Declaration by Vice-President Alfaro (as appended immediately after the judgment)

Document Number
045-19610526-JUD-01-01-EN
Parent Document Number
045-19610526-JUD-01-00-EN
Document File
Bilingual Document File

Since the above conclusion is sufficient in itself to found the
Court's jurisdiction, and the issue of jurisdiction is the only one
which the Court has to determine at this stage of the case, it
becomes unnecessary to proceed to a consideration of the second
basis of jurisdiction invoked by Cambodia, and Thailand's objection
to that basis of jurisdiction.

For these reasons,

unanimously,
rejects the first preliminary objection of Thailand, and finds that
it has jurisdiction to adjudicate upon the dispute submitted to it
on 6 October 1959 by the Application of Cambodia.

Done in English and in French, the English text being authori-
tative, at the Peace Palace, The Hague, this twenty-sixth day of
May, one thousand nine hundred and sixty-one, in three copies,
one of which wili be placed in the archives of the Court and the
others transmitted tothe Government of the Kingdom of Cambodia
and to the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand, respectively.

(Signed) B. WINIARSKI,
President.

(Signed) GARNIER-COIGNET,

Registrar.

Vice-President ALFARO makes the following Declaration :

The fact that in the present case Thailand has based her first
preliminary objection to the jurisdiction of the Court on the
conclusions of the Judgment rendered in the case of the Aerial
Incident
of July 27th, 1955(Israel v. Bulgaria) establishes a close
connection between that case and the present case, and it may be
open to doubt whether concurrence in the present Judgment
implies agreement with the conclusions of the Court in the above-
mentioned csse. For this reason I consider it necessary to declare
that much to my regret 1 find myself unable to agree with those
conclusions, but even on the assumption that 1 agreed with them,
22it is my opinion that the conclusions of the Court in the Israel v.
Bulgaria case concerning the scope and effect of paragraph 5 of
Article 36 of theStatute are not applicable to the case now decided,
for the abundant reasons stated in the present Judgment.

Judge WELLINGTOK NOO makes the following Declaration:

Since some of the grounds given in the Judgment relate to the
decision of the Court in the case of the Aerial Incidental July 27th,
1955 (Israel v. Bulgaria), Preliminary Objections, 1 desire to say
that while 1 concur in the conclusion of the Court in the present
case and generally in the reasoning which leads to it,1 do not
mean thereby to imply that 1 now concur or acquiesce in that
decision but that, on the contras., 1 continue to hold the views

and the conclusion stated in the Jointissenting Opinion appended
to that decision.
Indeed, 1 consider that on the bais of that Opinion Thailand's
1940 Declaration accepting the compulsory jurisdiction of the
Permanent Court must be deemed to have been transformed, as
had also admittedly been intended by Thailand, when she became
a Member of the United Nations and therefore a party to the
Statute on 16 December 1946, by operation of Article 36, para-
graph 5, of the Statute, into an acceptance in relation to the
present Court; and this fact constitutes an additional and simpler
reason to meet Thailand's principal argument insupport of her first
objection.
This is clear, although itis equally true that since the circum-
stances of the two cases are essentially different, neiththe fact,
based on the said Opinion, that the said 1940Declaration had been
so transformed prior to its own terminal date, 6 May 1950, nor
the fact, based upon the said 1959 decision of the Court, that it
had lapsed on 19 April 1946 when the Permanent Court was
dissolved, bears any determining legal effect on the only crucial
question at issue in the present case, namely, the validity of
Thailand's Declaration of zo May 1950.

Judge Sir Gerald FITZMAURIC aEd Judge TANAKA make the
following Joint Declaration:

Although we are in complete agreement with the substantive
conclusion of the Court in this case and with the reasoning on
which it is based, we have an additional and, for us, a more im-
mediate reason for rejecting the first preliminary objection of
Thailand.
This preliminary objection is based on the conclusion conceming
the effect of paragraph 5 of Article 36 of the Statute which the

23

Bilingual Content

Since the above conclusion is sufficient in itself to found the
Court's jurisdiction, and the issue of jurisdiction is the only one
which the Court has to determine at this stage of the case, it
becomes unnecessary to proceed to a consideration of the second
basis of jurisdiction invoked by Cambodia, and Thailand's objection
to that basis of jurisdiction.

