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. 2009/34
11 December 2009
Accordance with International Law of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence
by the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government of Kosovo
(Request for Advisory Opinion)
Conclusion of public hearings
Court ready to begin its deliberation
THE HAGUE, 11 December 2009. The public hearings on the question of the Accordance
with International Law of the Unilateral Decl aration of Independence by the Provisional
Institutions of Self-Government of Kosovo (request for advisory opinion) were concluded today.
The Court is now ready to begin its deliberation.
During the hearings, which opened on 1Dece mber 2009 at the Peace Palace, seat of the
Court, oral statements were presented (in the following order):
⎯ on behalf of the Republic of Serbia, by: H.E.Mr.Dušan T.Batakovi ć, (PhD in History,
University of Paris ⎯ Sorbonne, ParisIV), Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia to France,
Vice-Director of the Institute for Balkan Studi es and Assistant Professor at the University of
Belgrade, Head of Delegation; MrV. ladimir Djeri ć, S.J.D. (Michigan), Attorney
at Law, Mikijelj Jankovi ć & Bogdanovi ć, Belgrade, Counsel and Advocate;
ProfessorDr. ndreasZimmermann, LL.M. (Harvard), Professor of International Law,
University of Potsdam, Director of the Pots dam Center of Human Rights, Member of the
Permanent Court of Arbitration, Counsel and Advocate; Professor Malcolm N. Shaw Q.C.,
Sir Robert Jennings, Professor of International Law, University of Leicester, United Kingdom,
Counsel and Advocate; Professor Marcelo G. Kohen, Professor of International Law, Graduate
Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, Associate Member of the Institut
de droit international, Counsel and Advocate; Mr.Saša Obradovi ć, Inspector General in the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, Deputy Head of Delegation;
⎯ on behalf of the authors of the Unilateral Decl aration of Independence, by:
H.E.Mr.SkenderHyseni, Head of Delegation; SirMichael Wood, KCMG, member of the
English Bar, Member of the International Law Commission, Counsel; Mr.Daniel Müller,
Researcher at the Centre de droit international de Nanterre (CEDIN), University of Paris Ouest,
Nanterre-LaDéfense, Counsel; ProfessorSeanD.Murphy, Patricia Roberts Harris Research
Professor of Law, George Washington University, Counsel; - 2 -
⎯ on behalf of the Republic of Albania, by: H.E. Mr. Gazmend Barbullushi, Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Albania to the Kingdom of the Netherlands;
Professor Jochen A. Frowein, MCL, Director emeritus of the Max-Planck Institute for
International Law, Professor emeritus of the Univ ersity of Heidelberg, Member of the Institute
of International Law, Legal Adviser (who also presented the conclusions); Professor Terry D.
Gill, Professor of Military Law at the University of Amsterdam and Associate Professor of
Public International Law at Utrecht University, Legal Adviser;
⎯ on behalf of the Federal Repub lic of Germany, by: MsSusanneWasum-Rainer, Legal
Adviser, Federal Foreign Office, Berlin;
⎯ on behalf of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , by: H.E. Mr. Abdullah A. Alshaghrood,
Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Head of
Delegation;
⎯ on behalf of the Argentine Republic, by: H.E. Madam Susana Ruiz Cerutti, Ambassador, Head
of the Legal Adviser Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Head of Delegation;
⎯ on behalf of the Republic of Austria, by: H. E. Mr. Helmut Tichy, Ambassador, Deputy Legal
Adviser, Federal Ministry of European and International Affairs;
⎯ on behalf of the Republic of Azerbaijan, by: H.E.Mr.Agshin Mehdiyev, Ambassador and
Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan to the United Nations in New York;
⎯ on behalf of the Republic of Belarus, by: H.E.MadamElenaGritsenko, Ambassador of the
Republic of Belarus to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Head of Delegation;
⎯ on behalf of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, by: H.E.Mr.Roberto Calzadilla Sarmiento,
Ambassador of the Plurinational State of Bolivia to the Kingdom of the Netherlands;
⎯ on behalf of the Federative Republic of Brazil, by: H.E.Mr.José Artur Denot Medeiros,
Ambassador of Brazil to the Kingdom of the Netherlands;
⎯ on behalf of the Republic of Bulgaria, by: Dr.Zlatko Dimitroff (S.J.D.), Director of the
International Law Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Head of Delegation;
