Colleagues,

Happy New Year

Some of you will have seen this earlier today
but for those of you who haven't I thought it 
was worth drawing your attention to.

Best wishes

Charles Gurdon
Menas Associates

-------------Forwarded Message-----------------
        International Court of Justice - Press Release 2001/1 - The International Court of Justice amends two Articles of its Rules

 
The International Court of Justice amends two Articles of its Rules
and modifies the Note containing recommendations to the parties to new cases
in order, among other things, to shorten the duration of certain incidental
proceedings

          THE HAGUE, 12 January 2001.  Anxious to expedite the preparation
of cases before it at a time when it is being called upon ever more
frequently and is more active today than ever before, the International
Court of Justice (ICJ) has decided to amend two Articles of its Rules
concerning incidental proceedings.

           Those Articles are Article 79 relating to preliminary objections
(generally raised by the respondent in order to challenge the Court's
jurisdiction or the admissibility of the application) and Article 80
relating to counter-claims (by which the respondent seeks to obtain
something other than the mere dismissal of the applicant's submissions).

           The amendments (reproduced on pages 2 and 3) aim at shortening
the duration of these proceedings, the proliferation of which has encumbered
many cases, at clarifying the rules in force and at adapting them to reflect
more closely the practice developed by the Court.

           They will come into force on 1 February 2001.  The Rules adopted
on 14 April 1978 will continue to apply to all cases submitted to the Court
prior to 1 February 2001, and to all phases of those cases.

           The Court has also modified the Note containing recommendations
to the parties that it made public in April 1998 (see Press Release 98/14).
This Note is given to the representatives of parties to new cases at their
first meeting with the Registrar.  The modification (reproduced on page 3)
should expedite proceedings on preliminary objections even more.

           The various measures announced today, which have been notified to
the 190 States party to the Statute of the Court (189 member States of the
United Nations and Switzerland), are part of an ongoing effort by the
principal judicial organ of the UN to adapt to the significant increase in
its activity in the last few years.  Twenty-four cases are currently
pending.

           Already in 1998 (see Press Release 98/14), the Court announced a
change in its working methods, stating that it would start considering some
cases "back to back" and that, in preliminary phases of the proceedings on
the merits (e.g., objections to its jurisdiction or the admissibility of an
application), it would, on an experimental basis and where it considered it
necessary, deliberate without written Notes (normally prepared by the judges
after the conclusion of the oral proceedings for use during the
deliberations).  It added that it would seek increased co-operation from the
parties in the functioning of justice, by requesting them inter alia to
decrease the number of pleadings exchanged, the volume of the annexes to the
pleadings and the length of the oral arguments.  This policy has already
proved effective in the most recent cases.

_____________

          Amendments to Articles 79 and 80 of the Rules of Court

           The modifications are shown in bold italics.

           Article 79 (Preliminary Objections)

 -     Paragraph 1 of this Article has been amended to shorten the period of
time within which preliminary objections can be raised.  While until now the
respondent could file such objections "within the time-limit fixed for the
delivery of [its] Counter-Memorial", it will now have to do so "as soon as
possible, and not later than three months after the delivery of the
Memorial".  The revised paragraph 1 reads as follows:

     "1. Any objection by the respondent to the jurisdiction of the Court or
to the admissibility of the application, or other objection the decision
upon which is requested before any further proceedings on the merits, shall
be made in writing as soon as possible, and not later than three months
after the delivery of the Memorial.  Any such objection made by a party
other than the respondent shall be filed within the time-limit fixed for the
delivery of that party's first pleading."

-     Two new paragraphs have been added, reading as follows:

     "2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1 above, following the submission of the
application and after the President has met and consulted with the parties,
the Court may decide that any questions of jurisdiction and admissibility
shall be determined separately.

     3. Where the Court so decides, the parties shall submit any pleadings
as to jurisdiction and admissibility within the time-limits fixed by the
Court and in the order determined by it, notwithstanding Article 45,
paragraph 1."

-     Former paragraphs 2 to 8 of Article 79 have not been amended, but have
been renumbered as paragraphs 4 to 10.

           Article 80 (Counter-Claims)

 -     Paragraph 1 has been reworded, reversing the order in which the two
requirements to be met before a counter-claim may be entertained by the
Court are set out.  The paragraph now reads as follows:

     "The Court may entertain a counter-claim only if it comes within the
jurisdiction of the Court and is directly connected with the subject-matter
of the claim of the other party."

-     In paragraph 2, the wording of which has been revised, a sentence has
been added in order to preserve the right of the other party to present its
views on the counter-claim in an additional pleading.  The new paragraph
reads as follows:

     "A counter-claim shall be made in the Counter-Memorial and shall appear
as part of the submissions contained therein.  The right of the other party
to present its views in writing on the counter-claim, in an additional
pleading, shall be preserved, irrespective of any decision of the Court, in
accordance with Article 45, paragraph 2, of these Rules, concerning the
filing of further written pleadings."

-     Paragraph 3, also revised, covers the same ground as former paragraph
3, but is worded differently to encompass two elements: (i) any objection
concerning the application of paragraph 1 of the same Article and (ii) any q
uestion regarding a counter-claim which may be raised at the instance of the
Court.  In addition, the revised paragraph omits the provision that the
Court shall "decide whether or not the question thus presented shall be
joined to the original proceedings", and replaces it with the more general
clause that the Court "shall take its decision thereon".  The paragraph
reads as follows:

     "Where an objection is raised concerning the application of paragraph 1
or whenever the Court deems necessary, the Court shall take its decision
thereon after hearing the parties."

          Modification of the Note containing recommendations to the parties

 -     A new subparagraph has been added to paragraph 3 of the Note.  It
reads as follows:

     "E. With the aim of accelerating proceedings on preliminary objections
made by one party under Article 79, paragraph 1, of the Rules of Court, the
time-limit for the presentation by the other party of a written statement of
its observations and submissions under Article 79, paragraph 5, should
generally not exceed four months."

-     The last sentence of former subparagraph E of paragraph 3, which has
now become subparagraph F, has been modified as follows:

     "These provisions must of course be complied with, especially when
objections of lack of jurisdiction or of inadmissibility are being
considered.  In those cases, oral proceedings must be limited to statements
on the objections and observe the requisite degree of brevity."

_____________



         The full text of the amended Rules of Court, of the Background Note
VII explaining the amendments, and of the amended Note containing
recommendations to the parties to new cases will shortly be available on the
Court's website under the "Basic Documents" heading.

_____________



          Website of the Court: http://www.icj-cij.org
          Information Department:
          Mr. Arthur Witteveen, First Secretary (+ 31 70 302 23 36)
          Mrs. Laurence Blairon, Information Officer (+ 31 70 302 23 37)
          E-mail address:  [log in to unmask]