For these reasons,

unanimously,
rejects the first preliminary objection of Thailand, and finds that
it has jurisdiction to adjudicate upon the dispute submitted to it
on 6 October 1959 by the Application of Cambodia.

Done in English and in French, the English text being authori-
tative, at the Peace Palace, The Hague, this twenty-sixth day of
May, one thousand nine hundred and sixty-one, in three copies,
one of which wili be placed in the archives of the Court and the
others transmitted tothe Government of the Kingdom of Cambodia
and to the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand, respectively.

(Signed) B. WINIARSKI,
President.

(Signed) GARNIER-COIGNET,

Registrar.

Vice-President ALFARO makes the following Declaration :

The fact that in the present case Thailand has based her first
preliminary objection to the jurisdiction of the Court on the
conclusions of the Judgment rendered in the case of the Aerial
Incident
of July 27th, 1955(Israel v. Bulgaria) establishes a close
connection between that case and the present case, and it may be
open to doubt whether concurrence in the present Judgment
implies agreement with the conclusions of the Court in the above-
mentioned csse. For this reason I consider it necessary to declare
that much to my regret 1 find myself unable to agree with those
conclusions, but even on the assumption that 1 agreed with them,
22 TEMPLE DE PRÉAX VIHÉAR (ARRÉT DU 26 '161)
35

La conclusion ci-dessus étant suffisante par elle-même pour
établir la compétence de la Cour et la question de compétence
étant la seule que la Cour ait à trancher à ce stade de l'affaire,
il devient inutile de procéder à un examen du deuxième motif
de compétence invoqué par le Cambodge et de l'exception soulevée
par la Thaïlande à cet égard.

Par ces motifs,

à l'unanimité,

rejette la première exception préliminaire de la Thaïlande et dit
qu'elle est compétente pour statuer sur le différ~nd qui lui a été
soumis le 6 octobre 1959 par la requête du Cambodge.
Fait en anglais et en français, le texte anglais faisant foi, au
Palais de la Paix, à La Haye, le vingt-six mai mil neuf cent
soixante et un, en trois exemplaires, dont l'un restera déposé
aux archives de la Cour et dont les autres seront transmis respec-
tivement au Gouvernement du Royaume du Cambodge et au

Gouvernement du Royaume de Thaïlande.

Le Président,
(.$ig12k)B.~~NIARSKII.

M. ALFARO,Vice-Président, fait la déclaration suivante:

Le fait qu'en l'espècela Thaïlande a fondésa premièreexception
préliminaire à la juridiction de la Cour sur les concliasions de l'arrêt
rendu en l'affaire relative à l'Incident airien du 27 juillet19.55
(Israël c.Bulgarie) établit un rapport étroit entre cette affaire et
l'affaireactuelle; et l'on peut êtreamené â se demander si l'assen-
timent au présent arrêtn'implique pas accord avec les conclusions'
de la Cour dans I1a.fTaireci-dessus mentionnée. C'est pourquoi je
crois devoir déclarer qu'à mon grand regret je ne saurais m'associer
à ces conclusions; mais, mêmesi je pouvais le faire, j'est; 'nie, en
raison des nombreux motifs exposés dans le présent arrêt, que les

22it is my opinion that the conclusions of the Court in the Israel v.
Bulgaria case concerning the scope and effect of paragraph 5 of
Article 36 of theStatute are not applicable to the case now decided,
for the abundant reasons stated in the present Judgment.

Judge WELLINGTOK NOO makes the following Declaration:

