New General Counsel
Maurizio Brunetti commenced his appointment as General Counsel on November 1.

Before joining the PCA, Mr. Brunetti served as the Deputy Secretary-General of the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal from 1995 until October 2007. In that capacity, he acted as adviser to the Tribunal’s Presidents in relation to its procedure, hearings and deliberations, and he administered many Tribunal cases. He also assisted the Tribunal’s Secretary-General in administrative matters, and the Tribunal’s relations with the Kingdom of The Netherlands as the host state.

New Legal Counsel
Paul-Jean Le Cannu joined the PCA as Legal Counsel on December 3.

Mr. Le Cannu is an experienced arbitration practitoner and has studied law in Paris and London. He is also a graduate of the Paris Institute of Political Studies. Before joining the PCA, he worked as an avocat au barreau de Paris in the arbitration team of a reputed international law firm. He replaces Guillaume Tattevin who will be leaving the PCA in January 2008 to return to private practice.

Two new Assistant Legal Counsel
A new Assistant Legal Counsel, Ms. Rita Lebib Feghali, will assist with Arab language matters that are submitted to the PCA and promote the use of PCA dispute resolution services in the Arab world. She has recently worked as a research officer and legal specialist for the Ministry of Economy and Trade, Beirut, and studied law at universities in Beirut and Washington, D.C.

Xin Pei has been engaged as an Assistant Legal Counsel to work with Chinese-language matters and to assist with the PCA’s outreach efforts in China. She completed her law degree at Peking University and is currently studying European Business Law in Leiden University’s LL.M. program.

New Legal Secretary
Ms. Maita Borromeo joined the PCA as a Legal Secretary on November 26. She previously worked as a judge’s assistant for an international legal institution and as a secretary for one of the largest law firms in the Netherlands.