Application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Qatar v. United Arab Emirates) - Fixing of time-limit for the filing by Qatar of a written stateme

INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
Peace Palace, Carnegieplein 2, 2517 KJ The Hague, Netherlands
Tel.: +31 (0)70 302 2323 Fax: +31 (0)70 364 9928
Website: www.icj-cij.org Twitter Account: @CIJ_ICJ YouTube Channel: CIJ ICJ
LinkedIn page: International Court of Justice (ICJ)
Press Release
Unofficial
No. 2019/20
10 May 2019
Application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Qatar v. United Arab Emirates) Fixing of time-limit for the filing by Qatar of a written statement of its observations and submissions on the preliminary objections raised by the United Arab Emirates
THE HAGUE, 10 May 2019. By an Order dated 2 May 2019, the President of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, has fixed the time-limit within which Qatar may present a written statement of its observations and submissions on the preliminary objections raised by the United Arab Emirates (the “UAE”) in the case concerning Application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Qatar v. United Arab Emirates).
In his Order, the President recalls that, on 25 July 2018, he had fixed 25 April 2019 and 27 January 2020 as the respective time-limits for the filing of a Memorial by Qatar and a Counter-Memorial by the UAE, and that the Memorial of Qatar was filed within the time-limit thus fixed.
The President also recalls that, on 30 April 2019, the UAE raised certain preliminary objections to the jurisdiction of the Court and the admissibility of the Application and that, in accordance with Article 79, paragraph 5, of the Rules of Court, the proceedings on the merits have therefore been suspended.
Pursuant to that same provision, the President, by the said Order, has fixed 30 August 2019 as the time-limit within which Qatar may present a written statement of its observations and submissions on the preliminary objections raised by the UAE.
It is further explained in the Order that that date has been fixed taking account in particular of Practice Direction V, according to which the time-limit for the presentation of such a written statement shall generally not exceed four months from the date of the filing of preliminary objections.
The subsequent procedure has been reserved for further decision.
___________
- 2 -
History of the proceedings
The history of the proceedings may be found in the Annual Report of the Court for 2017-2018 (paras. 233-244) and in press releases Nos. 2018/40, 2019/12 and 2019/15, available on the Court’s website (www.icj-cij.org).
___________
Note: The Court’s press releases are prepared by its Registry for information purposes only and do not constitute official documents.
___________
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It was established by the United Nations Charter in June 1945 and began its activities in April 1946. The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). Of the six principal organs of the United Nations, it is the only one not located in New York. The Court has a twofold role: first, to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States (its judgments have binding force and are without appeal for the parties concerned); and, second, to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by duly authorized United Nations organs and agencies of the system. The Court is composed of 15 judges elected for a nine-year term by the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations. Independent of the United Nations Secretariat, it is assisted by a Registry, its own international secretariat, whose activities are both judicial and diplomatic, as well as administrative. The official languages of the Court are French and English. Also known as the “World Court”, it is the only court of a universal character with general jurisdiction.
The ICJ, a court open only to States for contentious proceedings, and to certain organs and institutions of the United Nations system for advisory proceedings, should not be confused with the other  mostly criminal  judicial institutions based in The Hague and adjacent areas, such as the International Criminal Court (ICC, the only permanent international criminal court, which was established by treaty and does not belong to the United Nations system), the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL, an international judicial body with an independent legal personality, established by the United Nations Security Council upon the request of the Lebanese Government and composed of Lebanese and international judges), the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT, mandated to take over residual functions from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda), the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office (an ad hoc judicial institution which has its seat in The Hague), or the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA, an independent institution which assists in the establishment of arbitral tribunals and facilitates their work, in accordance with the Hague Convention of 1899).
___________
Information Department:
Mr. Andrey Poskakukhin, First Secretary of the Court, Head of Department (+31 (0)70 302 2336)
Ms Joanne Moore, Information Officer (+31 (0)70 302 2337)
Mr. Avo Sevag Garabet, Associate Information Officer (+31 (0)70 302 2394)
Ms Genoveva Madurga, Administrative Assistant (+31 (0)70 302 2396)