Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Germany v. Italy: Greece intervening) - The Court to deliver its Judgment on Friday 3 February 2012 at 10 a.m. - Reading of the Judgment to be broadcast live on

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. 2012/5
27 January 2012

Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Germany v. Italy: Greece intervening)

The Court to deliver its Judgment on Friday 3 February 2012 at 10 a.m.

Reading of the Judgment to be broadcast live on the Court’s website

THE HAGUE, 27 January2012. On Friday 3 February 2012, the International Court of
Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of th e United Nations, will deliver its Judgment in the

case concerning Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Germany v. Italy: Greece intervening).

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 Judgment.

History of the proceedings

On 23 December 2008, the Federal Re public of Germany instituted proceedings before the
Court against the Italian Republic, alleging that “[t]hrough its judicial practice... Italy has
infringed and continues to infringe its obligations towards Germany under international law” (see

Press Release No. 2008/44).

In its Application, Germany statedinter alia that,

“[i]n recent years, Italian judicial bodies have repeatedly disregarded the jurisdictional
immunity of Germany as a sovereign State. The critical stage of that development

was reached by the judgment of the Corte di Cassazione of 11March2004 in the
Ferrini case, where [that court] declared that It aly held jurisdiction with regard to a
claim... brought by a person who during World WarII had been deported to
Germany to perform forced labour in the armaments industry. After this judgment had

been rendered, numerous other proceedings were instituted against Germany before
Italian courts by persons who had also su ffered injury as a consequence of the armed
conflict.”

The Ferrini judgment having been confirmed “in a series of decisions delivered on

29 May 2008 and in a further judgment of 21 Oc tober 2008”, Germany expressed its concern “that
hundreds of additional cases may be brought against it”.

Germany further recalled in its Application that enforcement measures had already been
taken against German assets in Italy: a “judi cial mortgage” on Villa Vigoni, the German-Italian

centre of cultural exchange, had been recorded in the land register. In addition to the claims
brought against it by Italian nationals, Germany also cited “attempts by Greek nationals to enforce - 2 -

in Italy a judgment obtained in Greece on account of a . . . massacre committed by German military
units during their withdrawal in 1944”.

As the basis for the jurisdiction of the Cour t, Germany invoked Article1 of the European
Convention for the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes adopted by members of the Council of Europe
on 29 April 1957, and ratified by Italy on 29 January 1960 and by Germany on 18 April 1961.

At the end of its Application, Germany requested the Court to adjudge and declare that Italy:

“(1) by allowing civil claims based on violations of international humanitarian law by

the German Reich during World WarII from September1943 to May 1945 to be
brought against the Federal Republic of Germany, committed violations of
obligations under international law in that it has failed to respect the jurisdictional
immunity which the Federal Republic of Germany enjoys under international law;

(2) by taking measures of constraint against ‘Villa Vigoni’, German State property
used for government non-commercial pur poses, also committed violations of
Germany’s jurisdictional immunity;

(3) by declaring Greek judgments based on occurrences similar to those defined above
in request No.1 enforceable in Italy, committed a further breach of Germany’s
jurisdictional immunity.

Accordingly, the Federal Republic of Germany prays the Court to adjudge and
declare that:

(4) the Italian Republic’s international responsibility is engaged;

(5) the Italian Republic must, by means of its own choosing, take any and all steps to
ensure that all the decisions of its cour ts and other judicial authorities infringing
Germany’s sovereign immunity become unenforceable;

(6) the Italian Republic must take any and all steps to ensure that in the future Italian
courts do not entertain legal actions against Germany founded on the occurrences
described in request No. 1 above.” (See Press Release No. 2008/44.)

By an Order of 29 April 2009, the Court fixed 23 June 2009 as the time-limit for the filing of
a Memorial by Germany and 23December 2009 as the time-limit for the filing of a
Counter-Memorial by Italy. Those pleadings were filed within the time-limits thus prescribed.

In Chapter VII of the Counter-Memorial filed by Italy, the Respondent, referring to Article 80 of
the Rules of Court, made a counter-claim “with respect to the question of the reparation owed to Italian
victims of grave violations of international humanitarian law committed by forces of the German

Reich” (seePress Release No. 2010/22).

On 6July2010, the Court made an Order on the counter-claim submitted by Italy. In that
Order, the Court, by thirteen votes to one, found that “the counter-claim presented by Italy...

[wa]s inadmissible as such and d[id] not form pa rt of the current proceedings”; it unanimously,
authorized Germany to submit a Reply and Italy to submit a Rejoinder, and fixed 14 October 2010
and 14January2011, respectively, as the time-limits for the filing of those pleadings. Those
pleadings were filed within the time-limits thus prescribed.

On 13 January 2011, Greece filed an Application fo r permission to intervene in the case. In
its Application, Greece stated, inter alia, that it “d[id] not seek to become a party to the case”. - 3 -

By an Order dated 4July2011, the Court granted Greece permission to intervene as a
non-party “in so far as this intervention is lim ited to the decisions of Greek courts [in the Distomo

case]” (see Press Release No. 2011/21).

