---
title: "The Universal House of Justice and the Arc"
description: "The Universal House of Justice is the Bahá’í Faith’s nine-member international governing council, elected every five years. Its seat is one of four institutional buildings arranged along the Arc on Mount Carmel in Haifa."
url: "https://hasbara.co.il/resources/bah-world-centre-in-haifa-global-spiritual-headquarters/the-universal-house-of-justice-seat-of-bah-governance"
type: "resource-page"
locale: "en"
categories: ["Bahá'í World Centre in Haifa: Global Spiritual Headquarters"]
---

# The Universal House of Justice and the Arc

*The Universal House of Justice is the Bahá’í Faith’s nine-member international governing council, elected every five years. Its seat is one of four institutional buildings arranged along the Arc on Mount Carmel in Haifa.*

The Universal House of Justice is the international governing council of the Bahá’í Faith. It has nine members, elected every five years by members of national Bahá’í assemblies, and its permanent seat is in Haifa. The “Arc” is the arrangement of four administrative buildings on Mount Carmel that house institutions serving the worldwide Bahá’í community.

## What the Universal House of Justice does

Bahá’u’lláh provided for the institution in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. The council guides the global Bahá’í community and applies Bahá’í teachings to changing conditions; it may legislate on matters not explicitly covered in the faith’s sacred texts. It was first elected in 1963, after the death of Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Faith.

The official [description of the Universal House of Justice](https://www.bahai.org/the-universal-house-of-justice) specifies its nine-member composition, five-year election cycle and responsibilities. Members are elected by the national assemblies rather than directly by the worldwide membership.

## The buildings on the Arc

Four buildings form the administrative Arc on Mount Carmel: the Seat of the Universal House of Justice, the International Archives Building, the International Teaching Centre and the Centre for the Study of the Texts. Together they support the institutions responsible for international administration, the preservation and study of Bahá’í writings, and related functions.

The [Bahá’í World Centre’s description](https://news.bahai.org/media-information/bahai-world-centre) identifies the four institutions and locates their offices along the Arc in Haifa. The International Archives was completed in 1957; the Universal House of Justice took up its permanent seat in 1983, and the two remaining buildings were completed in 2000, according to the Bahá’í community’s [account of the Mount Carmel projects](https://news.bahai.org/story/131/gathering-holy-land-marks-milestone-development-bahai-faith).

## Part of the Haifa–Acre World Centre

The Arc is the administrative component of a centre that also includes shrines and gardens in Haifa and near Acre. UNESCO’s [World Heritage description](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1220/) explains that these sites form a larger pilgrimage network of seven locations. Read more about [the historical reason the centre is in this area](https://hasbara.co.il/resources/bah-world-centre-in-haifa-global-spiritual-headquarters/bah-u-ll-h-s-ottoman-exile-and-the-holy-land-foundation) and the [terraces and UNESCO inscription](https://hasbara.co.il/resources/bah-world-centre-in-haifa-global-spiritual-headquarters/the-nineteen-terraces-of-mount-carmel-in-haifa).

## Pages

- [Why the Bahá’í World Centre is in Haifa and Acre](/resources/bah-world-centre-in-haifa-global-spiritual-headquarters/bah-u-ll-h-s-ottoman-exile-and-the-holy-land-foundation.md)
- [The Báb’s Remains and the Shrine on Mount Carmel](/resources/bah-world-centre-in-haifa-global-spiritual-headquarters/the-historical-journey-of-the-b-b-s-sacred-remains.md)
- [The Bahá’í Terraces and UNESCO Listing](/resources/bah-world-centre-in-haifa-global-spiritual-headquarters/the-nineteen-terraces-of-mount-carmel-in-haifa.md)
- [The World Centre, Its Volunteers, and Haifa](/resources/bah-world-centre-in-haifa-global-spiritual-headquarters/the-bahai-non-proselytization-policy-and-haifa-volunteers.md)

## Sources

- [bahai.org](https://www.bahai.org/the-universal-house-of-justice)
- [news.bahai.org](https://news.bahai.org/media-information/bahai-world-centre)
- [news.bahai.org](https://news.bahai.org/story/131/gathering-holy-land-marks-milestone-development-bahai-faith)
- [whc.unesco.org](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1220/)