Since some of the grounds given in the Judgment relate to the
decision of the Court in the case of the Aerial Incidental July 27th,
1955 (Israel v. Bulgaria), Preliminary Objections, 1 desire to say
that while 1 concur in the conclusion of the Court in the present
case and generally in the reasoning which leads to it,1 do not
mean thereby to imply that 1 now concur or acquiesce in that
decision but that, on the contras., 1 continue to hold the views

and the conclusion stated in the Jointissenting Opinion appended
to that decision.
Indeed, 1 consider that on the bais of that Opinion Thailand's
1940 Declaration accepting the compulsory jurisdiction of the
Permanent Court must be deemed to have been transformed, as
had also admittedly been intended by Thailand, when she became
a Member of the United Nations and therefore a party to the
Statute on 16 December 1946, by operation of Article 36, para-
graph 5, of the Statute, into an acceptance in relation to the
present Court; and this fact constitutes an additional and simpler
reason to meet Thailand's principal argument insupport of her first
objection.
This is clear, although itis equally true that since the circum-
stances of the two cases are essentially different, neiththe fact,
based on the said Opinion, that the said 1940Declaration had been
so transformed prior to its own terminal date, 6 May 1950, nor
the fact, based upon the said 1959 decision of the Court, that it
had lapsed on 19 April 1946 when the Permanent Court was
dissolved, bears any determining legal effect on the only crucial
question at issue in the present case, namely, the validity of
Thailand's Declaration of zo May 1950.

Judge Sir Gerald FITZMAURIC aEd Judge TANAKA make the
following Joint Declaration:

Although we are in complete agreement with the substantive
conclusion of the Court in this case and with the reasoning on
which it is based, we have an additional and, for us, a more im-
mediate reason for rejecting the first preliminary objection of
Thailand.
This preliminary objection is based on the conclusion conceming
the effect of paragraph 5 of Article 36 of the Statute which the

23conclusions de la Cour en l'affaire Israël c. Bulgarie concernant la
portée et l'effet du paragraphe 5 de l'article 36 du Statut ne sont
pas applicables à l'affaire actuelle.

M.WELLINGTO KNOO, juge, fait la déclaration suivante:

Certains des motifs de l'arrêtse rapportant à la décisionrendue
par la Cour en l'affaire relativel'Incident aériendu 27 juille1955
(Israël cc.Bulgarie), ExcePtions Préliminaires, je désire indiquer

que, tout en me ralliant à la conclusion à laquelle est parvenue la
Cour en la présente affaire et d'une manière généraleau raisonne-
ment qui l'y a amenée, je n'entends pas signifier par là que j'ap-
prouve ou que j'accepte la décision rendue en l'affaire Israël c.
Bulgarie; je maintiens au contraire les motifs et la conclusion
énoncésdans l'opinion dissidente collective qui y était jointe.
Je considère mêmeque, sur la base de cette opinion, la décla-
ration d'acceptation de la juridiction obligatoire dela Cour per-
manente faite par la Thaïlande en 1940 doit êtreconsidéréecomme
s'étant transformée en acceptation visant la Cour actuelle par
application de l'article 36, paragraphe 5, du Statut, ainsi que la
Thaïlande reconnaît l'avoir voulu et ce au moment où, le 16 décem-
bre 1946, elle est devenue Membre des Nations Unies et par consé-
quent partie au Statut; ce fait constitue un motif additionnel et
plus simple de rejeter le principal argument avancé par la Thaïlande
à l'appui de sa première exception.
Cela est clair, mais il n'en reste pmoins que, les circonstances

des deux affaires étant essentiellement différentes, nile fait qu'à
s'en tenir à ladite opinion la déclaration de 1940 s'est ainsi trans-
formée avant le 6 mai 1950, date où elle devait expirer, ni le fait
que, si l'on se fonde sur la décision rendue par la Cour en 1959,
cette déclaration est devenue caduque le 19 avril 1956, à la disso-
lution de la Cour permanente, n'ont un effet juridique déterminant
quant à la seule question décisive en litige dans la présente affaire,
à savoir la validité de la déclaration thaïlandaise du20 mai 1950.

Sir GeraldFITZMAURI CtEM. TANAKA j,ges, font la déclaration
commune suivante :

Bien que nous soyons tout à fait d'accord avec le dispositif de
l'arrêtrendu par la Cour en l'espèceet avec les motifs sur lesquels
elle s'est fondée, nous avons une raison additionnelle et, pour

nous, plus directe de rejeter la première exception préliminaire de
la Thaïlande.
Cette exception préliminaire est fondée sur la conclusion à la-
quelle est parvenue la Cour quant à l'effet du paragraphe 5 de

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Declaration by Vice-President Alfaro (as appended immediately after the judgment)

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