⎯ on behalf of the Republic of Burundi, by: Ma ître Thomas Barankitse, Legal Attaché;
Mr.Jeand’Aspremont, Associate Professor, Universities of Amsterdam and of Louvain,
Counsel;
⎯ on behalf of the People’s Republic of China, by: H.E. Madam Xue Hanqin, Ambassador to the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) , Legal Counsel of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Member of the International Law Commission, Member of the Institut de droit
international, Head of Delegation;
⎯ on behalf of the Republic of Cyprus, by: H.E.Mr.James Droushiotis, Ambassador of the
Republic of Cyprus to the Kingdom of the Netherlands; Professor Vaughan Lowe Q.C.,
member of the English Bar, Chichele Professor of International Law, University of Oxford,
Counsel and Advocate; Mr. Polyvios G. Polyviou, Counsel and Advocate; - 3 -
⎯ on behalf of the Republic of Croatia, by: H.E. MadamAndreja Metelko-Zgombi ć,
Ambassador, Chief Legal Adviser in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration
of the Republic of Croatia;
⎯ on behalf of the Kingdom of Denmark, by: H.EA . mbassador Thomas Winkler,
Under-Secretary for Legal Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Head of Delegation;
⎯ on behalf of the Kingdom of Spain, by: Pr ofessor Concepción Escobar Hernández, Legal
Adviser, Head of the International Law Depa rtment, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
Co-operation, Head of Delegation and Advocate;
⎯ on behalf of the United States of America, by: Mr.Harold Hongju Koh, Legal Adviser, U.S.
Department of State, Head of Delegation and Advocate;
⎯ on behalf of the Russian Federation, by: H.E. Mr. Kirill Gevorgian, Ambassador, Head of the
Legal Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Head of Delegation;
⎯ on behalf of the Republic of Finland, by: MsPäivi Kaukoranta, Dire ctor General, Legal
Service, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Professor Martti Koskenniemi, University of Helsinki;
⎯ on behalf of the French Republic, by: Ms Edwige Belliard, Director of Legal Affairs, Ministry
of Foreign and European Affairs; Mr.Math ias Forteau, Professor at the University of
Paris Ouest, Nanterre-La Défense;
⎯ on behalf of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, by: H.R.H. Prince Zeid Raad Zeid Al Hussein,
Ambassador of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to the United States of Amer
ica, Head of
Delegation;
⎯ on behalf of the Kingdom of Norway, by: Mr. Rolf Einar Fife, Director General, Legal Affairs
Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Head of Delegation;
⎯ on behalf of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, by: Dr.LiesbethLijnzaad, Legal Adviser,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands;
⎯ on behalf of Romania, by: Mr.Bogdan Aurescu , Secretary of State, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs; Mr. Cosmin Dinescu, Director-General for Legal Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
⎯ on behalf of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, by:
Mr. Daniel Bethlehem Q.C., Legal Adviser to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office,
Representative of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Counsel and
Advocate; Mr.JamesCrawford, S.C., Whewell Pr ofessor of International Law, University of
Cambridge, Member of the Institut de droit international, Counsel and Advocate;
⎯ on behalf of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, by Dr. Alejandro Fleming, Deputy Minister
for Europe of the Ministry of Popular Power for Foreign Affairs;
⎯ on behalf of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, by: H.E. Dr. jur. Nguyen Thi Hoang Anh,
Director-General of the Department of International Law and Treaties, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs. - 4 -
History of the proceedings
For the history of the proceedings, see Press Re lease 2009/27 of 29 July 2009, available on
the Court’s website (www.icj-cij.org).
The verbatim records of the hearings held between 1 and 11 December 2009, along with still
pictures and video clips of the proceedings, are also available on the website.
___________
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)
Accordance with International Law of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence by the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government of Kosovo (Request for Advisory Opinion) - Conclusion of public hearings - Court ready to begin its deliberation