Courinternade Justice
EnregiauGreffele
InternationrtJustice
FiledintheReg:s38y.!AH2. 0/'+
INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
KEQUEST FOR ADVISORY OPINION
LEGALCONSEQUENCES 01;THECONSTRUCTION 01;A
WALL INTHEOCCUPIEDPALESTINIAN TERRITORY
STATEMENT OF THEGOVERNMENT OF IRELAND
JANUARY 2004 1.INTRODUCTION
1.1 On 8 Deceniber2003, by rcsolutionPJRESIES- 1OII1,ilieGeileral Assembly
of theUnireclNationsrequested the Inlemational Coi~rloi'Jus~icetorumis11 an
àdvisory opiiiioti,pursuanttoAflic\e 65 of theStatureof theCourt, on the
(OIlo\vit~guestion:
"Wl~ataretlic legnlcoiisequencésarisingl'rorn ~lîconstruclion of the
wallbcing b~iilby Israel,rlieocçupyingPower. in ~hcOccupied
PalcstinianTei-riioi-,ncluding inand aroiindEasi len ni si ias^,
described inthe reportoftlic Secretnry-Generalc,onsideringthe mles
aiidprinciplcsoi'intcni~tionelIaw,including thc Foui-thG~nsvd
Conventton of1939,midrelevant Sccuriiy Council and Gcneral
Assrrnbly resolutions'"
1.2 Irelandh;isconsisteiillyanclregulmly innde clear itpositionregtirdingthe
legalityofIsrael'sactions in conutnicting chewall and, inparliciilar,with
regard to ilsroule. Pnorto thereferralto theJnieniatior~oCl ouriof Justice,
lreland had voted infavourofGeneral AssemblyresolutionES- 10/13, wliich
was sponsoredbythe MemberStatesoîilie E~rropea nnionand was adopled
on 21 October2003 by 144 votesto 4,wi th 12abstentions. IIparagrapli 1 of
tl-iatresolution,ihe GenzralAssernbly -
"Demclnds ~11atsrraeslop and rcverseconstmction af thewall inthe
Ocrupicd PaleslinianTerrirory, includingin andai-oundEast
Jerusalem, wliich1s indeparturi:of rlleAmisicce Lincor 1949 andis
in contradjc~ioniorelevant provisions oi'internatioi-law"
Stlitementsrclliictingtl~ideinand have beèninadc by ~hcEiiropcanUnionon
a niimber of occasionsand Lrelandhas Fullypanicipatedinands~rpported
tl~e~eçrfiteineil.s
1.3 Irelandhos tlccidcd tosubmllthis ~vritlcnstaleinent,wliichdcals with the
isçucof substance beforethe Court, becauseIreland isîirii-ilycornmittetothe
clear ol?)ecLivi:rllie l\$oStates,Israzdnd a viablenncl deinocratic
Pales~inian SL3te,living side bysideinpeace anclszc~irilyin the framework of
a coinprzlieiisivpcacs intheMiddle East,as laidout inLhe Road Map
preseiited by 111Qiiarlettothe panies on 30April 2003. In this context,
Trelandl~as wclcomed lhe linmirnous cnclorscmentof the Rorid Map bytlie
Sec~irilyCocincil iiresoluiiùn 1515 (2003)of 19Novciilber2003 It is
Ireland's \ciewIhatheRoadMapreprzseiirs Ihè riail~e\voi lo~progress
iowards laslingpeaçe aiidseciirityin11ieMiddle East.
