Facilities for parties

Parties to cases before the Tribunal are invited to convene in bright, modern and fully-equipped conference rooms during their visits to the Tribunal for consultations with the President and during the course of oral proceedings. The parties' rooms are located in the public area of the Tribunal, on the first floor of the building, just outside the main courtroom.

Parties rooms

A suite of conference rooms is available for each party. The set-up of these rooms may be decided upon by the parties, with room combinations available as follows: office for the head of delegation/secretariat; large meeting room for the whole delegation; witness room; and an open lounge area. The rooms are equipped with the necessary technical equipment to assist parties with the preparation of their case: computer, scanner, fax, Wi-Fi and photocopier.

Delegations are also provided with:

• Registry-assigned officials;
• Access to the Tribunal’s Library;
• Technical and administrative support;
• Assistance with contacting cooperating hotels in the vicinity of the Tribunal; and
• Possibility to arrange for refreshments and catering.

Courtrooms

The flexible design of the Tribunal's courtroom allows it to be used as one large courtroom or converted into two or three smaller courtrooms, for 50, 150 or 250 people, respectively. The courtroom set-up depends on whether the full Tribunal or a chamber is sitting, on the size of the delegations, and on the number of people attending the hearing.

Each courtroom provides:

• Audio-visual and overhead projection equipment;
• Video-conference system allowing for participation of members of the bench, delegations, witnesses or experts during a hearing held entirely or in part by video link;
• Technical support;
• Interpretation facilities;
• Facilities for court stenographers. Verbatim records are usually made available to parties shortly after the close of each day’s hearings; and
• Live stream of hearings in English and French.

General

All facilities are available free of charge to Parties to the Convention.

The public areas of the Tribunal's building are disabled-accessible. 

Security is provided for delegations while they are on the premises of the Tribunal.