Separate Opinion of Judge Badawi (translation)

Document Number
035-19590526-JUD-01-01-EN
Parent Document Number
035-19590526-JUD-01-00-EN
Document File
Bilingual Document File

SEPARATE OPINION OF JUDGE BADAWI
jl'rn nslation]

1 concur in the operative part of the Judgment and while
accepting the grounds on which it is based, restricting the effects
of the fiction established by Article36, paragraph 5, to signatories
of the Charter or original Members of the United Nations, 1 am
of opinion that there is a further limitation which ought to be
added.
Indeed, in my opinion, only those original Members of the
IJnited Nations who had made declarations accepting the juris-
diction of the Permanent Court of International Justice for a
definite period of time are included within the scope of Article 36,
paragraph 5.

But before establishing the correctness of the interpretation
according to which an indication of that restriction is to be found
in the expression "still in force" and the corresponding expression
in the French text "pour une duréequi n'est fias encore expirée",

it is desirable to show that the construction of that expression
by Israel, as referable to the date of the entry into force of the
Charter, apart from the arbitrary character of its selection, en-
counters an inescapable legal objection.

In fact, the date of the entry into force of the Charter has no
individual significance. It marks the beginning of the existence of
the Charter as an international pact giving rise to rights and
obligations in the international sphere. It breathes life into and
gives effect to earlier ratificationas well as to subsequent ratifi-
cations by signatories of the Charter. But States admitted to the
United Nations after that date do not and cannot retroactively
assume any obligation going back to that date. AU the elements
constituting the obligations assumed by them as a consequence
of their admission to the United Nations (parties, consent and
subject-matter) should be contemporaneous with the date of their
admission and it is at that date that their obligations arise.

Accordingly it cannot properly be held that any acceptance is
formed-even fictitiously-before a State's admission to the United
Nations (failure of consent) or after the dissolution of the Per-
manent Court of International Justice (failure of subject-matter). AERIAL INCIDENT (SEPAR. OPIIï.JUDGE BAD.~\VI)
I49

In these circumstances, to date back the obligation of Bulgaria,
after it had become a Member of the United Nations, to the entry
into force of the Charter, as the moment of virtual acceptance,
would be to confer upon that fixed and absolute date the magical
effect of giving to a declaration of acceptance, made by a State
which was not a party to the Charter at the time of the signature,
an existence independent of its author.

An interpretation of this kind, which clisregards the essential
CO-existencein an obligation of consent (real or fictitious),subject-
matter and parties, and separates these elements giving to each
a separate and distinct existence, is clearly inadmissible.

What then is meant by the expression "still in force"? It has
the same meaning as the corresponding expression in the French
text "pour ulze duréequi n'est pas encoreexpirée".The difference
between the two texts is merely apparent and formal. In fact,
the expression "still in force" does not refer to a given date but
implies a period of time. It relates to any moment within the
duration of a declaration of acceptance and thus corresponds to
the French expression "qui n'est pas encore expirée".
The meaning of the two expressions "still in force" and "poztr
une duréequi n'est pas encoreexpirée"in the English and French
texts of Article 36, paragraph 5, having been thus defined, it

becomes a simple matter to define the intentions of the authors
of the Charter and to determine the interpretation of that provision.
It is known that the provision arose out of a desire to reconcile
the views of those in favour of the compulsorv jurisdiction of the
new Court, with those who wished to retain the optional clause,
by the transfer to the new Court of declarations of acceptance of
the jurisdiction of the Permanent Court of International Justice.
In these circumstances, the first problem which arises is to
determine which declarations were thus to be transferred.

