The Court has its headquarters in the Palace of peace at the Hague

Practical information

The Court has its headquarters in the Palace of peace at the Hague (Netherlands) since 1946. Its predecessor, the Permanent Court of International Justice, already occupied the premises made available to the Palace by the Carnegie Foundation, which is the owner and administrator since 1922.



Built from 1907 to 1913 for the Permanent Court of arbitration with a gift of Andrew Carnegie, industrial of original Scottish who made a fortune in the United States, the Peace Palace is located in a domain green of 7 hectares in the heart of the city.



The building, erected on the plans of the French architect Louis Cordonnier in a style eclectic, primarily Renaissance, is made of granite, sandstone and red brick imposing roof of grey slates. The facade, which extend lawns, is decorated with a series of characters referring to justice and peace. On the left, with its carillon clock tower rises up to 80 metres. Interior woodwork, stained glass, mosaics, tapestries and works of art offered by the States involved in the Hague peace conferences reflect the diversity of cultures.



In 1978, a new wing with the deliberation of the court room and the offices of its members was built at the rear of the Palace. This wing was expanded in 1997 in view, in particular, to welcome the increased number of ad hoc judges. The same year, the attic of the courthouse were built to install new offices for the officials of the registry.



The Palace which, in addition to the Permanent Court of arbitration and the International Court of Justice, also houses one of the largest libraries of public international law in the world (library of the Peace Palace, accessible to the public, which is not the case for the Court), and hosts summer of the Academy of international law in the Haguecan be visited on business days.



A museum on the history and activity of these institutions in the Peace Palace was inaugurated in May 1999 by Mr. Kofi Annan and Mr. Stephen M. Schwebel, respectively Secretary-General of the United Nations and President of the Court at the time. This museum is located in the South Wing of the building.





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For more information on guided tours of the Palace and its Museum, please visit the website of the Carnegie Foundation. The Foundation is also reachable by phone (+ 31 (0) 70 302 41 37), fax (+ 31 (0) 70 302 42 34) and e-mail (guidedtours@planet.nl).



For more information about the library of the Palace, please visit its Web site: www.ppl.nl



For more information on the Permanent Court of arbitration, please visit its website: www.pca-cpa.org



For more information about the Academy of international law in the Hague, please visit its Web site: www.hagueacademy.nl