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INTERNATIONAL CO-ÜRT OF JUSTICE
PeacePalace,2517 K.JThe Hague.Tel. (070 - 392 44 41).Cables:Intercourt,The Hague.
- Telefax (070 - 36499 28).Telex 32323. Commun/4ué
unof'f'icial
for iminediate rclease
No. 90/6
6 March 1990
Land, Island ana Maritime Frontier Dispute
(El ~alvador/Honduras)
The following information is communicated to the Press by the
Registry of the International Court of Justice:
On 17 November 1989 the Republic of Nicaragua filed in the Registry
of the Court an Application for permission to intervene in the above case.
With regard to that Application the Court, on 28 February 1990, made
an Order, to which Judge Oda appended a declaration and Judges Elias,
Tarassov and Shahabuddeen dissenting opinions. The text of the
declaration and of the opinions, which has not been attached, is
available upon request. Annex to Press Communiqué 9016
INTERNATIONAL COURTOF JUSTICE
YEAR 1990
1990
28 February
GeneralList
No. 75
28 February1990
CASE CONCERNINGTHE LAND, ISLAIVDAIïD
MARITIME FRONTIER DISPUTE
(ELSALVADOR/HOLPDURAS)
ORDER
APPLICATIONFOR PERMISSIONTO INTERVENE
PresentPresident RUDA; Vice-President MBAYE; Judges LACHS,
ELIAS, ODA, AGO, SCHWEBEL S,ir RobertJENNINGS, BEDJAOUIN ,I,
EVENSEN, TARASSOV, GUILLAUME,SHAHABUDDEEN, PATHAK;
Registrar VALENCIA-OSPINA.
The International Courtof Justice,
Composedas above,
After deliberation,
Makes the following Order:
Having regardto Articles26, 27, 48 and 62 of the Statuteof the
Court,
Having regardto Articles81, 83, 84, 85 and 90 of the Rules of
Court,
Having regardto the SpecialAgreement concludeo dn 24 May 1986
betweenthe Republicof El Salvadorand theRepublicof Hondurasfor the
submissionof a land,island andmaritimefrontierdispute between the
two Statesto a Chamberof the Court consisting of three Members of the
Court andtwo judges ad hoc chosenby the Parties, Having regard to the Ordermade by the Courton 8 May 1987whereby
it decidedto accedeto the request of the Governmentsof El Salvadorand
Hondurasto form a Chamberof five judgesto deal with the case,and
further declared tha atChamberto deal with the casewas duly
constituted by that Order,with the composition thereinstated,and
having regard to theOrdermade by theCourton 13 December 1989
following the death of one ofthe judges ad hocsittingin the Chamber
whereby the Court declare the Chamberto be composedas thereinstated;
and
Whereason 17 November 1989 the Republi of Nicaraguafiledin the
Registryof the Courtan Application for permissio tno intervenein the
case,which Applicationwas statedto be madeby virtueof Article36,
paragraph1, and Article62 of the Statuteof the Court;
Whereas the Governmen of Nicaragua contendsthat its request for
permissionto intervene is a matterexclusivelywithinthe procedural
mandateof the full Court, "not only becauseit is an incidental
proceedingbut also for ...reasonsof elementalequity(thatof consent *
and that of the equalityof States)";
Whereas the Partiet so the casewere informedby letterof
14 December 1989 that the Court had deci dedafford the Parties the
opportunityof submittingto the Court their observation on the question
thus raised,i.e.,whether the Application for permisst ioointervene is
to be decidedby the full Court ob ry the Chamber,and thatthe procedure
contemplated by Article83, paragraph1, of the Rules of Court remained
reserved pending settlemeb nyt the Courtof that preliminary question;
whereas such observationswere receivedin the Registryon
12 January 1990; whereas copiesof theseobservations were transmittedto
Nicaraguawhichwas informedthat it might submit its own further
observationson the question, and whereas Nicaragua submittedsuch
observations on 1 February 1990;and whereas the Court, having
considered al1 the observations submitted, conclut dedt it was
sufficiently informe odf the viewsof the States concerned, withot utere
being any needfor oral proceedings which theRules of Court didnot
requirein this context, and whichneither Nicaragun aor the Parties had
requested;
1
WhereasunderArticle26, paragraph 2, of the Statutethe Courthas
power to form a Chamberto deal with a particular case,and consequently
to regulate matters concerningits composition; whereast is for the
tribunal seisedof a principal issue to deal also with any issue
subsidiary thereto; whereasa Chamberformedto deal with a particular
case therefore dealsnot onlywith the merits ofthe case, but alsw oith
incidental proceedingsarisingin that case (cf. Frontier Dispute,
