Pulp Mills on the River Uruguay (Argentina v. Uruguay) - The Court to hold public hearings from Monday 14 September to Friday 2 October 2009

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. 2009/25
16 July 2009

Pulp Mills on the River Uruguay
(Argentina v. Uruguay)

The Court to hold public hearings from
Monday 14 September to Friday 2 October 2009

THE HAGUE, 16 July 2009. The International Co urt of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial
organ of the United Nations, will hold pub lic hearings in the case concernPulp Mills on the
River Uruguay (Argentina v. Uruguay) from Monday 14September to Friday 2October2009, at
the Peace Palace in The Hague, the seat of the Court.

Schedule for the hearings

⎯ First round of oral argument

Monday 14 September 2009 10 a.m.-1 p.m.: Argentina

Tuesday 15 September 2009 10 a.m.-1 p.m.: Argentina

Wednesday 16 September 2009 10 a.m.-1 p.m.: Argentina

Thursday 17 September 2009 10 a.m.-1 p.m.: Argentina

Monday 21 September 2009 10 a.m.-1 p.m.: Uruguay

Tuesday 22 September 2009 10 a.m.-1 p.m.: Uruguay

Wednesday 23 September 2009 10 a.m.-1 p.m.: Uruguay

Thursday 24 September 2009 10 a.m.-1 p.m.: Uruguay

⎯ Second round of oral argument

Monday 28 September 2009 3 p.m.-6 p.m.: Argentina

Tuesday 29 September 2009 10 a.m.-1 p.m.: Argentina

Thursday 1 October 2009 3 p.m.-6 p.m.: Uruguay

Friday 2 October 2009 10 a.m.-1 p.m.: Uruguay - 2 -

History of the proceedings

On 4May2006, Argentina filed in the Regi stry of the Court an Application instituting
proceedings against Uruguay concerning alleged vi olations by Uruguay of obligations incumbent
upon it under the Statute of the River Uruguay, a treaty signed by the two States on
26February1975 (hereinafter “the 1975Statut e”). Argentina charged Uruguay with having

unilaterally authorized the construction of two pulp mills on the River Uruguay without complying
with the obligatory prior notification and consulta tion procedure. Argentina maintained that the
authorization, construction and future commissioning of these mills jeopardized conservation of the
environment of the river and of the areas affected by it.

To found the jurisdiction of the Court, Arge ntina cited Article60, paragraph1, of the
1975Statute, which provides that any dispute conc erning the interpretation or application of the
Statute which cannot be settled by direct negotiations may be submitted by either party to the

Court.

Argentina’s Application was accompanied by a request for the indication of provisional
measures requiring Uruguay, inter alia, to suspend the authorizations for the construction of the

mills and halt building work on them pending a fina l decision by the Court and to refrain from any
other action which might aggravate or extend the dis pute or render its settlement more difficult. In
an Order of 13July2006 the Court found that “t he circumstances, as they [then] present[ed]
themselves to [it], [were] not such as to require the exercise of its power under Article41 of the

Statute to indicate provisional measures”.

On 29 November 2006, Uruguay submitted its own request to the Court for the indication of
provisional measures on the grounds that, since 20 November 2006, organized groups of Argentine

citizens had blockaded “a vital international bridge over the Uruguay River”, that this action was
causing it enormous economic damage and that Argentina had taken no steps to put an end to the
blockade. At the end of its request Uruguay asked the Court to order Argentina to take “all
reasonable and appropriate steps . . . to prevent or end the interruption of transit between Uruguay

and Argentina, including the blockading of bridges and roads between the two States”; to “abstain
from any measure that might aggravate, extend or make more difficult the settlement of this
dispute; and finally to abstain “from any other measure that might prejudice the rights of Uruguay
in dispute before the Court”. In an Order of 23January2007, the Court found that “the

circumstances, as they [then] present[ed] themse lves to [it], [were] not such as to require the
exercise of its power under Article 41 of the Statute to indicate provisional measures”.

In an Order of 13 July 2006, the Court fixed 15 January 2007 as the time-limit for the filing

of a Memorial by Argentina and 20July 2007 as the time-limit for the filing of a
Counter-Memorial by Uruguay. Those pleadings were filed within the time-limits thus prescribed.

In an Order of 14September2007, the C ourt fixed 29January2008 and 29July2008,

respectively, as the time-limits for the filing of a Reply by Argentina and a Rejoinder by Uruguay.
Those pleadings having been filed within the time-limits thus fixed, the case is ready for hearing.

___________

The full text of the Application filed by Arge ntina, as well as the texts of the four Orders
made by the Court in this case, are available on the Court’s website (www.icj-cij.org). However,

the written pleadings of the Parties (Memorial, Counter-Memorial, Reply and Rejoinder) remain
confidential until the Court decides to make them accessible to the public, generally at the opening
of the oral proceedings. - 3 -

*

NOTE TO THE PRESS AND PUBLIC

1. The public hearings will be held in th e Great Hall of Justice of the Peace Palace in
The Hague, Netherlands. Mobile telephones and beepers are permitted in the courtroom provided

they are switched off. Any offending device will be temporarily retained.

2. Media representatives are subject to an accreditation procedure, the details of which
can be found in the Media Advisory (2009/h) attached to this Press Release. The accreditation
procedure will close at midnight on Wednesday 9 September 2009.

3. Individual visitors (with the exception of members of the Diplomatic Corps) and groups

are subject to an admission procedure. They are kindly requested to give advance notification of
their attendance by filling out the relevant form on the C ourt’s website (to the right of the screen
under Calendar, click on “Attending a Hearing”, an d then under “Admission for individuals” or
“Admission for groups”, click on “Online Application Form”). The admission procedure will

close at midnight on Wednesday 9 September 2009.

4. Verbatim records of the hearings will be published daily on the Court’s website, with
translations to follow as soon as practicable thereafter.

___________

Information Department:

Mr. Andrey Poskakukhin, First 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)
Ms Barbara Dalsbaek, Administrative Assistant (+31 (0) 70 302 2396)