INTERNATIONAL COURT OF WSTICE
Peace Palace, 2517 KJ The Hague. Tel: +31 (0)70 302 23 23. Cables: Intercourt,
The Hague. Fax: +31 (0)70 364 99 28. Telex: 32323. E-mail address:
[email protected]. Internet address: http://www.icj-cij.org.
Press Release
Unofficial
No. 2003/14
11 April 2003
The French Republic consents to the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice
to entertain an Application filed by the Republic of the Congo against France
The Court enters the new case in its List
and sets a date for the hearings on the reguest for the indication of a provisional measure
THE HAGUE, 11 April2003. The French Republic today informed the International Court
of Justice (ICJ) that it consented, pursuant to Article 38, paragraph 5, of the Rules of Court
(concerning proceedings wherein "the applicant State proposes to found the jurisdiction of the
Court upon a consent thereto yet to be given or manifested by the State against which such
application is made"), to the jurisdiction of the Court to entertain the Application filed against
France by the Republic of the Congo on 9 December 2002. Accordingly, the Court today entered
this case between the Republicof the Congo and the French Republic in its General List.
*
In its Application of 9 December 2002, the Republic of the Congo indicates that it seeks to
found the jurisdictionof the Court, pursuant to Article 38, paragraph 5, of the Rules of Court, "on
the consent of the French Republic, which will certainly be given". In accordance with the
above-mentioned Article, the Application by the Republic of the Congo was transmitted to the
French Government and no action was taken in the proceedings (see Press Release 2002/37). By a
letter dated 8 April2003 and received today in the Registry, the French Republic stated that it
"consent[ed] to the jurisdiction of the Court to entertain the Application pursuant to Article 38,
paragraph 5". This consent has made it possible to enter the case in the Court's List and to open
the proceedings.
This is the first instance since the adoption in 1978Article 38, paragraph 5, of the Rules
of Court in which aState has thus accepted another State's invitation to recognize the jurisdiction
of the International Court of Justice to deal with a case against it.
In its letter, France added that its consent to the Court's jurisdiction applied "strictly within
the limitsof the daims formulated by the Republic of the Congo" and that "Article 2 of the Treaty
of Co-operation signed on 1 January 1974 by the French Republic and the People's Republic ofthe
Congo, to which the latter refers in its Application, does not constitute a basis of jurisdiction for the
Court in the present case".
In its Application, the Republic of the Congo seeks the annulment of the investigation and
prosecution measures taken by the French judicial authorities further to a complaint for crimes
against humanity and torture filed by various associations against inter alia the President the
Republic of the Congo, Mr. Denis SassouNguesso, and the Congolese Minister of the Interior,
Mr. Pierre Oba, together with other individuals including General Norbert Dabira,
Inspector-General of the Congolese Armies. The Application further states that, in connection with -2-
these proceedings, an investigating judge of the Meaux tribunal de grande instance issued a warrant
for the Presidentof the Republic of the Congo to be examined as witness.
In its Application, the Republic of the Congo contends that by "attributing to itself universal
jurisdiction in criminal matters and by arrogating to itself the power to prosecute and try the
Minister of the Interior of a foreign State for crimes allegedly committed in connection with the
exercise of his powers for the maintenance of public order in his country", France violated "the
principle that a State may not, in breach of the principle of sovereign equality among all Members
of the United Nations ... exercise its authority on the territory of another State". The Congo
further submits that, in issuing a warrant instructing police officers to examine the President of the
Republic of the Congo as witness in the case, France violated "the criminal immunity of a foreign
Head of State, an international customary rule recognized by the jurisprudence of the Court".
*
The Application of the Republic of the Congo was accompanied by a request for the
indication of a provisional measure "seek[ing] an order for the immediate suspension of the
proceedings being conducted by the investigatingjudge of the Meaux tribunal de grande instance".
According to the request,
"[t]he two essential preconditions for the indication of a provisional measure,
according to the Court's jurisprudence, namely urgency and irreparable harm, are
manifestly satisfied in the present case.
The proceedings in question are perturbing the international relations of the
Republic of the Congo as a result of the publicity accorded, in flagrant breach of
French law governing the secrecy of criminal investigations, to the actions of the
investigating judge, which impugn the honour and reputation of the Head of State, of
the Minister of the Interior and of the Inspector-General of the Army and, in
consequence, the international standing of the Congo. Furthermore, those proceedings
are damaging to the traditional links of Franco-Congolese friendship. If these
injurious proceedings were to continue, that damage would become irreparable".
In accordance with Article 74, paragraph 3, ofthe Rules of Court, the President ofthe Court,
Judge Shi Jiuyong, has fixed 28 April 2003, at 10 a.m., as the date for the opening of the public
hearings on the request for the indication of a provisional measure submitted by the Republic of the
Congo.
*
The Republic of the Congo has appointed His Excellency Mr. Jacques Obia, Ambassador of
the Congo to The Netherlands, as agent in the case. The French Republic has appointed
Mr. Ronny Abraham, Director of Legal Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as agent.
The full text of the Application by the Republic of the Congo of 9 December 2002 is now
available on-line on the Court's website (www.icj-cij.org). First click on "What's new" and then
on the hyperlink of the case.
Information Office:
Mr. Arthur Witteveen, First Secretary of the Court (tel: +31 70 302 2336)
Mrs. Laurence Blairon and Mr. Boris Heim, Information Officers (tel: +31 70 302 2337)
E-mail address: information@icj-cij .org
The French Republic consents to the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice to entertain an Application filed by the Republic of the Congo against France - The Court enters the new case in its List and sets a date for the hearings on the request for the indication of a provisional measure