|
[p9]
The International Court of Justice,
composed as above,
after deliberation,
having regard to Articles 36 and 48 of the Statute of the Court ;
Makes the following Order:
Whereas on June 2nd, 1955, the Ambassador of the United States of America to
the Netherlands filed in the Registry an Application dated May 26th, 1955,
and signed by the Agent of the Government of the United States of America
instituting proceedings before the Court against the Government of the Union
of Soviet Socialist Republics on account of "certain willful acts committed
by fighter aircraft of the Soviet Government against a United States Air
Force B-29 aircraft and its crew off Hokkaido, Japan, on October 7th,
1952"; [p10]
Whereas the Application was duly communicated by the Registry on June 4th,
1955, to the Ambassador of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to the
Netherlands;
Whereas the Application was also duly communicated by the Registry to the
Members of the United Nations, through the Secretary-General of the United
Nations, and to the other States entitled to appear before the Court;
Whereas the Application contains the following paragraphs:
"The United States Government, in filing this application with the Court,
submits to the Court's jurisdiction for the purposes of this case. The
Soviet Government appears not to have filed any declaration with the Court
thus far, although it was invited to do so by the United States Government
in the note annexed hereto. The Soviet Government is, however, qualified to
submit to the jurisdiction of the Court in this matter and may upon
notification of this application by the Registrar, in accordance with the
Rules of the Court, take the necessary steps to enable the Court's
jurisdiction over both parties to the dispute to be confirmed.
The United States Government thus founds the jurisdiction of this Court on
the foregoing considerations and on Article 36 (1) of the Statute."
Whereas the note annexed to the Application, which was addressed on
September 25th, 1954, by the Government of the United States of America to
the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, ends with the
following passage:
"Since it appears that the Soviet Government has thus far not filed with
that Court any declaration of acceptance of the compulsory jurisdiction of
the Court, the United States Government invites the Soviet Government to
file an appropriate declaration with the. Court, or to enter into a Special
Agreement, by which the Court may be empowered in accordance with its
Statute and Rules to determine the issues of fact and law which have been
set forth herein; and the Soviet Government is requested to inform the
United States Government in its reply to the present note of its intentions
with respect to such a declaration or Special Agreement."
Whereas in a letter dated August 26th, 1955, from the Charge d'affaires of
the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in the Netherlands to the Registry
it was stated that:
"In its last note on this question, dated December 30th, 1954, addressed to
the Government of the United States of America, the Government of the
U.S.S.R. indicated that since the American military aircraft violated the
frontier of the U.S.S.R. and opened fire without any reason upon Soviet
fighter aircraft, responsibility for the incident which occurred and for its
consequences rests entirely upon the American side; in these circumstances
the Soviet Government cannot take into consideration the claim set forth in
[p11] the note of the Government of the United States of America of
September 25th, 1954, and considers that the proposal that this case should
be referred for consideration to the International Court of Justice is
totally unfounded.
Having regard to the foregoing, the Soviet Government considers that no
question arises in this case which calls for a decision of the International
Court of Justice and it sees no reason why the question should be dealt with
by the International Court of Justice."
Whereas a certified true copy of the above-mentioned letter was communicated
to the Agent of the Government of the United States of America on August
29th, 1955;
Whereas the said letter of August 26th, 1955, does not constitute on the
part of the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics either the
appropriate declaration or consent to conclude a Special Agreement;
Whereas, in these circumstances, the Court finds that it has not before it
any acceptance by the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
of the jurisdiction of the Court to deal with the dispute which is the
subject of thé Application submitted to it by the Government of the United
States of America and that therefore it can take no further steps upon this
Application;
The Court
orders that the case shall be removed from the list.
Done in English and French, the English text being authoritative, at the
Peace Palace, The Hague, this fourteenth day of March, one thousand nine
hundred and fifty-six, in three copies, one of which will be placed in the
archives of the Court and the others transmitted to the Government of the
United States of America and to the Government of the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics, respectively.
(Signed) A. Badawi,
Vice-President.
(Signed) J. López Olivan,
Registrar. |
|