Courinternationalede Justice
Enre----------el:
Internatil ourtofJustice
Filedin theistry:nd Q?RN 2 004/~~
TemmyF S~m~ll
Mibst0f
INTERK.'ITIONALOURTOFJUSTICE
LEGALCONSEQUESCESOFTHECONSTRUCTIONOF A WALL
INTHEOCCCPIEDPALESTINIANTERRITORY
(REQUESTFORADVISORYOPINION)
MEMORIALOFTHE
REPUBLICOFPALAU
28Janua2004 Mr.Philippe Couvreur
RegistraroftheCourt
Internationa. ourtofJustice
2517KJThe Hague
TheNetherlands
Re: LegalConsequences ofthe Construction oaWall intheOccuuiedPalesthian Territom
Sir:
To His Excellency,the President,to the Judges oftlie InternationalCourt of Justice, the
undersignedbeing duly authorizedbytheRepublic of Palau,1have thehonouroftransmittingto
yoh thisMemorial-.inaccordancewith Article66,paragraph2 ofthe Statuteofthe Court,Article
105 oftheRulesof the COLI& axldthe Court'Order,dated19December 2003. For theCourt's
convenience, 1 have enclosed with this package 30 Ei~gIiscopies of my Cxovernment's
Memorial. 1havealsoenclosedwith thjspackage aCD-Romwhichcontainsan electronic copy
of thisubmission.
As theRepublicofPalau,the Federated States cf Microneçia,and theRepublicof the Marshall.
Islandssharesllnilarconcernswithrespecttotheadvisoryopinionrequest,they have decidedto
submitseparatebutsubstantiallyidenticalwrittensubmissionto theCourt.
Thaiikyou foryourconsideration.
Sincerelyyours,
c"'
'AmbassadorExtraordinaryandPlenipotentiary
PermanentRepresentative of the
RepublicofPalautothe UnitedNations
lSOOK Street,WU,Suite 714 Washington,]DC20006 . Phone 202-452-6814 r Fa.x202-452-6281
www.palauembassy.con Ra BW ~i?g
KOW, ROP96960
?a &t.zsep/~,qp'
. ' Fm (6804UWj
Ed: mihLslryo~~4PCOm
The Governmentof the RepubljcofPalaupresentsits complimentsto theRegistrarof
the InternationalCourt of Justiceand, with referenceto the letîer of 19Decernber
2003 by wliich member Statesof the UnitedNations wereinvited to present theix
views regardingthe questionreferredto the Court .in GeneralAsseinblyresolution
PLIRESIES-1 of 81December2003,has the honorto presentthe followingwritten
submission..
TheRepublicof Palau is not ina positionto make submissionswith respectto the
tnçritsof the substantiveissuesraisedby the srequestThe present submissionis
made withouzprejudice to itsviewson thespecific substantivequestionthathas been
put beforetheourt.
-..The Republic of Palau isa mal1 Pacific island-stateand a member of the United
Nations thatis comrnittedM the principlesand protectionaffordedby..international
law, the International Court of Justice and the United Nations. It is concer~ledby
'several aspects of the advisoryopinion request subinitted the aforementioned
GeneralAssernblyresolution.The RepublicofPalau'sdecisionnottovotein favorof
this resolution reflects its view lhat the request for an advisory opinion is
irjappropi;atein this caand ùiat there are colnpellingreasons for the Court to
exercise its discretiondeclinteo respondto thisrequest, evenifthe Courtfindsthat
î.doesînfacthavejurisdictionto dso.
Therequestcoritninedin resolutionES-10/14,nsksthe Courtto addresan issue that
is findsmentally in dispute.ïhe Republicof Palau is concernedthat relioncthe
advisory opinionprocedure in such a case risks cixcuinventingand eroding the
princîple, enshrjned Article36 of the Court'sstatute, that contentious issuescan
onlybe brougiitbefore the Courtwiththe consentofthe partiescoricernedaiidthus
threatensto undemine the statureandjudicial integriv of the Court and estaalish
dnngerousprecedent.