Public hearings were held from Monday 12 to Friday 16September2011. During the
hearings, the delegation of the Federal Republic of Germany was led by

H.E. Ms Susanne Wasum-Rainer, Ambassador, Director-General for Legal Affairs and Legal
Adviser at the Federal Foreign Office, H.E.Mr . Heinz-Peter Behr, Ambassador of the Federal
Republic of Germany to the Kingdom of the Neth erlands and Mr.ChristianTomuschat, former
Member and Chairman of the International Law Commission, Professor emeritus of Public

International Law at the Humboldt University of Berlin, as Agents. The delegation of the Italian
Republic was led by H.E.Mr.PaoloPuccidiBe nisichi, Ambassador and State Counsellor, as
Agent; and the delegation of the Hellenic Republic was led by Mr.SteliosPerrakis, Professor of
International and European Institutions, Panteion University of Athens, as Agent.

Final submissions of the Parties

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

the Court:

For the Federal Republic of Germany:

“Germany respectfully requests the Court to adjudge and declare that the Italian
Republic:

1. by allowing civil claims based on viola tions of international humanitarian law by

the German Reich during World War II between September 1943 and May 1945 to
be brought against the Federal Republic of Germany, committed violations of
obligations under international law in that it has failed to respect the jurisdictional
immunity which the Federal Republic of Germany enjoys under international law;

2. by taking measures of constraint against ‘Villa Vigoni’, German State property
used for government non-commercial pur poses, also committed violations of
Germany’s jurisdictional immunity;

3. by declaring Greek judgments based on occurrences similar to those defined in
request No.1 enforceable in Italy, committed a further breach of Germany’s
jurisdictional immunity.

Accordingly, the Federal Republic of Germany respectfully requests the Court
to adjudge and declare that:

4. the Italian Republic’s international responsibility is engaged;

5. the Italian Republic must, by means of its own choosing, take any and all steps to
ensure that all the decisions of its cour ts and other judicial authorities infringing
Germany’s sovereign immunity become unenforceable;

6. the Italian Republic must take any and all steps to ensure that in the future Italian
courts do not entertain legal actions against Germany founded on the occurrences
described in request No. 1 above.”

For the Italian Republic:

“[F]or the reasons given in [its] written and oral pleadings, [Italy requests] that

the Court adjudge and hold the claims of the Applicant to be unfounded. This request - 4 -

is subject to the qualification that... Ialy has no objection to any decision by the
Court obliging Italy to ensure that the mortgage on Villa Vigoni inscribed at the land

registry is cancelled”.

*

Intervention of Greece

Greece presented its oral observations to the Court on Wednesday 14 September 2011.

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.

2. Media representatives are subject to an online accreditation procedure , details of
which can be found in the Media Advisory (2012/b) attached to this Press Release. The
accreditation procedure will close at midnight on Wednesday 1 February 2012.

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 Wednesday 1 February 2012.

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 3 May 2012.

___________

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

___________

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 - 5 -

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 court open only to States for cont entious proceedings and to certain organs and
institutions of the United Nations system for 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 Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY, an ad hoc court created by the
Security Council), the International Criminal Court (ICC, the first permanent international criminal

court established by treaty, which does not belong to the United Nations system), the Special
Tribunal for Lebanon (STL, an independent judi cial 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 in stitution founded in 1899,

which is independent of the United Nations).

___________

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) 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

2012/b No.

Media advisory

Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Germany v. Italy: Greece intervening)

Accreditation procedure for the reading of the Court’s Judgment

to be held on Friday 3 February 2012

The reading of the Judgment will be broadcast live and in full

Media representatives are required to fill outhe online accreditation form on the Court’s
website (www.icj-cij.org). Applications for accreditation must reach the Court by midnight
on Wednesday 1February2012 . Only online application forms will be accepted. Each
application will be checked by the Information De partment, and replies will be sent by e-mail.
Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.

Entry to the Peace Palace

Media representatives must bring with them their personal ID and press card. They are
asked to arrive at the Peace Palace gates between 8.30 and 9.30a.m. Only duly accredited
individuals with valid identification will be permitted to enter the Peace Palace grounds.

No parking is allowed in the Peace Palace grounds apart from satellite vehicles. Media
wishing to park satellite vehicles are requested tofill in the appropriate fields in the online
accreditation form.

Great Hall of Justice

Tables reserved for media representatives are located on the far left of the Great Hall of
Justice. However, photographers and camera crews are only permitte d to enter the room for a few
minutes at the start of the sitting. Photographers and camera crews must keep to the right side of
the Great Hall.

Press room

Proceedings will be transmitted live to the Press Room in English and French. The room is
equipped with Wi-Fi and modem internet access. Live video and audio feeds are available via the

breakout box (PAL video output). The Press room will be open between 8.30 a.m. and 4 p.m. on
the day of the sittingPlease note that all media representatives must leave the Peace Palace
grounds by 4 p.m. - 2 -

Live webcast

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 3 May 2012.

___________

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)