If all declarations were to be transferred, including those made
for a certain time and those made unconditionally (that is without
any time-limit), that would have required an absolute formulation
from which any concept of duration would have been excluded.
But any such absolute form would have done violence to the
intentions of States which had made declarations with a time
limitation since their acceptance of the Permanent Court of

International Justice would have been transferred to the Inter-
national Court without a time-limit. To cover the two categones of declarations, while continuing
to respect the desires of States which had accepted with a time-
limit, a double and comparatively complicated formula would
have been necessary.
The authors of the Charter preferred to deal only with the

category of declarations containing a time limitation, as is shown
by the wording which they adopted which is as categorical as it
could be both in the French text "pour la durée restantà courir"
and in the English text "for the penod which they still have
to run".
This choice was, moreover, justified by the fact that, according
to al1 the writers, the majonty or the greater number of States
which accepted the jurisdiction of the Court belonged to that
category of declarations and, furthermore, because acceptances
without limitation of time, apart from the fact that they consti-
tuted in the beginning an unevolved form of the optional clause
which soon fell into disuse in the subsequent practice of States,
are more closely linked to the existence of the Permanent Court
of International Justice. Indeed the absence of the independent
and additional time factor postulates the termination of the
acceptance as soon as the subject-matter of the acceptance ceases
to exist or is destined to cease to exist.
The Bulganan Declaration of 1921 being unconditional, that is
without any time-limit, could therefore not havé been transferred

to the International Court of Justice even if the provision of
Article 36, paragraph 5, had not to be restricted to signatories
of the Charter.

But, quite apart from any question of the construction of
paragraph 5 of Article 36, there is an organic consideration which
peremptorily excludes the possibility of giving any effect to the
Bulgarian declaration.
Bulgaria was, at the time of the San Francisco Conference, an
enemy country. But when it was decided to establish a new Court,
this decision was taken on the declared ground that if it had
been decided merely to reinstate the old Permanent Court of
International Justice, the enemy States which had signe3 the
1920 Statute would automatically have been parties to the Statute
of the Court, a consequence regarded as shocking and one which
the United Nations were determined to avoid.

In these circumstances, it would be contrary to the intentions
manifestly revealed that a fiction established by Article 36,
paragraph 5, should remain dormant to be subsequently applied
to a State whose admission to the United Nations is characterized
by an intentional interruption between the old Covenant of the
League of Nations and the Protocol of the Permanent Court of -4ERIAL IXCIDEXT (SEP-4~.OPIN. JUDGE BADAWI) I5I

International Justice and the declarations relating to it, on the
one hand, and the Charter and the Statute of the International
Court of Justice on the other hand.
The Treaty of Peace concluded with Bulgaria, which effaced the
latter's enemy status, and Bulgaria's admission to the United

Nations under Article 4 of the Charter, constitute for Bulgaria
a new career so far as both the Charter and the Statute are
concerned, to which any provision linking the past with the present
must be extraneous.
(Signed) A. BADAWI.

Bilingual Content

OPINION INDIVIDUELLE DE M. BADAWI

Je suis d'accord avec le dispositif del'arrêtet, tout en acceptant
les motifs sur lesquels il est basé, tendantà limiter les effets de
la fiction établie par l'artic36, alinéa 5, aux signataires de la
Charte ou Membres originaires de 1'0. N.U., j'estime qu'une
autre limitation devrait s'ajouter à celle-ci.

En effet, seuls les Membres originaires de l'O. N. U., qui auraient
fait des déclarations acceptant la juridiction de la Cour perma-
nente de Justice internationalecou un délaidéterminés ,ont visés
par l'article36, alinéa 5.

Mais avant d'établir la véritéde l'interprétation qui voit dans

le membre de phrase (cstillin force» et le membre de phrase
correspondant dans le texte français «pour une durée qui n'est
pas encore expirée ))l'indication de cette limitation, il importe de
démontrer que l'interprétation par Israël de ce membre de phrase,
comme indiquant la date de l'entrée en vigueur de la Charte,
outre son choix arbitraire, se heurte à une objection juridique
irréductible.

