Construction of a Road in Costa Rica along the San Juan River (Nicaragua v. Costa Rica) Certain Activities carried out by Nicaragua in the Border Area (Costa Rica v. Nicaragua) - The Court authorizes

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. 2014/5
6 February 2014

Construction of a Road in Costa Rica along the San Juan River
(Nicaragua v. Costa Rica)

Certain Activities carried out by Nicaragua in the Border Area
(Costa Rica v. Nicaragua)

The Court authorizes the submission of a Reply by Nicaragua and a Rejoinder by Costa Rica
and fixes time-limits for the filing of these pleadings

THE HAGUE, 6 February 2014. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal
judicial organ of the United Nations, has authorized the submission of a Reply by the Republic of
Nicaragua and a Rejoinder by the Republic of Costa Rica in the case concerning Construction of a
Road in Costa Rica along the San Juan River (Nicaragua v. Costa Rica), which has been joined

with the case concerning Certain Activities carried out by Nicaragua in the Border Area (Costa
Rica v. Nicaragua).

By an Order of 3 February 2014, the Court fixed 4 August 2014 and 2 February 2015 as the
respective time-limits for the filing of these written pleadings.

The Court made this Order taking account of the need for Nicaragua to be able to make, in
an appropriate manner, such observations as it wishes on the new material produced by Costa Rica
in its Counter-Memorial, and of the need for Costa Rica to be able to present its views on those
observations in identical conditions.

The subsequent procedure was reserved for further decision.

History of the proceedings

The history of the proceedings may be found in the Annual Report of the Court for
2012-2013 (paras. 170-190 and 207-216) and in Press Releases Nos. 2013/23, 2013/27, 2013/28,
2013/32, 2013/35 and 2013/39, available on the Court’s website (www.icj-cij.org) under the
heading “Press Room”/“Press Releases”.

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

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

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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 Charter in June 1945 and began its activities in

April 1946. 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 questions referred to it by duly authorized United
Nations organs and agencies of the system. The Court is composed of 15 judges elected for a
nine-year term by the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations.

Independent of the United Nations Secretariat, it is assisted by a Registry, its own international
secretariat, whose activities are both judicial and diplomatic, as well as administrative. The official
languages of the Court are French and English. Also known as the “World Court”, it is the only
court of a universal character with general jurisdiction.

The ICJ, a court open only to States for contentious 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 judicial body 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 independent institution which assists in

the establishment of arbitral tribunals and facilitates their work, in accordance with the Hague
Convention of 1899).

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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)