Certain Criminal Proceedings in France (Republic of the Congo v. France) Case removed from the Court's List at the request of the Republic of the Congo

INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE

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Tel.: +31 (0)70 302 2323 Fax: +31 (0)70 364 9928
Website: www.icj-cij.org

Press Release
Unofficial

No. 2010/36
17 November 2010

Certain Criminal Proceedings in France (Republic of the Congo v. France)

Case removed from the Court’s List at the request of the Republic of the Congo

THE HAGUE, 17 November 2010. By an Order dated 16 November, the International Court
of Justice(ICJ), the principal judicial ogan of the United Nations, has removed the case
concerning Certain Criminal Proceedings in France (Republic of the Congo v. France) from its
General List, at the request of the Republic of the Congo.

B y letter dated 5 November 2010 and received in the Registry the same day by facsimile, the
Agent of the Republic of the Congo, referring to Article89 of the Rules of Court, informed the
Court that his Government “ withdraws its Application instituting proceedings” and requested the
Court “to make an order officially recording the discontinuance of the proceedings and directing
the removal of the case from the list”.

A copy of that letter was immediately comm unicated to the Government of the French
Republic, which was informed that the time-limit pr ovided for in Article89, paragraph2, of the
Rules of Court, within which the French Republic might state whether it opposed the
discontinuance of the proceedings, had been fixed as 12 November 2010.

By letter dated 8 November 2010 and received in the Registry the same day by facsimile, the
Agent of the French Republic informed the Cour t that her Government “has no objection to the
discontinuance of the proceedings by the Republic of the Congo”.

On 16 November 2010, the Court, placing on record the discontinuance by the Republic of
the Congo of the proceedings, ordered that the case be removed from the List.

*

History of the proceedings

On 9December2002, the Congo filed an Application whereby it sought to introduce
proceedings against France seeking the annulment of the investigation a nd prosecution measures

taken by the French judicial authorities furthe r to a complaint for crimes against humanity and
torture filed by various associations against the President of the Republic of the Congo,
DenisSassouNguesso, the Congolese Minister of the Interior, PierreOba, and other individuals - 2 -

including General Norbert Dabira, Inspector-G eneral of the Congolese Armed Forces. The
Application further stated that, in connection with these proceedings, an investigating judge of the

Meaux Tribunal de grande instance had issued a warrant for the President of the Republic of the
Congo to be examined as witness. The Congo cont ended 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 by him in connection with

the exercise of his powers for the maintenance of public order in his country”, France had 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 aut hority on the territory of another State”. The
Congo further submitted that, in issuing a warrant instructing police officers to examine the

President of the Republic of the Congo as witness in the case, France had violated “the criminal
immunity of a foreign Head of State, an international customary rule recognized by the
jurisprudence of the Court”.

In its Application, the Congo indicated that it was seeking to found the jurisdiction of the
Court, pursuant to Article38, paragraph5, of th e Rules of Court, “on the consent of the French
Republic, which w[ould] certainly be given”. In accordance with that provision, the Application by
the Congo was transmitted to the French Govern ment and no further action was taken in the

proceedings at that stage.

By a letter dated 8 April 2003 and received in the Registry on 11 April 2003, France stated
that it “consent[ed] to the jurisdiction of the Co urt to entertain the Application pursuant to

Article 38, paragraph 5”. This c onsent made it possible to enter th e case in the Court’s List and to
open the proceedings. In its letter, France added th at its consent to the Court’s jurisdiction applied
strictly within the limits “of the claims form ulated 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 of the Congo, to which the latter refers in its Application, does not constitute a
basis of jurisdiction for the Court in the present case”.

The Application 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 investigating judge of the Meaux Tribunal de grande instance”.

Public hearings were held on the request for the indication of a provisional measure on

28 and 29 April 2003. In its Order of 17 June 2003, the Court declared that the circumstances, as
they then presented themselves to it, were not su ch as to require the exercise of its power under
Article 41 of the Statute to indicate provisional measures.

The Memorial of the Congo and the Counter-Memorial of France were filed within the
time-limits fixed by the Order of 11 July 2003.

By an Order of 17 June 2004, the Court, ta king account of the agreement of the Parties and

of the particular circumstances of the case, author ized the submission of a Reply by the Congo and
a Rejoinder by France, and fixed the time-limits for the filing of those pleadings. Following four
successive requests for extensions of the time-limit for filing the Reply, the President of the Court
fixed the time-limits for the filing of the Reply by the Congo and the Rejoinder by France as

11 July 2006 and 11 August 2008, respectively. Those pleadings were filed within the time-limits
thus extended.

By an Order of 16November2009, the Court, specifically citing Article101 of the Rules of

Court and taking account of the ag reement of the Parties and the exceptional circumstances of the case,
authorized the submission of an additional pleading by the Congo, followed by an additional pleading
by France. It fixed 16February2010 and 17May2010 as the respective time-limits for the filing of

those pleadings, which were filed within the time-limits thus fixed. - 3 -

By letter dated 9 February 2010, the Registrari,nter alia, informed the Parties that the Court had
fixed Monday 6 December 2010 as the date for tehopening of the oral proceedings in the case.

___________

The full text of the Order of 16 November 2010 will be available shortly on the Court’s website.

___________

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 Genoveva Madurga, Administrative Assistant (+31 (0)70 302 2396)