En effet, la date de l'entrée en vigueur de la Charte n'a aucune
signification individuelle. Elle marque le commencement de
l'existence de la Charte en tant que pacte international donnant
naissance à des droits et à des obligations dans le domaine inter-
national. Elle insuffle vie et force aux ratifications qui se sont
accomplies avant elle, en mêmetemps qu'à celles des signataires
de la Charte qui lui seraient postérieures. Mais les États qui
seraient admis à l'O. N. U. après cette date n'assument et ne
peuvent assumer rétroactivement aucune obligation remontant à
cette date. Tous les élémentsqui constituent les obligations assu-

méespar eux, comme suite à leur admission à l'O. N. U. (parties,
consentement et objet) devraient être contemporains de la date
de leur admission, et c'est à cette date que leurs obligations
prennent naissance.
Aussi ne pourrait-on valablement admettre qu'une acceptation
se soit formée - mêmefictivement - avant qu'un État soit
admis à 1'0. N.IT .faute de consentement) ou après la dissolution
de la Cour permanente de Justice internationale (faute d'objet). SEPARATE OPINION OF JUDGE BADAWI
jl'rn nslation]

1 concur in the operative part of the Judgment and while
accepting the grounds on which it is based, restricting the effects
of the fiction established by Article36, paragraph 5, to signatories
of the Charter or original Members of the United Nations, 1 am
of opinion that there is a further limitation which ought to be
added.
Indeed, in my opinion, only those original Members of the
IJnited Nations who had made declarations accepting the juris-
diction of the Permanent Court of International Justice for a
definite period of time are included within the scope of Article 36,
paragraph 5.

But before establishing the correctness of the interpretation
according to which an indication of that restriction is to be found
in the expression "still in force" and the corresponding expression
in the French text "pour une duréequi n'est fias encore expirée",

it is desirable to show that the construction of that expression
by Israel, as referable to the date of the entry into force of the
Charter, apart from the arbitrary character of its selection, en-
counters an inescapable legal objection.

In fact, the date of the entry into force of the Charter has no
individual significance. It marks the beginning of the existence of
the Charter as an international pact giving rise to rights and
obligations in the international sphere. It breathes life into and
gives effect to earlier ratificationas well as to subsequent ratifi-
cations by signatories of the Charter. But States admitted to the
United Nations after that date do not and cannot retroactively
assume any obligation going back to that date. AU the elements
constituting the obligations assumed by them as a consequence
of their admission to the United Nations (parties, consent and
subject-matter) should be contemporaneous with the date of their
admission and it is at that date that their obligations arise.

Accordingly it cannot properly be held that any acceptance is
formed-even fictitiously-before a State's admission to the United
Nations (failure of consent) or after the dissolution of the Per-
manent Court of International Justice (failure of subject-matter). Dans ces conditions, faire remonter l'obligation de la Bulgarie,
une fois qu'elle est devenue Membre des Nations Unies, à l'entrée
en vigueur de la Charte, comme le moment d'une acceptation

virtuelle, c'est conférer à cette date fixe et absolue l'effet magique
de donner à une déclaration d'acceptation, faite par un Etat qui
n'était pas partie à la Charte lors de sa signature, une existence
indépendante de son auteur.
Pareille interprétation, qui a pour effet de méconnaître dans
une obligation la CO-existenceessentielle entre le consentement
(réelou fictif), l'objet et les parties, et de les séparer en vue de
donner à chacun de ces éléments unevie distincte et séparée,est
évidemment inadmissible.

Que signifie donc le membre de phraie stillin force))?.Il a

la même significationque le membre de phrase correspondant dans
le texte français (<pour une durée qui n'est pas encore expirée N.
Les deux textes ne diffèrent l'un de l'autre qu'en apparence et au
point de vue de la forme. En fait, l'expression «stillin force »ne
vise pas une date déterminéeet sous-entend une durée. Elle vise
tout moment de la durée d'une déclaration d'acceptation et par
là rejoint I'expression française (qui n'est pas encore expirée 1).
La signification des deux membres de phrase « stilin force » et
«pour une durée qui n'est pas encore expirée » dans les textes

anglais et français de l'article36, alinéa 5,ayant étéainsi précisée,
il devient facile de définir les intentions des auteurs de la Charte
et de déterminer l'interprétation de cette disposition.
On sait qu'elle a pour origine le désir de concilier les tendances
des partisans de la juridiction obiigaroire de la nouvelle Cour et
ceux qui s'en tenaient à la clause facultative, par le transfert des
déclarations d'acceptation de la juridiction de la Cour permanente
de Justice internationale à la nouvelle Cour.
Dans ces conditions, le premier problème qui se pose est de

déterminer les déclarations qui seraient ainsi transférées.