1.4 lrclandisdeeply concenicdbythe situation 11the regioiiaiidllas ilotecithrit,
clespitesupport givcn by the iiii.ernatiricominutiityto the q~icsrfor:just
and 1;;is~)golutiun,tliopportitniiyLurpcace set outin 111Road Map has rio\
lîeeiiseizcdby thc concernedpanies Irelandîully s~ippoi-ttslie ~cpofl ol'lhe UnitedNations Sccretary-Gcneral01-24Noveinber2003' made pursuant tu
Ceneral Asseinblyresolution ES-] 0/13or2 I Octobcr 2003 iiwliich lie made
tliefolluwing observation;
"1acknowledge diidrecognize Isiael right anclduty to pi-otectits
pcoplcagaiilstrcnoi-1st attacks Wowevcr,thtit duty sliouldnot bc
ccirrieuul inH Mrilytliat iincoi~tradictionio inicniationalIaw, that
cotildclainagsthe loiiger-terinprospects for peaczby makingtlie
creation ofan ii~dependent,viable and contiguous Palestinian state
more dillic~ilt,oihat increasessuffcrii~gamong th? Palestiiiian
pcople."
1.5 In J~ine01'2003, tlie E~iropeanCoiinçilhad called upon lsrael"to reverse the
settlernen~policy and activity aiiend landconfisca~rons and the con~lnictio~~
oftheseciirity-fence,all oîwl~ichthreuten 10 rendes tlitwo-State solution
pliysicallyimpossible to iinl~lcmçi~~".4~ii~htehr, EuropeonCouilcil,while
recognisingIsrael's rjg-11toprotecl itscitizciisCrointerroi-istattackissucd
th? followingstnreineiiiai ils meetingin Brussels 01116and 17Oclober:
"The EuropeanCo~iilcil ispartiçularlyconcerned by the route inarked
outforrlic so-callcdsccurity Cencein tlieOccupiedWest Bank. The
eiivisagcddcpaiture of the route Crointhe "Grecii laine'could
prejiidicefuturei~egotiationsandmakeths IWO-State solution
pl-iysicalliinpossibllIO implement. It would cause furlher
I~uinanitariaand economic Iiardship io tbPalcstinians Thousailcis of
Pnlestiiiianwzsl or tl~iîeitceare being cut oSSl'romzsseiitial services
inthe WestBank,Palcs~inians east of the fencewill loseaccess tuland
andwriterresourczs"."
Tliisstatcmei9twau rc-iterated onbellalrsfthe E~iropcanUnion io the Gcneral
Asseinbly orthe United Nittioiisby way of theEsplilnattons olLVo~ef~mished
by the Presidencyor~heEui-opcanUnioi-ionbehal fof ~l~z einber Stateson
tlieirabstentioniroi-ithcvote on resolution- 1O/14. Trcla~idliasconsistently
regrctted the factthal Tsraeis no1in cornpliancewiih the GeiieralAssembly's
dcmand that it stopsand reverses tlicconstructionofthe wall inthe Occupied
Palestiniantenitories and this view was siinilaslyreflected111the Explanalic~ns
of Votc rcfcn-ed to.
1.6 Wl~ile recogijisrngIsracl'snesd forsecuriiy,Irelanclconsiders thc waIlto bc
seriouslycletrimentalto LIieiinpleineniationof the Rcsad Map Irelandheliève4
~hat thewall a~mounts Io anobstacle totlie~eaceriilresolution of the cotiilict
and ~he zstziblisl.irnitfaviablc Palcs~inian stnte. Thc patliof theufall
depans li-oiitlie Annibtice Line oE1949 ("Green Linc"), anclcuts dccp iilto
Priles~inianIaild,somcrimcsorithe hasis ol'tl~econliscatlonol land. This NU. 538 DW6
entailsserioush~imaiiiiarianand econoinicçonsequcnccstogether with serious
iniiingeinenrsol'recognisedhumanriglits principles and noms forthe
Pales~inianpopii1atioi-i.Wi~ilerecognizing JsraelriglilIOprorect 11sciliz.ens
from tcrrorisl atlacks, Trelan(asa member State uf LlicEuropeanUnion)has
urged the Governrnen~ of Israel,inexercisiiigthis righ10 h11y rcspect
intcrnational law,inpanrcular htirnaiirigl~aiidii~temationalhumanitarian
law includiiigilieGellevaConventlorirelative tothe Protectiono~Civilian
Personin Tiineof War, of 12 ALI~LI1 S~49 ("theFourihGencva Coiivei~tion"),
theReg~iIationsannexeclto the1-lagueConvention on Lhe Laws andCustonis
of Waron Lancl, of18 October1907(''Lhe Hague Regiilatioris")andthe
AdditionalPro1ocol of 18 Jime1977 tothe GenevaConventionsof 2 Auç~ist
1949 relaiii10 iheProtect~onof Viçlims of International Annçd Conflicts
("the FirstAddilionalProtc~col")and 113surgedJsrael to exerlmaximumeffort
toavoid civiliacasualtiesaiidtake 170action tlialaggravatesthe humdnitanan
and economic pligl~lol'théPales~inianpeople. lreland 11aacrively
parzicipa~edasa meinber ofthe European un roi^incalliilgupon lsraelto
abstain Proinany punitivemeaaires whicliare not in accordancewirh
intcrnationallaw and lo reverse11ssettleiilenlpolicy aiidto clismantle
settlementsbuilt aller March200 1.
