INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
APPLICATION
INSTITUTING PROCEEDINGS
filed in the Registry of the Court
on 29 April 1999
LEGALITY OF USE OF FORCE
(YUGOSLAVIA v. PORTUGAL)
1999
General List
No. 111
I. THE AGENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
TO THE REGISTRAR OF THE INTERNATIONAL COURT
OF JUSTICE
I have the honour to hand over to you a letter of H.E. Mr. Zivadin Jovanovic, Federal Minister
for Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, nominating Mr. Milenko Kreca as
Judge ad hoc and Mr. Rodoljub Etinski, Chief Legal Adviser of the Federal Ministry for
Foreign Affairs and H.E. Mr. Milan Grubic, Ambassador of the FR of Yugoslavia to the
Kingdom of the Netherlands as Agent and Co-Agent respectively, in cases instituted by the
applications referred to in this letter and the related cover letter addressed to you. I am also
delivering to you the applications of the FR of Yugoslavia against the United States of
America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Republic of France,
the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Italy, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the
Kingdom of Belgium, Canada, Portugal and the Kingdom of Spain for the violation of the
obligation not to use force, related requests for preliminary measures of protection
supplemented by annex with photo-evidence and the letter to the President and the Members
of the Court urging a decision on preliminary measures, as well as copy of the Declaration on
the acceptance by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia of the compulsory jurisdiction of the
International Court of Justice.
(Signed) Rodoljub Etinski,
Agent of the FR of Yugoslavia.
________
I hereby declare that the Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia recognizes, in
accordance with Article 36, paragraph 2, of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, as
compulsory ipso facto and without special agreement, in relation to any other State accepting
the same obligation, that is on condition of reciprocity, the jurisdiction of the said Court in all
disputes arising or which may arise after the signature of the present Declaration, with regardto the situations or facts subsequent to this signature, except in cases where the parties have
agreed or shall agree to have recourse to another procedure or to another method of pacific
settlement. The present Declaration does not apply to disputes relating to questions which,
under international law, fall exclusively within the jurisdiction of the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia, as well as to territorial disputes.
The aforesaid obligation is accepted until such time as notice may be given to terminate the
acceptance.
New York, 25 April 1999.
(Signed) Vladislav Jovanovic,
Chargé d'affaires a.i. of
the Permanent Mission of Yugoslavia
to the United Nations.
_______________
II. THE FEDERAL MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS
OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA TO THE
PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
Belgrade, 26 April 1999
I have the honour to inform you that in accordance with paragraph 1, Article 42, of the Statute
of the Court and paragraph 2, Article 40, of the Rules of Court, the Federal Government of the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has appointed Professor Dr. Rodoljub Etinski, Chief Legal
Adviser to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as its Agent
and Mr. Milan Grubic, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to the Netherlands
as its Co-Agent in the cases the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia v. the United States of
America, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia v. the United Kingdom, the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia v. France, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia v. the Federal Republic of
Germany, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia v. Italy, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia v.
the Netherlands, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia v. Belgium, the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia v. Canada, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia v. Portugal and the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia v. Spain, concerning Breach of the Obligation Not to Use Force.
I have further the honour to inform you that on the basis of paragraph 3, Article 31, of the
Statute of the Court and paragraph 1, Article 35, of the Rules of Court, the Federal Republic
of Yugoslavia wishes to nominate Professor Dr. Milenko Kreca as Judge ad hoc. (Signed) Zivadin Jovanovic.
_______________
III. APPLICATION OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
On the basis of Article 40 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice and Article 38 of
the Rules of the Court, I submit the following: "Application of the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia against Portugal for Violation of the Obligation Not to Use Force".
Subject of the dispute
The subject-matter of the dispute are acts of Portugal by which it has violated its international
obligation banning the use of force against another State, the obligation not to intervene in the
internal affairs of another State, the obligation not to violate the sovereignty of another State,
the obligation to protect the civilian population and civilian objects in wartime, the obligation
to protect the environment, the obligation relating to free navigation on international rivers,
the obligation regarding fundamental human rights and freedoms, the obligation not to use
prohibited weapons, the obligation not to deliberately inflict conditions of life calculated to
cause the physical destruction of a national group.
