Declaration of Judge Parra-Aranguren

Document Number
124-20071213-JUD-01-03-EN
Parent Document Number
124-20071213-JUD-01-00-EN
Document File
Bilingual Document File

892

DECLARATION OF JUDGE PARRA-ARANGUREN

1. Notwithstanding my vote in favour of the operative clause of the
Judgment, I feel it necessary to make the following point.
2. Paragraph 136 of the Judgment states: “the Court considers that
the provisions of the Pact of Bogotá and the declarations made under the
optional clause represent two distinct bases of the Court’s jurisdiction

which are not mutually exclusive”.
3. The conclusion reached in paragraph 136 is supported by making ref-
erence to the Judgment in the caseBorder and Transborder Armed Actions
(Nicaragua v. Honduras), Jurisdiction and Admissibility(Judgment, I.C.J.
Reports 1988, p. 85, para. 36) and to a quotation from the 1939 Judgment of
the Permanent Court in the caseElectricity Company of Sofia and Bulgaria

(Belgiumv. Bulgaria)(Judgment, 1939, P.C.I.J., Series A/B, No. 77, p. 76).
4. However, the Armed Actions decision does not support this conclu-
sion in the present Judgment, because as is indicated in paragraph 134,
“the Court was merely responding to and rejecting the arguments by
Honduras”.

5. The quotation from the Electricity Company of Sofia and Bulgaria
(Belgium v. Bulgaria) Judgment of 1939 is not applicable, because in the
present case there is no “multiplicity of agreements concluded accepting
the compulsory jurisdiction” of the Court.
6. As indicated in paragraph 122 of the Judgment, Nicaragua and

Colombia made declarations on 24 September 1929 and 30 October 1937
respectively, under Article 36 of the Statute of the Permanent Court of
International Justice, which are deemed to be acceptances of the compul-
sory jurisdiction of this Court under Article 36, paragraph 5, of its Stat-
ute. However, they made a new declaration under Article 36, para-

graph 2, of the Statute of the Court as prescribed in Article XXXI of the
Pact of Bogotá when they ratified the latter in 1950 and 1968 respectively.
In my opinion, it is not possible for two different declarations to continue
to be simultaneously in force in the relations between Nicaragua and
Colombia, because the second declaration necessarily replaced the first
one in their reciprocal relations.

7. Therefore I consider that the optional clause declarations made by
Nicaragua and Colombia in 1929 and 1937 respectively are no longer in
force, and for this reason they cannot be invoked as a basis for the juris-
diction of the Court.

(Signed) Gonzalo P ARRA -A RANGUREN .

64

Bilingual Content

892

DECLARATION OF JUDGE PARRA-ARANGUREN

1. Notwithstanding my vote in favour of the operative clause of the
Judgment, I feel it necessary to make the following point.
2. Paragraph 136 of the Judgment states: “the Court considers that
the provisions of the Pact of Bogotá and the declarations made under the
optional clause represent two distinct bases of the Court’s jurisdiction

which are not mutually exclusive”.
3. The conclusion reached in paragraph 136 is supported by making ref-
erence to the Judgment in the caseBorder and Transborder Armed Actions
(Nicaragua v. Honduras), Jurisdiction and Admissibility(Judgment, I.C.J.
Reports 1988, p. 85, para. 36) and to a quotation from the 1939 Judgment of
the Permanent Court in the caseElectricity Company of Sofia and Bulgaria

(Belgiumv. Bulgaria)(Judgment, 1939, P.C.I.J., Series A/B, No. 77, p. 76).
4. However, the Armed Actions decision does not support this conclu-
sion in the present Judgment, because as is indicated in paragraph 134,
“the Court was merely responding to and rejecting the arguments by
Honduras”.