2. APPLICABLELAW
2.1 Itiithe view or Irelandthat thelegal framework, williin &hich~helegalrty of
Ihc ~zialleing coilslructeiii111OccupiedPalestinianTerrirory rniisie
considered,consisls of two main bodiesoSlaw- namely,internaiional
huma ni tari aawandii~ten~ationalltucnai~ nghts law.
Internationalhumanitarian law
3.2 Itisthe viav orIrelandthat theFourthGenevaConvention isapplicablein the
occupied Palestinianterritory That tli1sthe casehasbeen ncceptedby both
tllcScciiriICOLIT ICdIlieGeneral Asscinblyof the United Nalioits.
23 The Secul-ityCoiinciin ilsResoliitioi681(19901, of20 Deceinber 1990:
"Urge[d 1thc Ciovernmentof lsrael toaccept dejz,m tlie;\pplicabilityof
tlieGci~cvaConvention relative lo thc Protec~ionoi'CivilianPeisons iri
,1iii)eofWar, oî 12 August 1919,to al1the territoriesoccupicdby
Israesince1967und Loabide scriipulolislyby ~hepi-ovisionof the
foilven1iciii"
2.1 Siintlarlÿt11rCencrzilAssèiiiblyil1its Rcsolution56/60 on tlie appliçabil of ty
the Founh GenevaCnnvzi~tioii to tlieOccupied PalesliniailTcn.i~oiy,
iiicludingJenisalein,and lheotl~eroccupieclAi-ab terii~orieof 10Dcccmbèr
2001.ieafiimed thailhz FoiirlhGenevaConveniion isapplicable10 the OccupiedPiilesciniliiiTwriiory and deinanded that Israelocccpttlie de jure
applicabilit Lliereofinihal tcrritory andthatit coniplyscrupulously with its
provisions.Y
2.5 T11isvisw 1ssl.iareby the Wigh Contracting Partiestothe Fourth Cieneva
Convention(witli the notablcexception ol'lsrael)and vlraendorsed by the
Conference or 1-lighCoi~ti-actinParliesto theFourth GciicvaConvention
conuened on 13July 1999,foliowing the recominendatiar-i inacleby the
General Assenibly IIIits Rcsolu~ionES- 1O/6 of9 Febniary 1999.
2.6 II isalsoclecirthatthe Hnguc Rcgullitior~cireapplicable inthe Occupied
PalestinianTei-riiorydnd indccd 1srael11asii~vokedArtick 23 thcretoto justiry
ils aclionsin conslrwctingrliewall.
