Maritime Delimitation in the Black Sea (Romania v. Ukraine) - Conclusion of the public hearings - Court begins its deliberation

INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE

Peace Palace, Carnegieplein 2, 2517 KJ The Hague, Netherlands
Tel.: +31 (0)70 302 2323 Fax: +31 (0)70 364 9928
Website: www.icj-cij.org

Press Release
Unofficial

No. 2008/29

19 September 2008

Maritime Delimitation in the Black Sea

(Romania v. Ukraine)

Conclusion of the public hearings

Court begins its deliberation

THE HAGUE, 19 September 2008. The public hearings in the case concerning Maritime
Delimitation in the Black Sea (Romania v. Ukraine) were concluded today. The Court has started
its deliberation.

During the hearings, which opened on 2September2008 at the Peace Palace, seat of the

Court, the delegation of Romania was led by Mr.BogdanAurescu, Director General, Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of Romania, as Agent. The delegation of Ukraine was led by
H.E.Mr.VolodymyrA.Vassylenko, Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine,
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, as Agent.

The Court’s Judgment will be rendered at a public sitting, the date of which will be
announced in due course.

Final submissions of the Parties

At the end of the oral proceedings, the Agents of the Parties presented the following final

submissions to the Court:

For Romania:

“Romania respectfully requests the Court to draw a single maritime boundary

dividing the maritime areas of Romania a nd Ukraine in the Black Sea, having the
following description:

(a) from point F, at 45° 05' 21" N, 30° 02' 27" E, on the 12-nautical-mile arc
surrounding Serpents’ Island, to point X, at 45° 14' 20" N, 30° 29' 12" E;

(b) from point X in a straight segment to point Y, at 45° 11' 59" N, 30° 49' 16" E;

(c) then on the line equidistant between the relevant Romanian and Ukrainian adjacent
coasts, from pointY, passing through pointD, at 45° 12' 10" N, 30° 59' 46" E, to
point T, at 45° 09' 45" N, 31° 08' 40" E; - 2 -

(d)and then on the line median between the relevant Romanian and Ukrainian
opposite coasts, from pointT ⎯ passing through the points of 44°35'00"N,

31° 13' 43" E and of 44° 04' 05" N, 31° 24' 40" E, to point Z, at 43° 26' 50" N,
31° 20' 10" E.”

For Ukraine:

“For the reasons given in Ukraine’s written and oral pleadings, Ukraine requests
the Court to adjudge and declare that th e line delimiting the c ontinental shelf and
exclusive economic zones between Ukraine and Romania is as follows:

(a) from the point (point 1) identified in Article 1 of the 2003 Treaty between Ukraine
and Romania on the Régime of the Ukrain ian-Romanian State Border, having the
co-ordinates of 45° 05' 21" N; 30° 02' 27" E, the line runs along a straight line to

point 2, having the co-ordinates of 44° 54' 00" N; 30° 06' 00" E; then

(b)from point 2, the line runs along an azimuth of 156° to point 3, having the
co-ordinates of 43°20'37"N; 31°05'39"E; and then continues along the same

azimuth until it reaches a point where the in terests of third States potentially come
into play.

The co-ordinates are referenced to the Pulkovo datum (i.e., using the Krasovsky

ellipsoid), and all lines are loxodromes.”

___________

The verbatim records of the hearings held between 2 and 19 September 2008 are available on
the Court’s website (www.icj-cij.org). The history of the proceedings can be found in Press

Release No. 2008/ 22 of 24 July 2008.

___________

Information Department:

Mrs. Laurence Blairon, Secretary of the Court, Head of Department (+31 (0)70 302 2336)
Messrs. Boris Heim and Maxime Schouppe, Information Officers (+31 (0)70 302 2337)
Ms Joanne Moore, Associate Information Officer (+31 (0)70 302 2394)