Si l'on devait transférer toutes les déclarations, tant celles pour
un délai déterminé que celles faites purement et simplement
(c'est-à-dire sans délai), cela aurait exigéune formulation absolue
où toute notion de durée aurait été exclue. Mais cette forme
absolue aurait dénaturé l'intention des Etats qui ont fait des
déclarations avec délai, puisque leur acceptation de la Cour per-
manente de Justice internationale aurait été transférée à la Cour
internationale sans délai. AERIAL INCIDENT (SEPAR. OPIIï.JUDGE BAD.~\VI)
I49

In these circumstances, to date back the obligation of Bulgaria,
after it had become a Member of the United Nations, to the entry
into force of the Charter, as the moment of virtual acceptance,
would be to confer upon that fixed and absolute date the magical
effect of giving to a declaration of acceptance, made by a State
which was not a party to the Charter at the time of the signature,
an existence independent of its author.

An interpretation of this kind, which clisregards the essential
CO-existencein an obligation of consent (real or fictitious),subject-
matter and parties, and separates these elements giving to each
a separate and distinct existence, is clearly inadmissible.

What then is meant by the expression "still in force"? It has
the same meaning as the corresponding expression in the French
text "pour ulze duréequi n'est pas encoreexpirée".The difference
between the two texts is merely apparent and formal. In fact,
the expression "still in force" does not refer to a given date but
implies a period of time. It relates to any moment within the
duration of a declaration of acceptance and thus corresponds to
the French expression "qui n'est pas encore expirée".
The meaning of the two expressions "still in force" and "poztr
une duréequi n'est pas encoreexpirée"in the English and French
texts of Article 36, paragraph 5, having been thus defined, it

becomes a simple matter to define the intentions of the authors
of the Charter and to determine the interpretation of that provision.
It is known that the provision arose out of a desire to reconcile
the views of those in favour of the compulsorv jurisdiction of the
new Court, with those who wished to retain the optional clause,
by the transfer to the new Court of declarations of acceptance of
the jurisdiction of the Permanent Court of International Justice.
In these circumstances, the first problem which arises is to
determine which declarations were thus to be transferred.

If all declarations were to be transferred, including those made
for a certain time and those made unconditionally (that is without
any time-limit), that would have required an absolute formulation
from which any concept of duration would have been excluded.
But any such absolute form would have done violence to the
intentions of States which had made declarations with a time
limitation since their acceptance of the Permanent Court of

International Justice would have been transferred to the Inter-
national Court without a time-limit. Pour viser les deux catégories de déclarations, tout en respec-
tant la volonté des Etats qui ont accepté avec délai,une formule
double et relativement complexe aurait été nécessaire.

Les auteurs de la Charte ont préféré s'en tenir à la seule caté-
gorie des déclarations avec délai, ainsi que le démontrent les
termes par eux choisis et qui sont on ne peut plus catégoriques
tant dans le texte français ((pour la durée restant à courir »
que dans le texte anglais afo~the 9eriod which they still have to
7un ».
Ce choix se justifie, du reste, par le fait que, suivant tous les
auteurs, la majorité ou la plupart des États qui ont accepté la
juridiction de la Cour appartiennent à cette catégorie de déclara-
tions et, d'autre part, parce que les acceptations sans délai,outre
qu'elles constituaient au début une forme peu évoluéede la clause

facultative, vite dépassk~dans la pratique ultérieure des Etats,
sont plus étroitement hees à l'existence de la Cour permanente
de Justice internationale. En effet, l'absence du facteur indépen-
dant et additionnel du temps postule la cessation de l'acceptation
dès que l'objet de cette acceptation cesse d'exister ou est destiné
à cesser d'exister.

Donc, la déclaration bulgare de 1921 étant pure et simple,
c'est-à-dire sans délai,n'aurait pu êtretransférée à la Cour inter-
nationale de Justice, mêmesi la disposition de l'article 36, alinéa5,
ne devait pas se limiter aux seuls signataires de la Charte.

Mais, indépendamment de toute question d'interprétation de
l'alinéa 5 de l'article 36, une considération organique exclut d'une
manière péremptoire tout effet à la déclaration bulgare.

