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[p.260]
The International Court of Justice,
composed as above,
after deliberation,
having regard to Article 48 of the Statute of the Court and to Article 37 of
the Rules of Court,
Makes the following Order:
Whereas in a letter of 13 February 1959, filed in the Registry on the same
day, the Ambassador of France to the Netherlands stated that his Government
had decided to seise the Court of a dispute with the Government of the
Republic of Lebanon concerning [p 261] the Compagnie du Port, des Quais et
des Entrepôts de Beyrouth and the Société Radio-Orient, notified the
appointment of M. André Gros, Legal Adviser to the Ministry for Foreign
Affairs, as Agent, and forwarded the Application instituting proceedings,
signed by the Agent and accompanied by a letter from him;
Whereas the Application refers to Article- 36, paragraph 1, of the Statute
of the Court and quotes Article 23 of an agreement concluded on 24 January
1948 by the Government of the French Republic and the Government of the
Republic of Lebanon, which provides that: "The High Contracting Parties
hereby agree that any differences arising in connection with the application
of this Agreement or of its annexes shall, at the request of the Party
concerned, be submitted to the International Court of Justice for
arbitration" ;
Whereas on 14 February 1959 the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Lebanon was
notified by telegram of the filing of the Application, of which a copy was
at the same time transmitted to him by letter and whereas this letter drew
his attention to the provisions of the Rules regarding the appointment of an
Agent and the fixing of time-limits for the filing of the pleadings;
Whereas on 23 February 1959 the edition of the Application printed by the
Registry was sent to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Lebanon;
Whereas in a letter of 11 March 1959 the attention of the Minister for
Foreign Affairs was drawn to the fact that the Court would shortly make an
order fixing time-limits for the filing of the pleadings and that for this
purpose it was desirable that the Court should be informed of the views of
the Parties;
Whereas on 20 April 1959 the Agent for the French Government, having been
requested to make known his views with regard to the time-limit for the
filing of the Memorial, stated on the same date that he hoped to have two
months for this purpose;
Whereas by a letter of 21 April 1959 the Minister for Foreign Affairs of
Lebanon was advised of the information supplied by the Agent for the French
Government and whereas he was again requested to make known his views and to
appoint an Agent;
Whereas the communications addressed by the Registry to the Ministry for
Foreign Affairs of Lebanon have remained unanswered;
The Court
fixes the following time-limits for the filing of the pleadings: [p 262]
for the Memorial of the Government of the French Republic, 18 August 1959;
for the Counter-Memorial of the Government of the Republic of Lebanon, 19
October 1959;
Reserves the subsequent procedure for further decision.
Done in French and English, the French text being authoritative, at the
Peace Palace, The Hague, this eighteenth day of June, one thousand nine
hundred and fifty-nine, in three copies, one of which will be placed in the
archives of the Court and the others transmitted to the Government of the
French Republic and to the Government of the Republic of Lebanon,
respectively.
(Signed) Helge Klaestad,
President.
(Signed) Garnier-Coignet,
Deputy-Registrar. |
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