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[p.1038]
The International Court of Justice,
Composed as above,
Having regard to Article 48 of the Statute of the Court and to Articles 44
and 48 of the Rules of Court,
Having regard to the Application filed in the Registry of the Court on 21
September 1999, whereby the Islamic Republic of Pakistan instituted
proceedings against the Republic of India in respect of a dispute concerning
the destruction on 10 August 1999 of a Pakistani aircraft;
Whereas on 21 September 1999 a certified copy of the Application was
transmitted to the Republic of India;
Whereas the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has appointed as Agent His
Excellency Mr. Saeed M. Khan, Ambassador of Pakistan to the Netherlands; and
whereas the Republic of India has appointed as Agent His Excellency Mr.
Prabhakar Menon, Ambassador of India to the Netherlands, as Co-Agent Mr. P.
S. Rao, Joint Secretary and Legal Adviser in [p 1039] the Ministry of
External Affairs, and as Deputy Agent Ms Murugesan Manimekalai, Counsellor
at the Embassy of India in the Netherlands;
Whereas, in its Application, Pakistan, in order to found the jurisdiction of
the Court, invokes Article 36, paragraphs 1 and 2, of the Statute and the
declarations whereby the two Parties have recognized the compulsory
jurisdiction of the Court;
Whereas, by letter dated 2 November 1999, the Agent of India notified the
Court that his Government "wish[ed] to indicate its preliminary objections
to the assumption of jurisdiction by the . . . Court . . . on the basis of
Pakistan's Application"; and whereas those objections, set out in a note
appended to the letter, were as follows:
"(i) That Pakistan's Application did not refer to any treaty or convention
in force between India and Pakistan which confers jurisdiction upon the
Court under Article 36 (1).
(ii) That Pakistan's Application fails to take into consideration the
reservations to the Declaration of India dated 15 September, 1974 filed
under Article 36 (2) of its Statute. In particular, Pakistan, being a
Commonwealth country, is not entitled to invoke the jurisdiction of the
Court as sub-paragraph 2 of paragraph 1 of that Declaration excludes all
disputes involving India from the jurisdiction of this Court in respect of
any State which 'is or has been a Member of the Commonwealth of Nations'.
(iii) The Government of India also submits that sub-paragraph 7 of paragraph
1 of its Declaration of 15 September, 1974 bars Pakistan from invoking the
jurisdiction of this Court against India concerning any dispute arising from
the interpretation of application of a multilateral treaty, unless at the
same time all the parties to such a treaty are also joined as parties to the
case before the Court. The reference to the UN Charter, which is a
multilateral treaty, in the Application of Pakistan as a basis for its claim
would clearly fall within the ambit of this reservation. India further
asserts that it has not provided any consent or concluded any special
agreement with Pakistan which waives this requirement";
Whereas, at a meeting between the President of the Court and the
representatives of the Parties held on 10 November 1999, the Parties
provisionally agreed to request the Court to determine separately the
question of jurisdiction in this case before any proceedings on the merits,
on the understanding that Pakistan would first present a Memorial dealing
exclusively with this question, to which India would have the opportunity of
replying in a Counter-Memorial confined to the same question;
Whereas, by letter of 12 November 1999, the Agent of Pakistan confirmed the
agreement to the procedure given ad referendum on 10 Novem ber 1999; [p
1040]
Whereas it is necessary for the Court to be informed of all the contentions
and evidence of fact and law on which the Parties rely in the matter of its
jurisdiction;
Taking into account the agreement concerning the procedure reached between
the Parties, consulted under Article 31 of the Rules of Court, and their
views regarding the time-limits to be fixed for that purpose,
Decides that the written pleadings shall first be addressed to the question
of the jurisdiction of the Court to entertain the Application;
Fixes the following time-limits for the filing of those pleadings:
10 January 2000 for the Memorial of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan;
28 February 2000 for the Counter-Memorial of the Republic of India; 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 nineteenth day of November one thousand nine
hundred and ninety-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
Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Government of the Republic of India,
respectively.
(Signed) Stephen M. Schwebel,
President.
(Signed) Eduardo Valencia-Ospina,
Registrar. |
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