Ttis coininong-o~li>d amongstal1iiiterzsled parties that the route othecvallin
the proccss or constructioni-iinsthroiig1-Iiheterritoryol'theOccupied
PalestinianTerritory Thc SecretaryGei~eral ofthe UiiitcclNations inIiis
repori tothe General Asseinbly of23 Noveinber2003%ools tl-ithe
completedportions of [liwdll deviatemorethan 7.5kiloineires from the
Grec11Linc incertain placesto iiicorporatecertain settlernentsandthat tl-it:
planncd route, iChilly coi-istr~~ctd,ould deviate up to 22kiloinetres inplaces
from theGreen Line.
2.8 Tl~econstniction of~he svallinvolves destnlc~ionby Isracl,as the Occupyii~g
Power, of realand personalproperty in Ihe OccupiedPalestinian Territary.
Suc11 desii+uctionispiAohibitedbyArlicle53 ofrlze Fo~iilhGencvaConvention,
absentcircumstancesrenderingsuchclestructionabsolutclyi~ecessaryby
niilitaryoperations Furthci-inore,suc11destruciionbrcaches Article23(g)ol'
the HagueReguldtionsconceriiinçthe laws aiid customs ofwar on landof 1b
Octaber 1907 ~bliichstatesthal:"itis especiallyl'oibicldei(g)la destroy or
seizethe cnciny7s property,unless such destruc~ionorseizure be irnpcrativeiy
dcmandedby the necessitiesoîw~~r.'~The constniction ofthe wall inight
arguably breacll/lrticle147 oF~11eFciu~liGenevaCnnvcntion,whiclin~akes
"c~tensivedestructionand appropriation of property" a "grave breiich"ofrl~e
Convention iiii is no^ justlliedby iiiililaiynecessityanclcarried oiil
ui~lawf~illaynd ~vaniolily"
2.9 Wl-iileIsraelclaiinsjusrilicatron forits actions ontljc basor Article 23(g)of
the Hague Regulaiiuns, IIllasnot shown ~l-iilssia~ed goal iiconstructinç the
wall, iiainelythesecuriiy ol'Tsraclcoulclno1beacllievedby alternative
incans, such as cunslnicting thewall cvitliinlçraelirerritoiy. Indeethe soute
takcnby the wcillindicalesthat ils p~irpos1sLo piotect lsraelciiizens iilcgally
settied in theOccupicd PalestininnTerriiory,contrary to Articles 49and 147
ol'ilieFourthGenevaCorzventioii.Norlias 11shown thataiiydcstmctionor
appropriation1s necessi~aledIsyinilitaryopcralions. II1stlius clçar thaihzse meiisures have not beei-italtenin accordancc with in~ernationalhuii~niiitnrinn
law.
InternationalHumanRights Law
2.10
Itisthe vie~vorlrelmd ~Iia1 inteniütionalhumanrights law, mosl notablythe
TitternationalCovei~nijtan Econoinic, SocialandC~iilciral Rights of 16
December 1966("llie JCESCR")and the inten-iationalCavenant on Civil and
Poliiicsl Righ~s("~ke ICCPR") of 16Deceinber 1966 iç applicable iii11e
OcciipiedPalesliniaiiTerritory. Israzlratifiecbotli Covenants on 3 Octohcr
1991 and tlteiebyunderlook tocomplywiih the slaiidardslaid downtherein II
1sclearIhai Tsraelcailnotsuslainin law a claiinihat itisnot bound by the
tenns of IheCovenant inrespecl ol'iu aclicbnsinthe Occ~ipiedPalestinian
Semtory cillieron{liebasis ilintit is 110responsible for ilsactions 11tlie
Occupied PalesliniiinTerritoryor 011the basls tliat inteniritionalI-iumriglirs
law l~asno applicalion ro sitiiationgovcrned by interna~ioilalhiimanitarian
law and is Iimi~edto the protectionof a staie'sown citizens intime of peace.
