Questions of Interpretation and Application of the 1971 Montreal Convention arising from the Aerial Incident at Lockerbie (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya v. United States of America) - Jurisdiction of the Cou

INTERNATIONAL COURTOFJUSTICE
Peace Palace, 2517 KJ The Hague. Tel.(31-70-302 23 23). Cables: Intercourt, The Hague.
Telefax (31-70-364 99 28). Telex 32323. Internet address: http: Il www.icj-cij.org

Communiqué
unofficial
for immediate release
No. 98/2
23 February 1998

Questions of Interpretation and Application of the 1971 Montreal Convention
arising from the Aerial Incident at Lockerbie

a,.ïbyan Arab Jamahiriya v. United Kingdom)
U,.ibyan Arab Jamahiriya v. United States of America)

Jurisdiction of the Court and admissibility of Libyan claims

Court to give its decisions on Friday 27 February

TIIE HAGUE, 23 February 1998. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal
judicial organ of the United Nations, will announce on Friday 27 February whether it bas
jurisdiction to deal with the merits the two cases brought by Libya against the United Kingdom
and the United States of America conceming the aerial incident at Lockerbie. lt will also announce

whether the Libyan claims are admissible.

A public sitting will take place at0 a.m. in the Peace Palace in The Hague during which
the Vice-Presidentof the Court, Judge Christopher G. Weeramantry,will read the Judgments in bath

cases. Judge Weeramantry exercises the functions of the presidency in the two cases, the President
being a national of one of the Parties in one case and having declined to exercise the presidency
in the other.

The United Kingdom and the United States maintain that the Court lacks jurisdiction in the

matter and that the Libyan claims are not admissible, particularlyiew of resolutions adopted by
the United Nations Security CounciL

Libya contends that the United Kingdom and the United States do not have the right ta

campel it to surrender two Libyan nationals accused of having caused the destruction of Pan Am
flight103 over the town ofLockerbie, Scotland, on 21 December 1988, in which 270 people died
(ali 259 passengers and crew, as weil as11 people on the ground).

The United Kingdom and the United States contend that the accused should be surrendered
by Libya for trial either Scotland or the United States, but Libya argues that the Convention for
the Soppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation signed at Montreal in 1971
authorizes it ttry them itself.

The Parties have presented their arguments on the preliminary objections raised by the United
Kingdom and the United States in writing and during public hearings which were held
between 13 and 22 October 1997.

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NOTE FOR THE PRESS

1. The public sitting will be held in the Great Hall of Justice of the Peace Palace in
The Hague, the Netherlands. Mobile telephones and beepers are allowed in the courtroom provided
they are turned off or set on silent mode. Any offending deviee will be temporarily retained.

2.Members of the Press will be entitled to attend on presentation of an admission card, which
may be obtained upon application. The tables reserved for them aresituated on the far left of the
public entrance of the courtroom.

3.Photographs may be taken for a few minutes at the opening and at the end of the sitting.
Television crews may film, but advance notice should be given to the information Office (see
paragraph 8).

4. In the Press Room, located on the ground :floorof the Peace Palace (Room 5), the reading
of the Court's decisions will be relayed through a loudspeaker. e

5. At the end of the sitting, a press release and a summary of bath Judgments will be
distributed in the Press Room.

6.The press release, the summary andfultexts of the Judgments will be simultaneously
available on the Website of the Court (http://www.icj-cij.org).

7. Members of the Press who wish to make telephone caUs may use the phone located in the
Press Room for collect calls or the public telephones in the Post Office in the baiement of the Peace
Palace.

8. Mr. Arthur Witteveen, Secretary ofthe Court (tel: 31-70-302 2336), and Mrs. Laurence
Blairon, Information Officer (tel: 31-70-302 2337), are available to deal with any requests for
information and for making arrangements for television coverage.

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