.Therequestseeksto ernbroithe Courtina chargedand infiammatorypoliticalissue
byway of the advisory opinionrequest.The politicaland contentious natuofthis
subjectisamplyborne outnotonly.by itsdivisiveeffecton the politicalorgansofthe
UnitedNations,but bytheuse of terminologyandof legalassertionsandassumptions
throughout the text of resolutionES-10/1 that are themselves the subject of
consîderabledispute, an.orwhichthe Court'simprimaturis indirectlysought .he
adoption of General Assembly resolution A/RES/ES-10 o1123 Octobet 2003,
which.'determhedissues strihgly si.milarto those put beforethe Court alsoraises
doubtsasto theextent to whichthisrequestfoanadvisoryopinioncanbeconsidered
agenuinerequestfor legal guidanceinaccordancewithArticle96ofthe UNCharter. Page 2
hiO$/ICJ
A/RES/ES--1012 ,resp
Giverrthe formulationof the question andthe contextin which it is adopted, the
Republic ofPalau isconcemedthat any non-binding advisory opinion on the
substantive issumayhavesignificant detrimentaleffecrs.It wouldrisk introducing
furtheracrimoilybetweenthe parties,undemine the prospectsfor a peacefuland
negotiatedsettlementand,inthe processp,ossiblytaintthereputationofthe Court to
the detrimentofthose States,especiallysmall States,that lookto the Internatioi~al
Court of Justicefor the authoritativeresolutionof disputes in accordancewith
, internationaaw.
Inthisregard,theRepublicofPalau notes chatthe parties concernehavecommitted
themselvesto comprehensively resolvingal1outsta~ldiugissuesbehveenthem by a
process ofnegotiation,h accordancewithrelevantSecurityCounciIResolutionsand
inthe frarneworkofthe "Performance-BaseR doadMap",sponsoredby the Quartet,
wheretheUNplaysa centralrole,andendorsed by the SecurityCouncil inresolution
151.5of 19November2003.Taisresolutionwas adopted less thanthreeweeksbefore
the GeneralAssembly passedthe resolutioat issue inthe present proceedingfie
involvemeno t ftheCourtinoneisoiatedaspect of this dispuw, ithoutthe consentof
both parties,seems to run counterto the dispute settleinentmechanisin agreed
between theparties. It alsoundercutsthe endorsement of this mechaiiismby the
SecurityCouncil - the organchargedwithprimaryresponsibilityforthe maintenance
of iiiternationleaceandsecurityunderthe UnitedNations Charter,and which is
stillseizedoand engaged inthematter.
Itisalsonoteworthy inthîscontextthat the requesftoranadvisoryopinionwasiiever
presentedto the Security Counciflor its considerationbeforeits submissionto the
GeneralAssembly in emergencyspecial session under the Uniting for Peace
procedure,andthat theAssembly was inregularsessionatthethe. The Republic of
Palauiscornmitted toadherencetotheGeneralAssemblyRuies ofProcedure and the
requirementslaiddown intheCharterand otherrelevantUNdocumentsas the basis
for predictabland orderlyproceedingsapplicable to al1 States and provîdingal1
States,.particularymallStatesandthosewhomightfindtheriselvesin theininority,
with a senseof securityand fan play.Withoutaddressingthis issue in detailthe
Republic ofPalau is concemedabout the apparent violationo sf proceduraland
subst'antjveonditioninthepresentcase.
As a mernberof the UnitedNations, thatsharesthe hopes of the international
cornmunityfor thepeacefulresolutîonof theIsraeli-Palestinianconflict in al1 its'
aspects,theRepublicofPalausupportsthe viewexpressedbyseveraldelegationsinPage3
MQ$/ICJ "
Ai.RES/ES -/14,resp
the debateon resolution ES-lof14 that the effortsof the internationalcommunity
should'be directedtowardsstepswhichare conduciveto dialogue and negotiatioris.
The internationaclommunitybasrecognizedthat theresolutioii ofthisconflict,inal1
itsaspects, mustbe throughnegotiatedsettlement,as calledfor in Security Council
resolutioii242 (1967) and 338(1973). This principlewas restatedby the Secretary-
Gerieral inconcludingbis reportpursuantto General Assembly resolutioE nS-10/13.
After analyzingal1aspectsofthebarrier,heconcluded:
Afier so manyyears ofbloodshed, dislocatioannd
suffering,itshouldbe cleartoal1ofus,aswell asto
the parties,thatnlythroughajust, comprehensive
and lastingpeace settlementbased on Security
Council resolutions242(1968)and 338(1973) cnn
the security of both Palesthians and Israelis be
assured. '-. . .
witha+ udim.m;iiim=qss--idi~~ 6i&&h.p ha.atG&:tke
tbnddn 'hniibltifnth e@On,,rha-aS.vemmf rhe&putilic..qfdoes
nsrbe!i&'&armfsndof iwhteeu a'ffrc ?%*ciu.di+émi of@@
O~advariFQO pwcofal~ltrbun&rhecanffict,i.ancmBd atthe
judiciüwdan-.'tsuca mavtmay$riveanth?Coult'&ility.t6 .xmiits
Memorial of the Republic of Palau