Legal Consequences for States of the Continued Presence of South Africa in Namibia (South West Africa) notwithstanding Security Council Resolution 276 (1970) - The Court will deliver its Advisory Opin

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INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
Peace Palace. The Hague· Tel. 39 23 44 ·Cabtes:lntercourt. TheHague

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i..·:L No•.7i/8
11 June 1971

Legal Consequences for States of the- Continued Presence of
South Africa in Namibià. South West·.l\frica not,;.;lthstanding ..
Security Coun·cïl Resolutfoiï 276 1970

The following inforinatfün is communicà.ted: to the Press :by t~e ·
Registry of'the !nternationé;ll Court of Justice:

The- Internationâl Court of Justice will 'dèliver its ·Advisory :..
Opinion on the àbove·i·questiori at a public sittihg·· to be held oh:;·.._·'...

e Monday,. 21 June· ~971,:,àt 10 a.m. . .

The request ··for this Advisory Opinion has previ6usly been the
subject ;of Press CommuniquésNos. 70/6., 70/7, 70/8,· 70/10, 71/1,. 'J.l/?-;
71/3, 71/4., 71/5, 71/6 and 71/7. · · ·· ··· · ·

On 29 July 1970;·' by·rcsolutiorr 284 (1970), th~ Security Counc:l.l
of the United.Nations decidèd·:to ·requèst an advisory opinion of the
Court on the, following question: 11What are the legal consequences for
States of the continued presènce of South Africain Namibia, ·
.·notwithstanding _s~~u_rity-Coùncil resolution 276 (1970) ?"

The background of---the request is as follows: During the ~ime -qf

the League of Nations, South Africa Nas entrusted with a Mandate for
South West Africa, which Territory has since 1946 been the subject of
lengthy discussions· in. the-'United Nations. The Court has already, at
the request of the General Assembly, given three Advisory Opinions
concerning the Territory, narrièly on the International Status of South
West Africa (11 July 1950), Voting·Procedure on Questions relating t6
Reports and Petitions concerning the Territory of South West Africa
(7 June 1955) and the Admissibility of Hearings of Petitioners by the
Committee on South West Africa (1 J .JJ:1956). It has also delivered
two Judgments .in contentious proceedings brought by Ethiopia and Liberia
against South Africa with reference to South-West Africa (Preliminary
Objections: 21 December 1962; Second Phase: 18 July 1966). -Ethiopia
and 'Liberia -had requested the Court,·to f.ind., inter alia., that South
Africa. had been in ·breach of certain obligations.-under the .Mandate~
The Court found that it ·had jurisdiction in the c·ase., but that the

Applicants could not be considered to ·have established any legal right
or interest appertaining to them in the subject-matter of the claim .•

On 27 October 1966 the· General Assembly resolved that South Afr1ca s1
Mandate was terminated and that henceforth South West Africa came under
the responsibility of the United Nations (resolution 2145 (XXI)).
Subsequently the General Assembly confirmed this resolution by various
other resolutions., in which· it proclaimed, inter alia., "that, in
accordance with the desires of its people, South West Africa shall
henceforth be known as 1Namibia 111, and on thrce occasions the·Security
Council has called upon the Gove:mment of South Africa to withdraw its
administration. from the Territory (resolutions 264 and 269 (1969) and·
276 (1970)) •
Following ....

- 2 -

Following the present Security Council 1 s request for an advisory
opinion, the States entitled to appear before the Court were notified
that the Court was prepared to receive from them written statements
furnishing information on the question (Statute, Art. 66, para. 2).
By Orders made on 5 and 28 August 1970, the President respectively fixed
23 September 1970 as the time-limit for the submis~ion of such < .
statements and extendacl 1t to 19 Nove1:1ber1970. ·written stateoents

were received from the following twelve States: Czechoslovakia, Finland.,
France., ·Hungary., India., Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan., -Poland,
South Africa, United_ States of America, Yugoslavia. In addition;_ the
Secretary-Genera.Lof the ·united Nations tra.nsmitted to tp.e ·court -
documents likely to' thrbw Iight upori the·-qüëstlon. '(Sta:tute., Art. 65.,"
para. 2) and a written statèmerit~ ...