Provisional Measures,Order of 10 January 1986,I.C.J. Reports 1986,
p. 3; Elettronica Sicula S.P.A. (ELSI),I.C.J.Reports 1989,p. 42,
para. 49);
Whereasthe rule of law that "everyinterventionis incidentalto
the proceedings in a case"(~aya de la Torre,I.C.J. Reports 1951,
p. 76), applies equally whether the intervent iisnasedupon Article62
or Article63 of the Statute; Whereas the question whethe rn application for permissiotno
intervenein a case under Article 62of the Statuteshouldbe granted
requiresa judicialdecisionwhether theState seekingto intervene"has
an interestof a legal naturewhich rnaybe affectedby the decision"in
the case,and can therefore only be determinedby the bodywhich will be
calledupon to give the decisionon the meritsof the case;
Whereas furtherrnorae Statewhich has submitteda request for
permissionto interveneon which a decisionhas not yet been taken "has
yet to establish any status in relationto the case" (Continental Shelf
(TunisiaLibyan ArabJamahiriya),Applicationto Intervene,Judgment,
I.C.J. Reports 1981,p. 6, para. 8), and thereforea State requesting
such permissionmust, for the purposesof the decisionwhether that
request should be granted, take the procedura situationin the case as
it finds it;
Whereas in its Application for permissio to intervene Nicaragua
states that
"The practical consequenc oef a favourable responseto the
present request will be the reformationof the Chamberas
presently constitutea dnd the re-orderingof the written
proceedingsas arrangedby the Order of 27 May 1987. Whilst my
Governmentis bound to take al1 availablesteps inorder to
protect its legal interests it is concernedto proceed in a
spirit of goodwilland CO-operationin face of a procedure
which has alreadybeen initiated. Consequently, it is the
intentionof my Governmentto proposenot a reformationof the
Chamberand its jurisdictional basis tout court but only the
making of those changes strictly necessari yn order to maintain
the minimum standardo sf efficacyand procedural fairness"
(para. 23)
and that
"Nicaraguain the alternative would request that for
those reasonsof elemental fairness explaine above ..., the
Court should,in an:ycase, excludefrom the mandateof the
Chamberany powersof determinationof the juridicalsituation
of maritimeareas both within the Gulf ofFonsecaand also in
the PacificOcean and, in effect, limit the Chamber's mandate
to those aspectsof the land boundarywhich are in dispute
betweenEl Salvadorand Honduras"(para. 24);
Whereas, in the firstplace, while Nicaraguh aas thus referredto
certainquestionsconcer~iint ghe compositionof the Chamber,it has done
so only in contemplationof a favourable response being given to its
request for intervention; whereasn, the second place,while Nicaragua
contemplatesa limitationof the mandateof the Chamber,its requestto
that effectis put forward only "in the alternative"w ;hereas the Court
is thus not calledupon t:opronounceon any of these questions; Whereas the mentioi nn the Applicationof thesequestions,which are
thus contingenton the decisionwhetherthe applicationfor permissionto
intervene is to be granted, cannotlead the Courtto decidein placeof
the Chamberthe anteriorquestion whether that application should be
granted;
THE COURT,
by twelve votesto three,
Finds that it is for theChamberformedto dealwith the present
case to decidewhether the application for permisst iointerveneunder
Article62 of the Statutefiledby the Republicof Nicaraguaon
17 November 1989 shouldbe granted.
IN FAVOUR: PresidentRuda; Vice-PresidentMbaye;
Judges Lachs,Oda, Ago, Schwebel, Sir RoberJ tennings,Bedjaoui,
Ni, Evensen, Guillaumaend Pathak;
AGAINST: JudgesElias,Tarassovand Shahabuddeen.
Done in Englishand in French,the Englishtextbeing authoritative,
at the Peace Palace, The Hague, this twenty-eighd thy of February, one
thousandnine hundredand ninety, infour copies, one of which will be
placed in the archives of the Court and theothers transmittetdo the
Governmentof El Salvador,to the Government of Honduras,and to the
Governmentof Nicaragua,respectively.
(Signed)José Maria RUDA,
President.
(Signed)Eduardo VALENCIA-OSPINA,
Registrar.
Judge ODA appendsa declarationto the Order of the Court.
Juges ELIAS, TARASSOVand SHAHABUDDEEN append dissenting opinit ons
the Order of the Court.
(Initialled) J.M.R.
(Initialled) E.V.O.
Land, Island and Maritime Frontier Dispute (El Salvador/Honduras) - Application for permission to intervene - Decision of the Court