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[p.83]
The International Court of Justice,
Composed as above,
After deliberation,
Having regard to Article 48 of the Statute of the Court and to Article 44 of
the Rules of Court,
Having regard to the Order dated 11 October 1991, by which the President of
the Court, having consulted the Parties in accordance with Article 31 of the
Rules of Court, decided that the written pleadings should first be addressed
to the questions of the jurisdiction of the Court to entertain the dispute
and of the admissibility of the Application, and fixed time-limits for a
Memorial by Qatar and a Counter-Memorial by Bahrain on those questions;
Having regard to the Order dated 26 June 1992, by which the Court, [p 84]
considering that the filing of further pleadings by the Parties was
necessary, directed that a Reply by Qatar and a Rejoinder by Bahrain be
filed on the same questions;
Having regard to the Judgment of 1 July 1994, by which the Court found that
the Exchanges of Letters of December 1987 between the King of Saudi Arabia
and the Amirs of Qatar and Bahrain, and the Minutes signed at Doha on 25
December 1990, were international agreements creating rights and obligations
for the Parties, and that, by the terms of those agreements, the Parties had
undertaken to submit to it the whole of the dispute between them, as
circumscribed by the "Bahraini formula"; decided to afford the Parties the
opportunity to submit to it the whole of the dispute; fixed 30 November 1994
as the time-limit within which the Parties were jointly or separately to
take action to that end; and reserved any other matters for subsequent
decision;
Having regard to the Judgment dated 15 February 1995, by which the Court
found that it has jurisdiction to adjudicate upon the dispute between Qatar
and Bahrain which has been submitted to it; that it is now seised of the
whole of the dispute; and that the Application of Qatar as formulated on 30
November 1994 is admissible;
Whereas in paragraph 39 of the Judgment that it delivered on 1 July 1994 the
Court expressed itself in the following terms:
"On the completion thus of the reference of the whole dispute to the Court,
the Court will fix time-limits for the simultaneous filing of pleadings,
i.e., each Party will file a Memorial and then a Counter-Memorial within the
same time-limits";
and whereas in paragraph 49 of the Judgment that it delivered on 15 February
1995, the Court gave the following clarification:
"Within the framework thus defined, it falls to Qatar to present its
submissions to the Court, as it falls to Bahrain to present its own. To this
end, after it has ascertained the views of the Parties, the Court will issue
an Order fixing the time-limits for the simultaneous filing of the written
pleadings, in accordance with paragraph 39 of the Judgment of 1 July 1994";
Whereas time-limits have now to be fixed for the written proceedings on the
merits;
Whereas, for the purpose of ascertaining the views of the Parties with
regard to those time-limits, the President invited the Agents to attend a
meeting the date of which was fixed as 27 April 1995;
Whereas, in a letter dated 24 April 1995 and received in the Registry on the
same day by facsimile, the Agent of Bahrain, referring to a document
entitled "Official Declaration by the Government of the State of Bahrain in
connection with its position regarding the new Judgment of the Court, issued
on 15 February 1995", the text of which he had transmitted to the Court
under cover of a letter dated 7 March 1995, indicated [p 85] inter alia
that, for the reasons set forth in that Declaration, he could not "respond
positively to the invitation of the President to attend the meeting
scheduled on 27 April 1995";
Having ascertained the views of Qatar and having given Bahrain an
opportunity of stating its views,
Fixes 29 February 1996 as the time-limit for the filing by each of the
Parties of a Memorial on the merits; and
Reserves the subsequent procedure for further decision.
Done in English and in French, the English text being authoritative, at the
Peace Palace, The Hague, this twenty-eighth day of April, one thousand nine
hundred and ninety-five, in three copies, one of which will be placed in the
archives of the Court and the others transmitted to the Government of the
State of Qatar and to the Government of the State of Bahrain, respectively.
(Signed) Mohammed BEDJAOUI,
President.
(Signed) Eduardo VALENCIA-OSPINA,
Registrar. |
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