The Government of South Africa took objection to the participation
of President Sir MuhammadZafrulla Khan and.Judges Padilla Nerva and_
Morozov in the proceedings; and appliccl for leave to choane a judge

ad hoc to sit -µpon the Bench ·(Statute., Art. 31, para. 2). After .
deliberation., the Court decid~d, by-three Orders dated 26 January 1971.,
not to accede to the objections raised c~mcerning t}:le participation
of three of its Members in the proceed:i.ngs. After hearing in camera
on 'Z{January the submissions of South Africa ·on·the appointment .o-f a
judge ad hoc., it·decided., by an order of 29 January.,, to reject the
application presented with that abject •.

The States entitled to appear before the Court, and also the
Organization·of African Unity (OAU), were ::i.:nformedthat the Court was

prepared to hear oral statements (Statut<?, Art._.66., para~ 2). · Such
statements were m~de, in the course of 23 public si:ttings held b~tween
8 February and 17 March 1971., by representatives of the Secretary-General
of the United Nations, the Organization of African Unity, Finland.,
India., Netherlands., Nigeria, Pakistan., the Republic of Viet-Nam.,
South Africa and the United States of America.

At the.opeping of the sittings., the President announced that the
Court had decided not to entertain the observations which the Government
of South Africa had made, in its written statement and elsewhere,; in

support of its submission that the Court should have declined to give
the·advisory opinion requested •

.. At the close of the sittings., the President· a.nnounced that the.
Court had decided to defer its reply to the· r.equests o'f the Governrnènt
of South Africa.,presented before and during the sittings,conc~rning
the ..ossibility of holding :a plebisci te in Namibia (South West Africa)
and the supply of further facttial ·material concerning the situation ih
that territory •. In a le~ter dated 14 May- 1971 to the representatives
of the States and organizations which had participated in the oral

proceedings, the President stated that the Court had deciqed to refuse
both ..of those ·requests.,,.

Annex ta Press Communiq"l!~No. 71/8

NOTICE FOR THE PRESS

1 •. ·Thepublic si tting will be held a t the Pe2.ce Palace~ in the
Hàll of JÙstî 6é. Au.y mernber- qf. the Press not already in pos session
of the special admission-card cân obtain one from the Registry on

request. Inside the Hall, the Press tables are on the left; outside
it, also on the ground.floor of the Palace, there is a Press H.oom(No. 5)
to which the reading of the Advisory Opinion.· will be relayed through
a loudspeaker.

Photography will be permitted before and during the first five
minutes of the Sitting. Special authorization is required in the
case of filming for cinema or television purposes.

2. After the close of the sitting, a Press Communiqué summarizing

the Advisory Opinion will be distributed in_the Press Room (No. 5).
Avery limited number of mimeographed texts of the Advisory Opinion and.
any annexed separate or dissenting opinions will also be available.

Members of the Press may use only the six public telepbones in
the Post Office in the basement of the Palace.

3. The printed text of the Advisory Opinion and of separate or

dissenting opinions wiil be issued shortly after the sitting, It
will then be obtainable from:

- Distribution and Sales Section, Office of the United Nations,
1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland;

- Sales Section, United Nations, New York, N.Y. 10017~ U.S.A.;

- A. v.r.Sijthoff 1s Publishing Company, P. O. Box 26, Leyden_.

Netherlands;

or from a.ny bookse.ller selling United Nations publications.

The written and oral statemerrts relating to the present reql.lest
for an advisory opinion may now be cons~lted in multigraphed format
the institutions mentioned in Press Communiqués Nos. 71/4 (Annex 2)
and ïl/6. A few weeks after the delivery of the Advisory Opinion
they will be obtainable in printed form from the addresses mentioned

in the preceding paragraph.

4, Mr. A. Pillepich, First Secretary of the Court (telephone
extension No. 54), is available to deal with any request for
information by members of the Press.