Legal grounds for jurisdiction of the Court The Government of the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia invokes Article 36, para 2 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice as
well as Article 9 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide.
Claim
The Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia requests the International Court of
Justice to adjudge and declare:
- by taking part in the bombing of the territory of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia,
Portugal has acted against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in breach of its obligation not
to use force against another State;
- by taking part in the training, arming, financing, equipping and supplying terrorist groups,
i.e. the so-called "Kosovo Liberation Army", Portugal has acted against the Federal Republic
of Yugoslavia in breach of its obligation not to intervene in the affairs of another State;- by taking part in attacks on civilian targets, Portugal has acted against the Federal Republic
of Yugoslavia in breach of its obligation to spare the civilian population, civilians and civilian
objects;
- by taking part in destroying or damaging monasteries, monuments of culture, Portugal has
acted against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in breach of its obligation not to commit any
act of hostility directed against historical monuments, works of art or places of worship which
constitute cultural or spiritual heritage of people;
- by taking part in the use of cluster bombs, Portugal has acted against the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia in breach of its obligation not to use prohibited weapons, i.e. weapons calculated
to cause unnecessary suffering;
- by taking part in the bombing of oil refineries and chemical plants, Portugal has acted
against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in breach of its obligation not to cause
considerable environmental damage;
- by taking part in the use of weapons containing depleted uranium, Portugal has acted against
the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in breach of its obligation not to use prohibited weapons
and not to cause far-reaching health and environmental damage;
- by taking part in killing civilians, destroying enterprises, communications, health and
cultural institutions, Portugal has acted against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in breach
of its obligation to respect the right to life, the right to work, the right to information, the right
to health care as well as other basic human rights;
- by taking part in destroying bridges on international rivers, Portugal has acted against the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in breach of its obligation to respect freedom of navigation on
international rivers;
- by taking part in activities listed above, and in particular by causing enormous
environmental damage and by using depleted uranium, Portugal has acted against the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia in breach of its obligation not to deliberately inflict on a national
group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction, in whole or in part;
- Portugal is responsible for the violation of the above international obligations;
- Portugal is obliged to stop immediately the violation of the above obligations vis-a-vis the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia;
- Portugal is obliged to provide compensation for the damage done to the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia and to its citizens and juridical persons.
The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia reserves the right to submit subsequently accurate
evaluation of the damage.
Facts upon which the claim is basedThe Government of Portugal , together with the Governments of other Member States of
NATO, took part in the acts of use of force against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia by
taking part in bombing targets in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In bombing the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia military and civilian targets were attacked. Great number of people
were killed, including a great many civilians. Residential houses came under attack.
Numerous dwellings were destroyed. Enormous damage was caused to schools, hospitals,
radio and television stations, cultural and health institutions and to places of worship. A large
number of bridges, roads and railway lines were destroyed. Attacks on oil refineries and
chemical plants have had serious environmental effects on cities, towns and villages in the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The use of weapons containing depleted uranium is having
far-reaching consequences for human life. The above-mentioned acts are deliberately creating
conditions calculated at the physical destruction of an ethnic group, in whole or in part. The
Government of Portugal is taking part in the training, arming, financing, equipping and
supplying the so-called "Kosovo Liberation Army".
Legal grounds on which the claim is based
The above acts of the Government of Portugal represent a gross violation of the obligation not
to use force against another State. By financing, arming, training and equipping the so-called
"Kosovo Liberation Army", support is given to terrorist groups and the secessionist
movement in the territory of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in breach of the obligation
not to intervene in the internal affairs of another State. In addition, the provisions of the
Geneva Convention of 1949 and of the Additional Protocol No. 1 of 1977 on the protection of
civilians and civilian objects in time of war have been violated. The obligation to protect the
environment has also been breached. The destruction of bridges on the Danube is in
contravention of the provisions of Article 1 of the 1948 Convention on free navigation on the
Danube. The provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and of the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966 have also been
breached. Furthermore, the obligation contained in the Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide not to impose deliberately on a national group
conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of the group has been
breached. Furthermore, the activities in which Portugal is taking part are contrary to Article
53, para 1 of the Charter of the United Nations.
The Government of the FR of Yugoslavia reserves the right to amend and supplement this
Application.
(Signed) Rodoljub Etinski
Agent
for the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Application instituting proceedings