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The Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands

The Peace Palace ("Vredespaleis" in Dutch), situated in The Hague, Netherlands, is often called the seat of international law because it houses the International Court of Justice (which is the principal judicial body of the United Nations), the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the Hague Academy of International Law, and the extensive Peace Palace Library.

In addition to hosting these judicial functions, the Palace is also a regular venue for special events in international policy and law. The idea of the Palace started from a discussion in 1900 between the Russian diplomat Friedrich Martens and the American diplomat Andrew White, over providing a home for the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), which was established through the first Hague Peace Conference in 1899. White contacted his friend and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie about this idea. Carnegie had his reservations, and at first was only interested in donating money for the establishment of a Library of International Law. White however was able to convince Carnegie, and in 1903 Carnegie agreed to donating 1.5 million dollars needed for a Peace Temple that would house the PCA as well as to endow it with a library of international law.

In first instance Carnegie simply wanted to donate the money directly to the Dutch Queen, Wilhelmina of the Netherlands for the build of the palace, but legal problems prohibited this, and in November 1903 the Carnegie Stichting (Carnegie Foundation) was founded in order to manage the construction, ownership, and maintenance of the Palace. This foundation is still responsible for these issues at present date.