Jurisdiction and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (Belgium v. Switzerland) - Fixing of time-limits for the filing of the initial written pleadings

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. 2010/2
17 February 2010

Jurisdiction and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters

(Belgium v. Switzerland)

Fixing of time-limits for the filing of the initial written pleadings

THE HAGUE, 17 February 2010. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), principal judicial
organ of the United Nations, has fixed the time-limits for the filing of the initial written pleadings
in the case concerning Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial
Matters (Belgium v. Switzerland).

By Order of 4February2010, the Court has fixed 23August2010 as the time-limit for the
filing of a Memorial by the Kingdom of Belgium and 25 April 2011 as the time-limit for the filing
of a Counter-Memorial by the Swiss Confederation.

The time-limits were set taking into account th e wish of the Belgian and Swiss Governments
to see the case dealt with as soon as possible. ThAgents came to an agr eement that the Parties

should each have a period of eight months at theidisposal, from the filing of the Application, in
which to prepare their respective written pleadings.

The subsequent procedure was reserved for further decision.

History of the proceedings

For the history of the proceedings, please see Press Release2009/36 of 22December2009,
which is available on the Court’s website (www.icj-cij.org) and can be found by clicking on “Press
Room” or “Cases”.

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The full text of the Court’s Order will soon be available on its website. Readers are
reminded that written pleadings remain confidential until such time as the Court decides to make
them available to the public, generally at the opening of the oral proceedings.

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Information Department:
Mr. Andrey Poskakukhin, First Secretary of the Court, Head of Department (+31 (0)70 302 2336)

Mr. Boris Heim, Information Officer (+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)