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INTERNATlûfNJAC-WURO TF JUSTICE
PeacePalace,2517 KJ TheHague.Te1.(070-302 23 23).Cables:Intercour,heHague.
Telefax(070-36499 28).Telex32323.
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Communiqué
for inmediatare10a.e
No. 95/29
22 September 1995
N w 'nationof ituationi
pcconlancewithParagia~h63 of the Court's1974 JUdmntthe
Nuclear~estsaiand v.France)
The Hague, September 22. The International Court of Justice today handed down its decision
that New Zealand's Requestfor an Examination of the Situation in accordance with Paragraph 63 of
the Court's 1974 Judgmentin the:Nuclear Tests Case (New. France, made on
21 August 1995, "does not fa11within the provisions of the said paragraph 63 and must consequently
be dismissed."
Consequently, New Zealand's requestfor provisional measures and the applications for
permission to interveneitte~dby Australia, Samoa, Solomon Islands, the Marshall Islands and the
Federated States of Micronesia as well as the declarations of intervention made by the last four States,
ail of which are proceedings incidental to New Zealand'smain request, likewise had to be dismissed.
The Court limited the present proceedings to the examination of the following question: "Do
the Requests submitted to the Court by the Government of New Zealand on 21 August 1995 fa11
within the provisions of paragraph 63 of the Judgment of the Court of 20 December 1974in the case
concerning Nuclear Tests (New Zealandance)?". In the Court's view that questionhas two
elements. The first element conirernsthe courses of procedure envisaged by the Court in paragraph 63
of its 1974 Judgment, when it stated that "the Applicant could request an examination of the situation
in accordance with the ~rovisionw'; the other concerns the question whetherthe "basis"
of that Judgment has been "affec;ted"within the meaning of paragraph 63 thereof.
In its examination of that question the Court found in the first place that by inserting in
paragraph63 the above-mentioned phrase, the Court did not exclude a special procedure for access to
interpretation or revision, which would have been open to the Applicant in any event). a request for
however, the Court found that that special procedure would only be available to the Applicant if
circumstances were to arise which affected the basis of the 1974 Judgment.found, was
not the case, as the basis of that Judgment was France'sundertaking not to conduct any further
atmospheric nuclear tests and onilya resumption of nuclear tests in the atmosphere would therefore
have affected it.
Today'sdecision was taken by 12 votes to 3. Three declarations, one separate opinion and three
dissenting opinions were appendedto the
Request for an Examination of the Situation in Accordance with Paragraph 63 of the Court's Judgment of 20 December 1974 in the Nuclear Tests (New Zealand v. France) Case - Decision of the Court