Maritime Dispute (Peru v. Chile) - The Court to hold public hearings from Monday 3 to Friday 14 December 2012

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. 2012/15
22 March 2012

Maritime Dispute (Peru v. Chile)

The Court to hold public hearings from Monday 3 to Friday 14 December 2012

THE HAGUE, 22March2012. The Internationa l Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal
judicial organ of the United Nations, will hold public hearings in the c
ase conceMaritime
Dispute (Peru v. Chile) from Monday 3to Friday 14December2012, at the Peace Palace in

The Hague, the seat of the Court.

Schedule for the hearings

First round of oral Argument

Monday 3 December 3 p.m.-6 p.m.: Peru

Tuesday 4 December 10 a.m.-1 p.m.: Peru

3 p.m.-6 p.m.: Peru

Thursday 6 December 3 p.m.-6 p.m.: Chile

Friday 7 December 10 a.m.-1 p.m.: Chile

3 p.m.-6 p.m.: Chile

Second round of oral Argument

Tuesday 11 December 10 a.m.-1 p.m.: Peru

3 p.m.-5 p.m.: Peru

Friday 14 December 10 a.m.-1 p.m.: Chile

3 p.m.-5 p.m.: Chile - 2 -

History of the proceedings

On 16 January 2008, Peru filed an Appli cation instituting proceedings against Chile.
According to the Applicant, “[t]he dispute between Peru and Chile concerns the delimitation of the
boundary between the maritime zones of the two St ates in the Pacific Ocean , beginning at a point
on the coast called Concordia according to the Treat y of 3June1929. The dispute between Peru

and Chile also involves the recognition in favour of Peru of a large maritime zone lying within
200nauticalmiles of Peru’s coast, and thus appert aining to Peru, but which Chile considers to be
part of the high seas.”

As basis for the Court’s jurisdiction, Peru invokes ArticleXXXI of the Pact of Bogotá of
30 April 1948, to which both States are parties without reservation.

By an Order of 31March2008, the Court fixed 20March2009 and 9March2010 as the

respective time-limits for the f iling of a Memorial by Peru and a Counter-Memorial by Chile.
Those pleadings were filed within the time-limits thus prescribed.

Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia, relying on Article53, paragraph1, of the Rules of Court,

requested copies of the pleadings and annexed documents produced in the case. In accordance with
that provision, the Court, after ascertaining the views of the Parties, acceded to those requests.

By an Order of 27 April 2010, the Court authorized the submission of a Reply by Peru and a

Rejoinder by Chile. It fixed 9 November 2010 a nd 11 July 2011 as the respective time-limits for
the filing of those pleadings. The Reply and Rejoinder were filed within the time-limits thus fixed.

*

Further information regarding the accreditation/ admission procedures for these hearings will

be distributed in due course.

*

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 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 - 3 -

Tribunal for Lebanon (STL, an independent judicial body composed of Lebanese and international
judges, which is not a United Nations tribunal an d 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).

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