5. The quotation from the Electricity Company of Sofia and Bulgaria
(Belgium v. Bulgaria) Judgment of 1939 is not applicable, because in the
present case there is no “multiplicity of agreements concluded accepting
the compulsory jurisdiction” of the Court.
6. As indicated in paragraph 122 of the Judgment, Nicaragua and

Colombia made declarations on 24 September 1929 and 30 October 1937
respectively, under Article 36 of the Statute of the Permanent Court of
International Justice, which are deemed to be acceptances of the compul-
sory jurisdiction of this Court under Article 36, paragraph 5, of its Stat-
ute. However, they made a new declaration under Article 36, para-

graph 2, of the Statute of the Court as prescribed in Article XXXI of the
Pact of Bogotá when they ratified the latter in 1950 and 1968 respectively.
In my opinion, it is not possible for two different declarations to continue
to be simultaneously in force in the relations between Nicaragua and
Colombia, because the second declaration necessarily replaced the first
one in their reciprocal relations.

7. Therefore I consider that the optional clause declarations made by
Nicaragua and Colombia in 1929 and 1937 respectively are no longer in
force, and for this reason they cannot be invoked as a basis for the juris-
diction of the Court.

(Signed) Gonzalo P ARRA -A RANGUREN .

64 892

DÉCLARATION DE M. LE JUGE PARRA-ARANGUREN

[Traduction]

1. Bien que j’aie voté en faveur du dispositif de l’arrêt, il me paraît
nécessaire de préciser le point suivant.
2. Le paragraphe 136 de l’arrêt indique: «la Cour estime que les dis-
positions du pacte de Bogotá et les déclarations faites en vertu de la

clause facultative constituent deux bases distinctes de compétence de la
Cour qui ne s’excluent pas mutuellement».
3. A l’appui de la conclusion énoncée au paragraphe 136, la Cour a invo-
qué l’arrêt rendu en l’affaire relative à des ctions armées frontalières et

transfrontalières (Nicaragua c. Honduras), compétence et recevabilitC.I.J.
Recueil 1988, p. 85, par. 36) et une citation tirée de l’arrêt rendu en 1939 par
la Cour permanente en l’affaire de laCompagnie d’électricité de Sofia et de
Bulgarie (Belgique c. Bulgarie)(1939, C.P.J.I. série A/B n 77, p. 76).
4. Toutefois, la décision rendue en l’affaire des Actions armées n’étaye

pas ladite conclusion de l’arrêt car, ainsi qu’il est indiqué au para-
graphe 134, «la Cour répondait simplement, pour les rejeter, aux argu-
ments du Honduras».
5. L’extrait de l’arrêt rendu en 1939 en l’affaire de la Compagnie
d’électricité de Sofia et de Bulgarie (Belgique c. Bulgarie) n’est pas appli-

cable car, en la présente espèce, il n’y a pas «multiplicité d’engagements
conclus en faveur de la juridiction obligatoire» de la Cour.
6. Ainsi qu’il est indiqué au paragraphe 122 de l’arrêt, le Nicaragua et
la Colombie ont fait — respectivement le 24 septembre 1929 et le 30 oc-
tobre 1937 — des déclarations en vertu de l’article 36 du Statut de la

Cour permanente de Justice internationale, déclarations qui sont consi-
dérées comme comportant acceptation de la juridiction obligatoire de
la présente Cour aux termes du paragraphe 5 de l’article 36 de son
Statut. Les Parties ont cependant fait de nouvelles déclarations en vertu
du paragraphe 2 de l’article 36 du Statut de la Cour, conformément à

l’article XXXI du pacte de Bogotá, lorsqu’elles ont ratifié celui-ci respecti-
vement en 1950 et 1968. Il est, selon moi, impossible que deux déclara-
tions différentes restent simultanément en vigueur dans les relations
entre le Nicaragua et la Colombie, la seconde déclaration ayant néces-
sairement remplacé la première dans lesdites relations.

7. J’estime par conséquent que les déclarations faites par le Nicaragua
et la Colombie en vertu de la clause facultative, respectivement en 1929
et 1937, ne sont plus en vigueur, et qu’elles ne peuvent donc pas être invo-
quées comme base de compétence de la Cour.

(Signé) Gonzalo P ARRA -A RANGUREN .

64

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Declaration of Judge Parra-Aranguren

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