Application of the Interim Accord of 13 September 1995 (the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia v. Greece) - The Court to deliver its Judgment on Monday 5 December 2011 at 10 a.m.

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. 2011/35
24 November 2011

Application of the Interim Accord of 13 September 1995
(the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia v. Greece)

The Court to deliver its Judgment on Monday 5 December 2011 at 10 a.m.

THE HAGUE, 24 November2011. On Monday 5 December 2011, the International Court
of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, will deliver its Judgment in the
case concerning Application of the Interim Accord of 13September1995 (the former Yugoslav

Republic of Macedonia v. Greece).

A public sitting will take place at the Peace Palace in The Hague, during which the President
of the Court, Judge Hisashi Owada, will read the Court’s Judgment.

History of proceedings

On 17November2008, the former Yugoslav Re public of Macedonia instituted proceedings
against Greece for what it described as “a flag rant violation of [Greece’s] obligations under
Article 11” of the Interim Accord signed by th e Parties on 13 September 1995” (see Press Release
No. 2011/4).

By an Order of 20 January 2009, the Court fixed 20 July 2009 as the time-limit for the filing
of a Memorial by the former Yugoslav Re public of Macedonia and 20January2010 as the
time-limit for the filing of a Counter-Memorial by Greece. Those pleadings were filed within the
time-limits thus prescribed.

On 9 March 2010, the Government of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia expressed
a desire to be able to respond to the Counter-Memorial of Greece and the objections to jurisdiction
and admissibility contained therein by means of a Reply, and to have available for that purpose a
time-limit of approximately four and a half mont hs as from the filing of the Counter-Memorial.
The Government of Greece had no objection to the gr anting of this request, provided that it could

in turn submit a Rejoinder and would have an identical time-limit available for doing so.

Taking account of the agreement of the Parties,by an Order of 12March2010, the Court
authorized the submission of a Reply by th e former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and a
Rejoinder by Greece. It fixed 9June2010 and 27October2010 as the respective time-limits for

the filing of those pleadings. The Reply and the Rejoinder were filed within the time-limits thus
prescribed. - 2 -

Public hearings were held from Monday 21 March to Wednesday 30 March 2011. During the
hearings the delegation of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was led by

H.E.Mr.AntonioMiloshoski, then Minister for Foreign Affairs of the former Yugoslav Republic
of Macedonia, as Agent and H.E.Mr.Nikola Dimi trov, Ambassador of the former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, as Co-Agent. The delegation of Greece
was led by H.E. Mr. Georges Savvaides, Ambassador, and Ms Maria Telalian, Legal Adviser, Head

of the Public International Law Section of the Le gal Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as
Agents.

Submissions of the Parties

At the end of the oral proceedings, the Par ties presented the following final submissions to
the Court:

For the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia:

“On the basis of the evidence and legal arguments presented in its written and oral pleadings,
the Applicant requests the Court:

(i)to reject the Respondent’s objections as to the jurisdiction of the Court and the
admissibility of the Applicant’s claims;

(ii) to adjudge and declare that the Responde nt, through its State organs and Agents, has

violated its obligations under Article 11, paragraph 1, of the Interim Accord; and

(iii) to order that the Respondent immediatel y take all necessary steps to comply with its
obligations under Article11, pa ragraph1, of the Interim Accord, and to cease and desist

from objecting in any way, whether directly or indirectly, to the Applicant’s membership
of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and/or of any other ‘international, multilateral
and regional organizations a nd institutions’ of which the Respondent is a member, in
circumstances where the Applicant is to be re ferred to in such organization or institution

by the designation provided for in paragra ph2 of United Nations Security Council
resolution 817 (1993).”

For Greece:

“On the basis of the preceding evidence and legal arguments presented in its written and oral
pleadings, the Respondent, the Hellenic Republic, requests the Court to adjudge and declare:

(i) that the case brought by the Applicant before the Court does not fall within the jurisdiction
of the Court and that the Applicant’s claims are inadmissible;

(ii) in the event that the Court finds that it h as jurisdiction and that the claims are admissible,

that the Applicant’s claims are unfounded.”

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NOTE TO THE PRESS AND PUBLIC

1. The public sitting will be held in the Great Hall of Justice of the Peace Palace. Mobile

telephones are permitted in the courtroom provided they are switched off. - 3 -

2. Media representatives are subject to an online accreditation procedure , details of
which can be found in the Media Advisory (2011/l) attached to this Press Release. The

accreditation procedure will close at midnight on Thursday 1 December 2011.

3. Individual visitors (with the exception of members of the Diplomatic Corps) and groups
are subject to an online admission procedure. They are kindly requested to fill out the relevant
form on the Court’s website (click on “Attending a Hearing”). The admission procedure will
close at midnight on Thursday 1 December 2011.

4. At the end of the sitting, a Press Release, a summary of the Judgment and the full text of
the Judgment will be distributed. All of these docum ents will be made available at the same time
on the Court’s website.

5. The public sitting will be broadcast live and in full on the Court’s website
(www.icj-cij.org), via the “multimedia” link, from 10 a.m. local time.

Those later wishing to access the recorded webcast of the reading are invited to click on the

temporary “Video On Demand” (VOD) link featured on the Court’s website. This link will be
deactivated three months after the reading, at midnight on 5 March 2012.

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Note: The Court’s press releases do not constitute official documents.

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The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.
It was established by the United Nations Char ter in June1945 and began its activities in

April1946. The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). Of the six
principal organs of the United Nations, it is the only one not located in New York. The Court has a
twofold role: first, to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by
States (its judgments have binding force and are without appeal for the parties concerned); and,

second, to give advisory opinions on legal questi ons referred to it by duly authorized United
Nations organs and agencies of the system. The Court is composed of 15judges elected for a
nine-year term by the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations. It is
assisted by a Registry, its international secretariat, whose activities are both judicial and diplomatic,

as well as administrative. The official languages of the Court are French and English.

The ICJ, a civil court open only to States for contentious proceedings and to certain organs
and institutions of the United Nations system fo r advisory proceedings, should not be confused

with the other ⎯ mostly criminal ⎯ judicial institutions based in The Hague and adjacent areas,
such as the International Criminal Tri bunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY, an ad hoc court
created by the Security Council), the Internati onal Criminal Court (ICC, the first permanent

international criminal court established by treat y, which does not belong to the United Nations
system), the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL, an independent judicial institution composed of
Lebanese and international judges, which is not a United Nations tribunal and does not form part of
the Lebanese judicial system), or the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), an institution founded

in 1899, which is independent of the United Nations.

___________ - 4 -

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)