This volume is the first of a series edited by the International Bureau of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) - The PCA/Peace Palace Papers - which contains the papers emanating from the semi-annual seminars organized by the PCA in the Peace Palace. Each seminar focuses on a topical issue of international law. The first seminar was held on 9 December, 1999 and dealt with institutional and procedural aspects of mass claims settlement systems. Four speakers from Europe and the United States shared their practical experience with the respective systems dealing with mass claims. This volume contains: an overview and analysis by Judge Howard Holtzmann; the papers presented at the seminar covering such topics as the Bopahl and Exxon Valdez disasters; an article by Ms Lucy Reed on the Claims Resolution Tribunal for Dormant Bank Accounts in Switzerland; the rules of the above mass claims settlement systems. The book offers the reader a bird's-eye view of major mass claims settlement systems operational at the time of writing, and provides insights for persons charged with the setting up of new international claims settlement tribunals. The PCA's International Bureau is ready to assist them in those endeavours.