Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary in the Gulf of Maine Area (Canada/United States of America) - Filing of Counter-Memorials

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INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE

Peace Palace, 2517 KJ The Hague. Tel. 92 44 41. Cables: Intercourt, The Hague

Telex 32323

Communiqué
un0tficial
for immediate release
No. 8312

28 June 1983

Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary in the

Gulf of Maine Area
(Canada/lhited States of America)

Filing of Caunter-Memorials

The following information is made available to the press by the
Registry of the International Court of Justice:

Canada and the United States filed their Counter-Memorials today in
the Registry within the time-limit: as fixed by an Order of 5 November 1982.

Canada and the United States have submitted to a specially formed

Chamber of the International Court of Justice a dispute over the boundary
separating the fishery zones and continental shelves of the two countries
off the Atlantic Coast in the Gulf of Maine area. The proceedings were
instituted on 25 November 1981 by the filing of a Special Agreement.

The Chamber was constituted by an Order of the Court on 20 January

1982. It is composed as follows: Judge Ago, President of the Chamber;
Judges Gros, Mosler and Schwebel; Judge ad hoc Cohen. This was the first
time in the history of the Court that the parties to a dispute had made use
of the possibilities, embodied in the Statute and Rules of the C:ourt, of
sending their case to a special chamber instead of to the full Court.

The first pleadings (the Memorials) had been filed on 27 September

1982. It is possible that the fil.ing of the second pleadings which took
place today will be followed by that of another round of pleadings (Replies).
provision is made for this possibi-lity in the Special Agreement by which Canada
and the United States brought thei-r dispute before the Chamber.