2.11 Article 2al'rlleInternationalCoveiiant on CivilandPoliiical Rigl~ts
specilicallyprovidesihat "[e]acli SlateParty io the present Covciiaitt
undct-takcs10 respect dnd 10 ensurcto al1 ~nclividualswitliiiits territorand
sul>)ecrlotrsj~ir~.sdtcrtiller-ightsr-ecognisecly the Covenant. wilhour
disrimediongfnt7y kind, suclias race, colour,sex,language,religion,polirical
or otheropinion, nationalor socialurigin, property,birth orotlierstatus."' The
Mumnn Rigl-itCorninitteeliasçlenrlyafirmcd Israel'sobligation toltpplyits
provisions indie OccupiedTerritory,as follows:
'"TheCaminiuee is deeply coiicerned ih,îtTsraelcontiiliiesto deny its
responsibility roFiillyapply the Covenanlin 111oecccipiedterritorics.In
tl-iisregardll~eCoii~mi~tep eoints 10Illelong-standingpreseitce of
Israel intlieseterriloricsJsrael'sambigiious attitudc towardvtlieir
l'uturestatu, as wel 1as tlicexerciseOC effectivejurisdiction by JsracIi
szcurity rorcèstiierein.Inrespoilsclo lieürgumenlspresrsntedby the
delegaiion.the Coinmilteeeniphasizes thatthe applicabiliry ofnilcs of
huinsi~ilariailaw doesilo~ by iLsellmpeclethe applicalionof the
Couci~anlor tl~eaccouiitab~lityof ihc Statcuntlcr article2,paragrripl1
1,Ior1hc actions of ifsautltorit~es.TlteCominitiee is ~hereforeol'tlie
view tlhalunder tliecircurnstances, iheCoveiiantiniislbe held
applicable to tlie occupiedlerriioriesaiidthose arsasofsnutheni
Idebaiion and West Bekaa where lsraeleuercises eficçtiveconlro~.'"~
2.12 Siinilarly,insùfaras tlic In~tlrnationalCovenanton Economic, Social and
Cul~~iraRl ighb isconcemecl ,he.Cûinmiiteè on Economic, Socialand Cultural
Righrs Ras confinnc~l thatIsrael ishound by 11osbligations iinder the
1Sce pareçrnph1,eiiiplzasdded.
'I';iriigr10ol'iliL'onin-iitt~oiicl~idiiigobw-v,iliuni or18Aiigusl 017Israeliiiititzl
repoilcoitsee UocCC PIUC/791i\iltI.93. Covcnailt in i-cçpzctofILSactivities in ilieOccupiedPalestinianTerri~ory, as
follows.
"The Coinmittcciloteswilli concèm LhattlieGoven~ment's written and
oral reports includedslalisticindicaringthe enjoyinentof the rights
enshimed in LheCovei~antby lsraeli settlers in tlicoccupiedterritorics
but tliat the Palestinianpopulatiowithin the sainejurisdictionrilateas
werc cxcludcdfrombo~h lhc rcpoi~aiid the protectionof the Covenanr
TheCoinini~tee 1sof the view tliaIlleStaie'sobligaiiuns underthe
Cczvznantapply lo al1Icrritoriesand populatioiisiindcrits effeclive
coritro"' '
2.13 Ltis also clear ihatliehumanrigh~sguarmtees provided by the Covenants
apply in limes of armeclcot-illicAdicle 4 of the InternationalCovenai~r an
Civil and Political Rightsprovides LRat StatesPartiesmayderogate from
some, but only some, of ihc rightscontained in the Covenaiit in"time of
p~ibliceinergencywliichtl~reatensthe lifc ofthe nation" but only whei-e such
emergency isoflicialiy proclnimed;anysuch dcrogation isliinitedto "the
extent stric~lyrequiredbythe exigencies of tllssituation,provided thatsuc11
measures areiiotincunsistzn~\vit11Lheiroll-ierobligationsunderinternational
lawand do no1iiivolvediscriminationsolelyon the ground of race.colour,
scx, languagc, rcligioil osocial origin."Any suc11derogation inustbc iiotified
zothe SecretaryGeneralof theUnited Nalions.The inclusion of suc11a
provisiun iiithe Covenantcleorlyillusirntes tllcapplicabilityof international
huinanrigl-itsla~vin iiiiiesof amed conflict savi:in tlie sxceptional
circumstancesandsubjecl 10ihe limi~alionsand procediireslaid down therein.
