Declaration by Judge Spiropoulos (as appended immediately after the judgment)

Document Number
050-19640724-JUD-01-02-EN
Parent Document Number
050-19640724-JUD-01-00-EN
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Bilingual Document File

Judge SPI~~OPOULm OaSkes the following declaration

1 regret that1 am unable to share the view of the Court in regard
to the second, third and fourth Preliminary Objections.

As to the second Preliminary Objection, my position is determined
by the Court's Judgment in the case concerning the Aerial Incident
(Israelv. Bulgaria). Starting from the concept that the purpose of
Article 37 of the Statute of the Court is the same as that of Articl36,

paragraph 5, and basing myself on the considerations of the Judgment
in question, 1 consider that the Court should have found that it is
without jurisdiction.
As to the third Preliminary Objection,1 think the Court should have
considered as relevant the arguments on which the Spanish Government
founds its third Preliminary Objection.

Judge KOKETSKY makes the following declaration

1 agree with the Judgment and its reasoning. 1 venture to make
some additional observations as regards the first Preliminary Objection.

Much has been said in the written documents and in the oral pro-
ceedings about discontinuance of the action (désistementd'action) and

discontinuance of the proceedings (désistementd'instance). But this
dichotomy is unltnown to the Rules of Court. Articles 68 and 69 know
only discontinuance of the proceedings in its two possible forms-
either by mutual agreement of the parties (Article 68), or by unilateral
declaration of the applicant (Article69).
Under Article 68 the parties inform the Court in writing either that
they have concluded an agreement as to the settlement of the dispute

or that they are not going on with the proceedings, whilst under
Article 69 the applicant informs the Court that it is not going on with
the proceedings. In either case the Court directs the removal of the
case from its list. Under Article 68 however it officially records the
conclusion of the settlement or the mutual agreement to discontinue,
whilst under Article 69 it officially records the discontinuance of the
proceedings.
The conclusion of a settlement is not the discontinuance of an action

(if one tried to understand the latter expression as the abandonment of
a substantive right), for a settlement is usually the realization of a
right which was in dispute. A dispute may subsequently arise in con-
nection with the implementation of this settlement giving rise (possibly)
to new proceedings.
It is to be recalled that the heading for Articles8 and 69 is "Settle-
ment and Discontinuance". At the tirne of the deliberations on the

Rules of Court in 1935 Judge Fromageot (P.C.I.J., Series D, Acts and

Bilingual Content

Judge SPI~~OPOULm OaSkes the following declaration

1 regret that1 am unable to share the view of the Court in regard
to the second, third and fourth Preliminary Objections.

As to the second Preliminary Objection, my position is determined
by the Court's Judgment in the case concerning the Aerial Incident
(Israelv. Bulgaria). Starting from the concept that the purpose of
Article 37 of the Statute of the Court is the same as that of Articl36,

paragraph 5, and basing myself on the considerations of the Judgment
in question, 1 consider that the Court should have found that it is
without jurisdiction.
As to the third Preliminary Objection,1 think the Court should have
considered as relevant the arguments on which the Spanish Government
founds its third Preliminary Objection.

Judge KOKETSKY makes the following declaration

1 agree with the Judgment and its reasoning. 1 venture to make
some additional observations as regards the first Preliminary Objection.

Much has been said in the written documents and in the oral pro-
ceedings about discontinuance of the action (désistementd'action) and

discontinuance of the proceedings (désistementd'instance). But this
dichotomy is unltnown to the Rules of Court. Articles 68 and 69 know
only discontinuance of the proceedings in its two possible forms-
either by mutual agreement of the parties (Article 68), or by unilateral
declaration of the applicant (Article69).
Under Article 68 the parties inform the Court in writing either that
they have concluded an agreement as to the settlement of the dispute

or that they are not going on with the proceedings, whilst under
Article 69 the applicant informs the Court that it is not going on with
the proceedings. In either case the Court directs the removal of the
case from its list. Under Article 68 however it officially records the
conclusion of the settlement or the mutual agreement to discontinue,
whilst under Article 69 it officially records the discontinuance of the
proceedings.
The conclusion of a settlement is not the discontinuance of an action

(if one tried to understand the latter expression as the abandonment of
a substantive right), for a settlement is usually the realization of a
right which was in dispute. A dispute may subsequently arise in con-
nection with the implementation of this settlement giving rise (possibly)
to new proceedings.
It is to be recalled that the heading for Articles8 and 69 is "Settle-
ment and Discontinuance". At the tirne of the deliberations on the

Rules of Court in 1935 Judge Fromageot (P.C.I.J., Series D, Acts and M. SPIROPOULOS ju,ge, fa.it la déclaration suivante :

Nous regrettons de ne pouvoir partager l'avis de la Cour en ce qui
concerne les deuxième, troisième et quatrième exceptions prélimi-
naires.
Quant à la deuxième exception préliminaire, notre position est déter-
minée par l'arrêtde la Cour dans l'affaire relative à l'Incident aérien

(Israëlc. Bulgarie). Partant de la conception que l'article 37 du Statut
de la Cour a le mêmebut que celui de l'article 36, paragraphe 5, et nous
inspirant des considérations de l'arrêt en question, nous estimons que
la Cour aurait dû se déclarer incompétente.

Quant à la troisième exception préliminaire, nous pensons que la

Cour aurait dû considérer comme pertinents les arguments sur lesquels
le Gouvernement espagnol fonde sa troisième exception préliminaire.

M. KORETSKY juge, fait la déclaration suivante :

Je m'associe au dispositif et aux motifs de l'arrêt. Je me permets

de faire ici quelques observations supplémentaires touchant la première
exception préliminaire.
Il a étébeaucoup parlé, dans les écritures comme dans les plaidoiries,
du désistement d'action et du désistement d'instance. Mais cette dicho-
tomie est inconnue du Règlement de la Cour. Les articles 68 et 69 ne
connaissent que le désistement d'instance sousses deux formes possibles :

soit du commun accord des parties (art. 68) soit par déclaration unilaté-
rale de la partie demanderesse (art. 69).

Aux termes de l'article 68, les parties font connaître par écritla Cour
ou bien qu'elles sont tombées d'accord sur la solution à donner au litige,
ou bien qu'elles renoncent à poursuivre l'instance, tandis qu'aux termes
de l'article 69 la partie demanderesse fait connaître à la Cour qu'elle

renonce à poursuivre la procédure. Dans l'un et l'autre cas, la Cour
prescrit la radiation dé l'affaire sur le rôle. Toutefois, aux termes de
l'article 68, elle donne acte aux parties de leur arrangement amiable
ou prend acte de leur désistement, d'un commun accord, tandis qu'aux
tennes de l'article 68 elle prend acte du désistement.
L'arrangement amiable ne constitue pas un désistement d'action

(sil'on veut entendre par là la renonciation à un droit touchant au fond),
car il emporte généralement reconnaissance d'un droit contesté. Un dif-
férendpeut surgir ensuite au sujet de la mise en Œuvre de cet arrange-
ment et donner éventuellement naissance à une nouvelle procédure.

On se souviendra que la rubrique où figurent les articles 68 et 69a pour
titre Des arrangementsamiableset des désistements. En 1935, à l'époque

de la revision du Règlement de la Cour, M. Fromageot a déclaréqu'il

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Document Long Title

Declaration by Judge Spiropoulos (as appended immediately after the judgment)

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