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[p12]
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 May 4th, 1955, there was filed in the Registry an Application by
the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
instituting proceedings before the Court against the Republic of Argentina
concerning a dispute relating to the sovereignty over certain islands and
lands in the Antarctic which lie between longitudes 25° and 74° West and to
the southwards of latitude 60° South; [p13]
Whereas the Application was duly communicated by the Registry on May 6th,
1955, to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Public Worship of the
Argentine Republic;
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 State? entitled to appear before the Court ;
Whereas the Application contains the following:
"42. The United Kingdom Government... declares that it herein' submits to
the jurisdiction of the Court for the purposes of the case referred to the
Court in the present Application... The Argentine Government has not, so far
as the United Kingdom Government is aware, yet filed any declaration
accepting the Court's jurisdiction, either generally under Article 36 (2) of
the Statute or specially in the present case. The Argentine Government,
which has frequently expressed its adherence to the principle of judicial
settlement of international disputes, is, however, legally qualified to
submit to the jurisdiction of the Court in this case. Consequently, upon
notification of the present Application to the Republic of Argentina by the
Registrar in accordance with the Rules of Court, the Argentine Government,
under the settled jurisprudence of the Court, can take the necessary steps
to that end, and thereby cause the Court's jurisdiction in the case to be
constituted in respect of both Parties.
43. The United Kingdom Government founds the jurisdiction of the Court on
the foregoing considerations and on Article 36 (1) of the Court's Statute :
...”
Whereas, in a communication from the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Public
Worship of Argentina to the Registrar, set out in a letter to the Registrar
of August 1st, 1955, from the Ambassador of Argentina to the Netherlands,
it is stated:
"... the Argentine Government has several times had occasion to indicate in
notes addressed to Her Britannic Majesty's Embassy in Buenos Aires that it
cannot consent to the question of sovereignty over the Antarctic territories
of Argentina which it is sought to raise being referred for decision to any
international Court of Justice or Arbitration Tribunal. By this present
note, my Government reaffirms its refusal in the most express way with
regard to the jurisdiction of this Court and with regard to any possibility
that it should be seised as such to deal with this case."
Whereas a copy of the above-mentioned letter was communicated by the
Registrar to the Agent for the Government of the United Kingdom by a letter
dated August 3rd, 1955;
Whereas, in a letter dated August 31st, 1955, addressed to the Registrar,
the Agent for the Government of the United Kingdom stated that it regarded
the letter of August 1st, 1955, from the [p14] Argentine Ambassador to the
Netherlands as amounting to a rejection of the jurisdiction of the
International Court of Justice for the purposes of the present case;
Whereas, in these circumstances, the Court finds that it has not before it
any acceptance by the Government of Argentina of the jurisdiction of the
Court to deal with the dispute which is the subject of the Application
submitted to it by the United Kingdom Government 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 sixteenth 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 Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and to the Government
of the Republic of Argentina, respectively.
(Signed) Green H. Hackworth,
President.
(Signed) J.Lopez Olivan,
Registrar. |
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