La Bulgarie était, lors de la Conférence de San Francisco, un
pays ennemi. Or, lorsqu'il fut décidéde créer une nouvelle Cour,
ce fut pour le motif déclaréque si l'on avait décidéde « reconduire ))

purement et simplement l'ancienne Cour permanente de Justice
internationale, les Etats ennemis qui avaient signé le Statut de
1920 auraient automatiquement étéparties au Statut de la Cour,
conséquence estimée choquante et que les Nations Unies étaient
résolues à éviter.
Dans ces conditions, il serait contraire l'évidencequ'une fiction
établie par l'article 36, alinéa5, soit restée en veilleuse pour être
appliquée à un Etat dont l'admission au sein des Nations Unies
est marquée par une solution de continuité intentionnelle entre
l'ancien Pacte de la Sociétédes Nations et le Protocole de la
Cour permanente de Justice internationale et les déclarations qui To cover the two categones of declarations, while continuing
to respect the desires of States which had accepted with a time-
limit, a double and comparatively complicated formula would
have been necessary.
The authors of the Charter preferred to deal only with the

category of declarations containing a time limitation, as is shown
by the wording which they adopted which is as categorical as it
could be both in the French text "pour la durée restantà courir"
and in the English text "for the penod which they still have
to run".
This choice was, moreover, justified by the fact that, according
to al1 the writers, the majonty or the greater number of States
which accepted the jurisdiction of the Court belonged to that
category of declarations and, furthermore, because acceptances
without limitation of time, apart from the fact that they consti-
tuted in the beginning an unevolved form of the optional clause
which soon fell into disuse in the subsequent practice of States,
are more closely linked to the existence of the Permanent Court
of International Justice. Indeed the absence of the independent
and additional time factor postulates the termination of the
acceptance as soon as the subject-matter of the acceptance ceases
to exist or is destined to cease to exist.
The Bulganan Declaration of 1921 being unconditional, that is
without any time-limit, could therefore not havé been transferred

to the International Court of Justice even if the provision of
Article 36, paragraph 5, had not to be restricted to signatories
of the Charter.

But, quite apart from any question of the construction of
paragraph 5 of Article 36, there is an organic consideration which
peremptorily excludes the possibility of giving any effect to the
Bulgarian declaration.
Bulgaria was, at the time of the San Francisco Conference, an
enemy country. But when it was decided to establish a new Court,
this decision was taken on the declared ground that if it had
been decided merely to reinstate the old Permanent Court of
International Justice, the enemy States which had signe3 the
1920 Statute would automatically have been parties to the Statute
of the Court, a consequence regarded as shocking and one which
the United Nations were determined to avoid.

In these circumstances, it would be contrary to the intentions
manifestly revealed that a fiction established by Article 36,
paragraph 5, should remain dormant to be subsequently applied
to a State whose admission to the United Nations is characterized
by an intentional interruption between the old Covenant of the
League of Nations and the Protocol of the Permanent Court ofs'y rattachent,d'une part, et laCharte et le Statut de la Cour
internationale de Justice, d'autre part.

Le traité de paix conclu avec la Bulgarie, qui a effacéle statut
d'ennemi, et son admissionà l'Organisation des Nations Unies en
vertu de l'articlede la Charte, constituent pour la Bulgarie une
carrière nouvelle en ce qui concerne tant la Charte que le Statut,
à laquelle serait étrangère toute disposition liant le passé au
présent.
(Signé A). BADAWI. -4ERIAL IXCIDEXT (SEP-4~.OPIN. JUDGE BADAWI) I5I

International Justice and the declarations relating to it, on the
one hand, and the Charter and the Statute of the International
Court of Justice on the other hand.
The Treaty of Peace concluded with Bulgaria, which effaced the
latter's enemy status, and Bulgaria's admission to the United

Nations under Article 4 of the Charter, constitute for Bulgaria
a new career so far as both the Charter and the Statute are
concerned, to which any provision linking the past with the present
must be extraneous.
(Signed) A. BADAWI.

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Document Long Title

Separate Opinion of Judge Badawi (translation)

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