental seat of the Nether lands.
The Hague International Peace Conference was one of the most important events which marked the close of the 19th century, and has been justly styled °the first great parliament of Man. )> The Conference assembled in response to a rescript issued by Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, 24 Aug. 1898, inviting to a conference all governments with representatives accredited to the Imperial Court. The Conference was to occupy itself with the great problem of univer sal peace, especially through the international diminution of armaments by land and sea, and the prevention of armed conflicts by pacific diplomatic procedure. The invitation was ac cepted by all the governments to whom it was tendered, and the first meeting for the Confer ence was fixed for 18 May 1899 at The Hague, — the capital of the Netherlands being selected, as stated by the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, because °His Imperial Majestry con sidered it advisable that the Conference should not sit in the capital of one of the Great Powers where so many political interests centre that might impede the progress of a work in which all the countries are equally interested.* The Conference was held at the celebrated Huis ten Bosch — House in the Wood — the members assembling in the historically decorated Orange Hall. Each nation was represented by promi nent diplomats, jurists, men of affairs, soldiers and sailors, the representatives of the United States being Ambassador Andrew D. White, Minister Newel, General Crozier of the army, Captain Mahan of the navy, Seth Low, mayor of New York, and F. W. Holls of the New York bar. The president of the Conference was Baron de Staal of the Russian delegation.
Three committees were formed to deal re spectively with disarmament, regulations in warfare, and mediation and arbitration. The final act of the Conference, signed 29 July 1899, comprised three conventions or treaties embody ing the results arrived at by the committees. The first and most important was the Conven tion for the Peaceful Adjustment of Interna tional Differences by the permanent institution of a Court of Arbitration in the midst of the independent powers, accessible to all. The second convention dealt with the laws and usages of war on land, and the third convention provided for the adaptation to naval warfare of the principles of the Geneva Convention of 1864. Regulations also prohibited the throwing of projectiles and explosives from balloons; the use of projectiles intended solely to diffuse deleterious and asphyxiating gases (this was not accepted by the United States and Great Britain) ; and the use of soft expansive bullets. The last two conventions embodied the wisest and most humane principles of military conduct resulting from a study and discussion of these matters during the half-century preceding, and which had their first codification in the °In structions for Guidance of the Armies of the United States"' issued at the beginning of the Civil War.
The Convention for the Peaceful Adjust ment of International Differences, however, was the crowning work of the Conference, and was a source of much gratification to the advocates of international arbitration, as bringing to fruition a sentiment which for centuries had hoped for the establishment by the nations of the earth of some permanent form of congress or court, which should be vested with functions to ensure the preservation of peace and to deliver the world from the strife and carnage with which it had been afflicted in all the past ages.
During the last decade of the 19th century peace advocates had been persistent in their advocacy of a permanent court of arbitration. In 1894, at its meeting in Holland, the Inter parliamentary Union, a voluntary organization of members of the national legislative bodies of the nations, adopted a declaration in favor of a permanent court of arbitration; and in 1896 resolutions to the same effect were unanimously adopted.in the United States at the annual Mohawk Conference on international arbitra tion, and by the New York State Bar Associa tion, the latter presenting to the President of the United States a memorial setting forth a perma nent tribunal as the essential feature of any general scheme of arbitration. The honor of presenting such a proposition in The Hague Conference fell to Lord Pauncefote, chairman of the British delegation; Germany was antago nistic, but the sentiment was so strongly in its favor that the German delegates were induced to withdraw their objection, and provision was made for its consummation. The fourth divi sion of the Convention in 47 articles provides for the creation of the court, defines its juris diction and the principles which are to guide it, specifies the manner in which its members are chosen, the rules governing its procedure, its awards and other necessary details. The Convention provides that each of the 26 signa tory powers shall appoint for a term of six years as members of the Permanent Court not more than four perons °of recognized compe tence in questions of international law, enjoying the highest moral reputation)) These persons constitute a Permanent Court of Arbitration, accessible at all times and acting in accordance with the prescribed rules of procedure; they do not, however, sit as a collective body, but when two or more nations have a case to sub mit to arbitration, they select by mutual agree ment one, three or five members, who will act as the tribunal to try the case. Thus it happens some members of the court may never be called upon to discharge the functions of ajudge. Also, although The Hague is designated as a place where the court shall hold its sessions, another place may be designated by agreement of the litigant parties. Under the presidency of the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, the diplomatic agents of the signatory powers, in residence at The Hague, constitute a permanent council which serves as the office of the Perma nent Court of Arbitration. The first cases ad judged by the court were the Pious Fund Claim between Mexico and the United States in 1902, and the difficulties of Venezuela with the United States and various European nations in 1903.