Driven by the desire to establish a permanent institution for the settlement of disputes between Nations and to formally codify the Laws of War in the unfortunate event that disputes could not be settled, Czar Nicholas II of Russia called for the first multilateral Peace Conference in August of 1898. During the summer of 1899 the conference convened and was attended by representatives of twenty-six Nations who met at The Hague, Netherlands. As a result, the Permanent Court of Arbitration was established. A subsequent Peace Conference was later convened by Great Britain in 1907 at The Hague, and attended by forty-four Nations that further clarified the role of the Permanent Court of Arbitration. Presently, the Permanent Court of Arbitration shares a seat at the Peace Palace with the United Nations' International Court of Justice. The Permanent Court of Arbitration is an international organization offering a broad range of services for resolving disputes between Nations, as well as disputes between Nations and private parties and those involving intergovernmental organizations. Purely private arbitrations may obtain various types of support and assistance. Cases are brought to the Permanent Court of Arbitration by agreement of the parties.

     On November 8, 1999, just four months after the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, Netherlands, international arbitral proceedings were instituted by a Hawaiian national against the Hawaiian Government alleging that his Government is allowing the unlawful imposition of American domestic law within the territorial jurisdiction of the Hawaiian Kingdom over himself. The Arbitral Tribunal, once confirmed by the parties, shall possess the power and the authority to review the facts presented by both parties and issue a conclusion to settle the dispute.

     The dispute stems from a federal lawsuit filed in the United States Federal Court, District of Hawaii by a Hawaiian national, Lance Paul Larsen, against the United States Government and the Hawaiian Kingdom Government as co-defendants. Also named in the case as nominal defendants were: the United Nations, France, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Russia, Japan, Germany, Portugal and Samoa.

     In the federal lawsuit, Lance Larsen accused both defendants (United States & the Hawaiian Kingdom) of violating their 1849 Treaty of Commerce, Friendship and Navigation by allowing U.S. domestic law to be imposed within the territorial dominion of the Hawaiian Kingdom over the person of Lance Paul Larsen.

     On October 29, 1999, a settlement was reached between representatives for Lance Larsen, and representatives of the Hawaiian Kingdom government, agreeing to dismiss the United States and all nominal Defendants from the lawsuit and stipulate to the Federal Court their intention to settle their dispute under the rules of the Permanent Court of Arbitration. The settlement, subsequently approved by U.S. Federal Judge Samuel King, resulted in a dismissal of the lawsuit and stipulated that Lance Paul Larsen and the Hawaiian Kingdom submit the case to the Permanent Court of Arbitration for final and binding arbitration.

     The Arbitral Tribunal is asked to determine, on the basis of the Hague Conventions IV and V of 18 October 1907, and the rules and principles of international law, whether the rights of the Claimant, Mr. Lance Paul Larsen, under international law as a Hawaiian subject are being violated, and if so, does he have any redress against the Respondent Government of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

     Issues that will consequently be determined throughout the arbitral proceedings will include the questions of: the Hawaiian Kingdom as a Nation State, Hawaiian nationality, Hawaiian Domestic law, the validity of American Annexation, International Treaty violations, and International laws of Occupation. Check the Arbitration Log for more details as they develop.