Separate Opinion of Judge Morozov

Document Number
068-19840321-JUD-01-01-EN
Parent Document Number
068-19840321-JUD-01-00-EN
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SEPARATE OPINION OF JUDGE MOROZOV

1. 1voted for the operative part of the Judgment in which the Court

"finds that the Application of the Italian Republic, filed in the Regis-
try of theCourt on 24October 1983,forpermissiontointervene under
Article 62 of the Statute of the Court, cannot be granted".
2. This is the second time in the course of thejudicial activity of the

International Court of Justice of the United Nations that the Court has
been obliged to take a decision on a request invoking Article 62 of the
Statute of the Court.
As 1noted in my separate opinion appended to theJudgment of 14April
1981on the application by Malta for permission to intervene in the case
concerningthe ContinentalShelf (Tunisia/Libyan ArabJamahiriya)(I.C.J.
Reports 1981,p. 22) "the impact of" the reasoning used in this Judgment
"goes far beyond the specific request of Malta, and may in future be
considered asaprecedent which ...could beused for [further]justification
of a practice which is not consistent with the Statute" of the Court.
3. The deliberations in the present case and a substantial part of the
reasoning used in the Judgment, from my point of view,have confirmed

my previous apprehensions. Certain attempts by Italy to contend that
juri..ictional links exist between Italy and Malta and Libya prove
nothing.
1continue tohold that no application to intervene under Article 62 can
be entertained by the Court unlessjurisdictional links(withinthemeaning
of Articles 36 and 37of the Statute) exist betweenthe State presentingthe
request to intervene and the States parties to the case.
4. 1cannot refrain from some remarks on paragraph 43 of the Judg-
ment : "It is material to recall that Libya and Malta, by objecting to the
intervention of Italy, have indicated their ownpreferences." In thecontext
of theparagraph, this sentence can onlybe interpreted tothe effect that the
Court, beforeconsideringthemerits of the casebetween Libya and Malta,
appears to have decided that their interests could be affected as a conse-

quence of exercising their legal right to object to the Italian request.

In short,inthesentence previously quoted the Court, beforeconsidering
the substance of the case, pledges itself to act in a way which could affect
theinterests of theParties to the case.This seemslikean attempt topredict
that Libya and Malta could have made a rod for their own backs.
Such an unusual approach is, of course,unprecedented in the history of
international jurisprudence.
(Signed) P. D. Mo~ozov.

Bilingual Content

SEPARATE OPINION OF JUDGE MOROZOV

1. 1voted for the operative part of the Judgment in which the Court

"finds that the Application of the Italian Republic, filed in the Regis-
try of theCourt on 24October 1983,forpermissiontointervene under
Article 62 of the Statute of the Court, cannot be granted".
2. This is the second time in the course of thejudicial activity of the

International Court of Justice of the United Nations that the Court has
been obliged to take a decision on a request invoking Article 62 of the
Statute of the Court.
As 1noted in my separate opinion appended to theJudgment of 14April
1981on the application by Malta for permission to intervene in the case
concerningthe ContinentalShelf (Tunisia/Libyan ArabJamahiriya)(I.C.J.
Reports 1981,p. 22) "the impact of" the reasoning used in this Judgment
"goes far beyond the specific request of Malta, and may in future be
considered asaprecedent which ...could beused for [further]justification
of a practice which is not consistent with the Statute" of the Court.
3. The deliberations in the present case and a substantial part of the
reasoning used in the Judgment, from my point of view,have confirmed

my previous apprehensions. Certain attempts by Italy to contend that
juri..ictional links exist between Italy and Malta and Libya prove
nothing.
1continue tohold that no application to intervene under Article 62 can
be entertained by the Court unlessjurisdictional links(withinthemeaning
of Articles 36 and 37of the Statute) exist betweenthe State presentingthe
request to intervene and the States parties to the case.
4. 1cannot refrain from some remarks on paragraph 43 of the Judg-
ment : "It is material to recall that Libya and Malta, by objecting to the
intervention of Italy, have indicated their ownpreferences." In thecontext
of theparagraph, this sentence can onlybe interpreted tothe effect that the
Court, beforeconsideringthemerits of the casebetween Libya and Malta,
appears to have decided that their interests could be affected as a conse-

quence of exercising their legal right to object to the Italian request.

In short,inthesentence previously quoted the Court, beforeconsidering
the substance of the case, pledges itself to act in a way which could affect
theinterests of theParties to the case.This seemslikean attempt topredict
that Libya and Malta could have made a rod for their own backs.
Such an unusual approach is, of course,unprecedented in the history of
international jurisprudence.
(Signed) P. D. Mo~ozov. OPINION INDIVIDUELLE DE M. MOROZOV

[Traduction]

1. J'ai voté pour le dispositif de l'arrêtoù la Cour

<ditquelarequêtedelaRépubliqueitalienne,déposéeauGreffedela
Cour le24octobre 1983, à fin d'intervention sur labase de l'article62
du Statut de la Cour, ne peut êtreadmise D.

2. C'estla deuxièmefoisque la Cour internationale de Justice de l'Or-
ganisation desNations Unies est amenée,dans son activitéjudiciaire, à se
prononcer sur une demande fondée sur l'article 62 de son Statut.

Commeje l'ai signalédans mon opinion individuelle jointe àl'arrêt du
14avril 1981sur la requête de Malte à fin d'intervention dans l'affaire du

Plateau continental (Tunisie/Jamahiriya arabe libyenne) (C.I.J. Recueil
1981, p. 22) <l'effet))du raisonnement suivi dans cet arrêt<< dépassede
beaucoup le cadre de la requête maltaise et [pourrait à l'avenir] être
considérécomme un précédent susceptible ..d'êtreinvoquépourjustifier
[une nouvelle fois] une pratique inconciliable avec le Statu))de la Cour.
3. De mon point de vue, les délibérationsdans la présenteespèceet la
plus grande partie des motifs de l'arrêt confirmentles appréhensionsque
j'avais exprimées.Certaines tentatives de l'Italie visanà soutenir que des
liensjuridictionnels existent entre elle et Malte et la Libye n'ont aucune

valeur probante.
Je persisteà penser que la Cour ne peut accueillir aucune requête à fin
d'intervention au titre de l'article 6àmoins que desliensjuridictionnels
(au sensdes articles 36 et 37du Statut) n'existent entre 1'Etatrequérant et
les Etats parties à l'affaire.
4. Je ne puis m'empêcherde faire certaines observations au sujet du
paragraphe 43del'arrêt,où l'onpeut lire :<Ilconvient de rappeler que, en
faisant objection à l'intervention del'Italie, la Libyeet Malte ont indiqué

leur propre préférence. ))Dans le contexte de ce paragraphe, la seule
interprétation possible de cette phrase est que la Cour semble, avant tout
examen au fond de l'affaire entrela Libye et Malte, avoir décidéque leurs
intérêts pourraient être lésésparce qu'elles ont exercéleur droit légal
d'éleverune objection contre la requête italienne.
En un mot, dans laphrase précitéela Cour, avant d'avoir étudiéle fond,
s'engage à agir d'une façon qui pourrait léser lesintérêts des Parties en
cause. Cela revient à vouloir prédirequela Libye et Malte ont donnédes
verges pour se faire fouetter.

Une méthode aussi insolite est, bien entendu, sans précédent dans la
jurisprudence internationale.
(Signé)P. D. Mo~ozov.

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Separate Opinion of Judge Morozov

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