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Headquartered at the Hague, Netherlands, the Hague Tribunal was originally established by the Hague Peace Conference in 1899 to provide a permanent court accessible at all times for the resolution of disputes between states. The court was granted jurisdiction over all arbitration cases, provided the parties thereto did not decide to institute a special tribunal. In addition, an international bureau was established to act as a registry for the tribunal and to serve as the channel of communications with respect to the meetings of the court. The Hague Tribunal is considered permanent due to the fact that there is a permanent list of members from among whom the arbitrators are chosen.

Each member nation may appoint up to four jurists versed in international law to the court. A case is initiated when two or more nations sign a compromise, an agreement to submit a dispute to arbitration. The disputants may either select arbitrators from the panel to hear their case or they may have two arbitrators choose an umpire before whom the hearing will be held. The tribunal also maintains a list of arbitrators who specialize in the environment and natural resources. Tribunals sit at The Hague unless another place is specified in the compromise.

In 1993, the United Nations (UN) Security Council passed a resolution to establish within the Hague an ad hoc international 14-judge court expressly mandated to prosecute and adjudicate war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia. This International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) is often referred to as the Hague Tribunal. Subsequent resolutions have increased the court to 16 members as well as a special force of ad litem judges.

The Hague Tribunal is composed of three chambers and an appeal chamber. Judges are elected by the UN Assembly but are nominated for four-year terms by their respective countries. The UN Security Council also chooses a prosecutor who, in the name of the tribunal, brings indictments. The tribunal has power to impose prison sentences up to life but has no power to impose the death penalty. Sentences meted by the tribunal are served in various prison systems of several nations with whom the tribunal has made formal arrangements. The tribunal has no policing power or police force and relies for these on the mandated cooperation of various states for arrests, documents, and compulsory producing of witnesses.

The Hague Tribunal is administered by the International Bureau, which provides administrative support and has custody of archives, and by the Administrative Council, which is composed of the diplomatic envoys of member nations accredited to the Netherlands and shapes the policy of the organization.