Sovereignty over Pulau Ligitan and Pulau Sipadan (Indonesia/Malaysia) - Application for permission to intervene by the Philippines - The Court will hold public hearings from 25 to 29 June 2001

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
forimmediate release

No. 2001113
22 May2001

Sovereignty over .Pulau Ligitan and Pulau Sipadan
(ndonesia/Malaysia)

Application for permission to intervene by the Philippines

The Court wiU hold public hearings from 25 to 29 June 2001

THE HAGUE, 22 May 2001. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will hold public
hearings from 25 to 29 June 2001 on the Application for pennission to intervene submitted by the
Philippines on 13March Jast in the case conceming Sovereignty over Pulau Ligitan and Pulau
Sipadan (Indonesia/Malaysia).

The programme ofthe hearings has been fixed as follows:

First round

Monday 25 June2001 10a.m.-1 p.m. Philippines
Tuesday 26 June 2001 JOa.m.-1 p.m. Indonesia and Malaysia

Second round

Thursday 28 June 2001 10 a.m.-11JO a.m. Philippines
• Friday 29 June 2001 10a.m.-11.30 a.m. Indonesia and Malaysia

The order in which Indonesia and Malaysia will present their arguments on Tuesday 26 and
Friday 29 May 200 l has not been determined as yet.

In its Application for pennission to intervene, the Philippines stated that it wished to intervene

in the proceedingsin order "to preserve and safeguard [its Government's] historical and legal
rights ... arising from its claim to dominion and sovereignty over the territory of North Bomeo, to
the extent that these rights are affected, or may be affected, by a detennination of the Court of the
question of sovereignty over Pulau Ligitan and Pulau Sipadan"; "to infonn the ... Court of the nature
and extent of [those] rights"; and "to appreciate more fully the indispensable raie of the ... Court in
comprehensive conflict prevention". The Philippines made it c\ear that it did not seek to become a
partyto the case.

In its Application, the Philippines further maintained that "[its] Constitution ... as weil as its

legislation, ha[dJ laid claim ta dominion and sovereignty over North BorAccording to the
Philippines, "[tJhis. . . claim . . . ha[d] been the subject of diplomatie negotiofficial
international correspondence, and peacefu\ discussions which ha[d] not been concluded. A decision------------------------ ----·

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by the Court, or that incidental part of a decision by ~ourt, which [would] lay dawn an

appreciationf specifie treaties, agreements and other eviderice bearing on the legal status of North
Bomeo [would] inevitably and most assuredly affect th~utst trrnoraliclimg of ...the

Philippines ta North Borneo, as weil as the direct legal right :and interest of the Philippines to settle
that claim by peaceful means." ;

Pursuant ta Article 83, paragraph 1, of the Rules of Court, the Philippines Application was
immediate!y communicated to Indonesia and Malaysia,and the Court fixed 2 May 2001 as the

time-limit for the filingof written observationsState1~se
'
In their written observations, Indonesia and Mala~ objectd to the Application for

permission to intervene the Philippines. Jndonesia inter alia stated that the Application should be
rejected as untimely and that the Philippines hademon~tr taatetpossessed an interest of

legal nature which might be affected by a decision Co)lrtin the case. Malaysia, for its part,
stated that theilippines had no interest of a legal nature '" the dispute, that its request had no
proper abject and that the Court should in any event reject that request.

Accordingly, pursuant to Article 84, paragraph 2, of 'its Rules, the Court decided to hol•

sittings in arder to hear the arguments of the Philippines, lndonesia and Malaysia before deciding
whether the Application for permission to intervene should be.
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NOTE TO THE PRESS

l. The public hearings will be held in the Great Hall of Justice of the Peace Palace in
The Hague, Netherlands.Mobile telephones and beepers arallowed in the courtroom provided
they are turned off or set on silent mode. Any offending de\lice wiIl be temporari ly retained.

2. Members of the Press will be entitled to attpr~sent oftaprens card. The tables

reserved forhem are situated on the far left of the pub1ic entrarice ofthe courtroom.

3. Photographs may be taken for a few minutes at the opening and at the end of the sittings.
Television crews may film, but advance notice shouldgiv o the Information Department (see
paragraph 7). 1 •

4. In the Press Room, located on the ground floor of th:ePeace Palace (Room 5), the Court's
proceedings will be relayed through a loudspeaker. ·

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5. The verbatim records ofthe public hearings will be published daily on the Court's website
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(http://www.icj-cij.org).

6. Members of the Press who wish to mak.etelephone calis may use the phone located in the

Press Room for collect calls or the public telephones in the Post Office in the basement of the Peace
Palace. :

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7. Mr. Arthur Witteveen, Fîrst Secretary of the Court (tel: +31-70-302 2336), and
Mrs. Laurence Blairon, Information Officer (tel:70-302 2337), are available ta deal with any

requests for information and for making arrangements for tecoveraie.on