It içalsoclear tl~athe rigl~tsguaraiiteedby the Coveiiantsare generally
applicabletoi-ioii-citizençtl~attl~i1stlie caseis illustrateclby Article 2of
the ICESCR,which providesthat developing statesinnyrevtrictthe economic
rightsofnoil-nationalsand by Article25 ofthe ICCPR, which providestha~
"ciiizens"have czrkainpoli~icalrights, suc11as the right tovote.Othzr righ~s
aguarailïeed by Ihe Covcnants areclearly applicable toal1individuals
irrespective OSnatitionalit,s illustrriteby the~iscof tet-11s~iclas "[ejvery
human being" (At2icle 6 ICCPR), "[n]oone" (Article 7ICCPR), "[c]veryoiie"
(Article9ICCPR,Ai-ticles6, 7, 8, 9,11, 12,13ai1d 15 JCESCK),"[n]ll
persuns" (Article 10 TCCPR),"[r]very child" (Arlicle 24 ICCPR).
2.11 Thc Reportoi the SecrelaryGznerdlor illeUniledNnlions 01'3N 3avember
2003scts outthe factunlsiaialion arising out ofthe constnction ofthc wall.
Section C.7 of the Rcpor-il~eaded"TheesiablishincntoCclovednreas"
illuçlratestlierestrictioon lie righiof frecdoinoi imovcinent ofl'alcstinians
ansing out octlieconst-nictionof the urall.Section D ofthc Report, hecrded
"H~iinani~ariaiaind socio-cconoinicjinjmct", refers again tn restrictions otl-re
righl torno\einent oîPalestiniai~ people ancltheilguods and Ille"serious
çocio-cconomic harm" chused by suclirestric~ioi?si-ncl~icliioss of, or severe
limi/;itioioiiaccess to,lancljobs nnclmarkels.These i-esirictioi~sw. l-~icli
iricludelimitationson access toagriculiuralland, have ~lireatenedfoocl
11 -
Pdrrigrdp8uf lheCoiniuiiiee'scoiicludobservalinilf4Ueceniber1998on Isriizl'initial
reporiIG isecDoz E/C 1311iAdd37 securityancl accessto medical and educttiionalscrviccs.T11erepon rifrhz
SpecialRapporteur ofthè Cominissionon H11rnai.Riiglits othe situatioof
huinililriglltsithe Palesilnianterritorieoccupieclby Israel since1967, of8
Sepizmber2003," aIso outlincvthcfact~~alituationarisingout oftl~c
constnictioii of tlwall inthe Occupied PalestinihnTerritoryand illustrates
theresuiclionb OJIfieedoin ol'inoven~enrand the socio-economicIives ofthe
Palestinianpeople These restrictionsclearlyiinpaclnegaiively on therighis
guarai~tesdby bot11Uovenants.mer ulln,therightsto life(Article6 ICCPR),
fi-eedomof rnovemcnt (Article 12ICCPR),work (Article 6 ICESCR),
adecluatestandard ofIiviilç (Article 1[CESCR),llealth (Anicle 12 ICESCR)
and educalion (Article 13ICESCIC).
3. CONCLUSION
3.1 lreland respec~f~illyuggeststo theCoiint11a h,eissues addressed above are
of fundamcntal iinporlanceand relevailccIOthe substtnce oi'iherefen-al.
lrelandrespectf~lllysuggeststhal theseissuesshould bctaken into nccount in
determinine, tlilegalconsequences arisiiig Erointhecons~ruction of thewall.
''SccDocE/ÇN.4;?003!6.
Statement of the Government of Ireland