View source for Permanent Court of International Justice

=== Founding and early years ===
An international court had long been proposed; [[Pierre Dubois (Scholastic)|Pierre Dubois]] suggested it in 1305 and [[Émeric Crucé]] in 1623.<ref>Hudson (1922) p.245</ref> An idea of an international court of justice arose in the political world at the [[Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907)|First Hague Peace Conference]] in 1899, where it was declared that arbitration between states was the easiest solution to disputes, providing a temporary panel of judges to arbitrate in such cases, the [[Permanent Court of Arbitration]]. At the Second Hague Peace Conference in 1907, a draft convention for a permanent Court of Arbitral Justice was written although disputes and other pressing business at the Conference meant that such a body was never established, owing to difficulties agreeing on a procedure to select the judges.<ref>Scott (1920) p.581</ref> The outbreak of the [[First World War]], and, in particular, its conclusion made it clear to many academics that some kind of world court was needed, and it was widely expected that one would be established.<ref>Hudson (1922) p.246</ref> Article 14 of the Covenant of the [[League of Nations]], created after the [[Treaty of Versailles]], allowed the league to investigate setting up an international court.<ref>Hudson (1922) p.247</ref> In June 1920, an Advisory Committee of jurists appointed by the League of Nations finally established a working guideline for the appointment of judges, and the committee was then authorised to draft a constitution for a permanent court not of arbitration but of justice.<ref>Scott (1920) p.582</ref> The [[Statute of the Permanent Court of International Justice]] was accepted in [[Geneva]] on 13 December 1920.<ref>Text in ''League of Nations Treaty Series'', vol. 6, pp. 380–413.</ref>

The court first sat on 30 January 1922, at the [[Peace Palace]], [[The Hague]], covering preliminary business during the first session (such as establishing procedure and appointing officers) Nine judges sat, along with three deputies, since [[Antonio Sánchez de Bustamante y Sirven]], [[Ruy Barbosa]] and [[Wang Ch'ung-hui]] were unable to attend, the last being at the [[Washington Naval Conference]].<ref>Hudson (January 1923) p.15</ref> The court elected [[Bernard Loder]] as president and [[Max Huber (statesman)|Max Huber]] as vice-president; Huber was replaced by [[André Weiss (jurist)|André Weiss]] a month later.<ref>Hudson (1925) p.49</ref> On 14 February the court was officially opened, and rules of procedure were established on 24 March, when the court ended its first session.<ref>Hudson (January 1923) p.16</ref> The court first sat to decide cases on 15 June.<ref>Hammarskjold (1923) p.704</ref> During its first year of business, the court issued three advisory opinions, all related to the [[International Labour Organization]] created by the Treaty of Versailles.<ref>Hudson (January 1923) p.19</ref>

The initial reaction to the court was good, from politicians, practising lawyers and academics alike. [[Ernest Pollock, 1st Viscount Hanworth|Ernest Pollock]], the former [[Attorney General for England and Wales]] said, "May we not as lawyers regard the establishment of an International Court of Justice as an advance in the science that we pursue?" [[John Henry Wigmore]] said that the creation of the court "should have given every lawyer a thrill of cosmic vibration", and [[James Brown Scott]] wrote that "the one dream of our ages has been realised in our time".<ref>Hudson (January 1923) p.27</ref> Much praise was heaped upon the appointment of an American judge despite the fact that the United States had not become a signatory to the court's protocol, and it was thought that it would soon do so.<ref>Hudson (January 1923) p.28</ref>