Sovereignty over Pulau Ligitan and Pulau Sipadan (Indonesia/Malaysia) - Application for permission to intervene by the Philippines - Court to deliver its Judgment on Tuesday 23 October 2001 at 3 p.m.

INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE

Peace Palace, 2517 KJ The Hague. Tel.(31-70-302 23 23). Cables: Intercourt, The Hagu.e.
Telefax (31-70-364 99 28). Telex 32323. Internet address: httpJIwww.icj-cij.org

Communiqué
unofficial
forimmediate release

No. 2001126

19 October 2001

Sovereignty over Pulau Ligitan and Pulan Sipadan
Ondonesia!Malaysia)

Application for permission to intervene by the Philippines

Court to deliver its Judgment on Tuesday 2October 2001 at 3 p.m.
•

THE HAGUE, 19 October 2001. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal
judicial organ of the United Nations, will on Tuesday 23 October 2001 deliver its Judgment on the
Application for permission to intervene submitted by the Philippines on 13 March last in the case

concerning Sovereignty over Pulau Lîgitan and Pulau Sipadan (lndonesîa/Malaysia).

A public sitting will take place at 3 p.m. in the Peace Palace in The Hague, at which the
President of the Court, Judge Gilbert Guillaume, will read the Court's Judgrnent.

History of the proceedings

In its Application for permission to intervene, the Philippthatit wished to intervene
in the proceedings in arder ''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 determination of the Court of the
question of sovereignty over Pulau Ligitan and Pulau Sipad.an"; ''ta inform the ... Court of the
nature and extent of [those] rights"; and ''toappreciate more fully the indispensable role of the ...
Court in comprehensive conflict prevention".

Whîle making clearthatit did not seek to become a party to the case, the Philippines further
maintained that "[its] Constitution ... as well as its legislation, ha[d] laid claîm to dominion and
sovereignty over North Bomeo". According to it, "[t]his ... daim ... ha[d] been the subject of
diplomatie negotiations, official international correspondence, and peaceful discussions which ha[d]
not been concluded. A decision by the Court,at încidental part of a decision by the Court, which
[would] lay dawn an appreciahon of specifie treaties, agreements and other evidence bearing on the
legal status of North Bomeo [would] inevitably and most assuredly affect the outstanding territorial
claim of ... the Philippines to North Borneo, as we11as the direct legal right and interest of the

Philippines ta settle that claim by peaceful means."

Pursuant to Article 83, paragraph 1, of the Rules of Court, the Philippines Application was
immediately cornrnunicated to Indonesia and Malaysia, and the Court fixed 2 May 2001 as the
time-limit for the filing ofwritten observations by those States. - 2-

In their written observations, Indonesia and Malaysia objected to the Application for
permission to intervene by the Philippines. Indonesia inter alia stated that the Application should be
rejected as untimely and that the Philippines bad not demonstrated that it possessed an interest of
legal nature which might be affected by a decision of the Court in the case. Malaysia, for its part,
stated thathe Philippines had no interest of a legal nature in the dispute, that its request bad no

proper abjectnd that the Court should in any event reject that request.

Accordingly, pursuant to Article 84, paragraph 2, its Rules, the Court, before deciding
whether the Application for permission to intervene should be granted, beard the arguments of the
Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia during public sittings which were held from 25 to 29 June 2001.

*

NOTE FOR THE PRESS

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

2.Members of the Press will be entitled to attend on presentation of a press card. The tables
reserved for them are situated on the far left of the public entrance of the Great Hall of Justice.

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

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

5. At theend of the sitting, a press release, a summary of the Court's Judgment and the full

text of the Judgment will be distributed in the Press Room.

6. The above-mentioned documents will be simultaneously available on the Court's website
(bttp ://v."'".,..icj-cij.org).

7. Members of the Press who wish to make telephone calls may use the phones located in •
the Press Room.

8. Mr. Arthur Witteveen, First Secretary of the 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 or arrangements for television coverage.