Alleged Violations of Sovereign Rights and Maritime Spaces in the Caribbean Sea (Nicaragua v. Colombia) - Conclusion of public hearings on the Preliminary Objections raised by the Republic of Colombia

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. 2015/25
2 October 2015

Alleged Violations of Sovereign Rights and Maritime Spaces in
the Caribbean Sea (Nicaragua v. Colombia)

Conclusion of public hearings on the Preliminary Objections
raised by the Republic of Colombia

Court to begin its deliberation

THE HAGUE, 2 October 2015. The public hearings on the preliminary objections raised by
the Republic of Colombia in the case concerning Alleged Violations of Sovereign Rights and
Maritime Spaces in the Caribbean Sea (Nicaragua v. Colombia) were concluded today. The Court
will now begin its deliberation.

During the hearings, which opened on Monday 28 September 2015 at the Peace Palace,
seat of the Court, the delegation of the Republic of Colombia was led by
H.E. Mr. Carlos Gustavo Arrieta Padilla, former Judge of the Council of State of Colombia,
former Attorney General of Colombia and former Ambassador of Colombia to the Kingdom of

the Netherlands, as Agent; and the delegation of the Republic of Nicaragua was led by
H.E. Mr. Carlos José Argüello Gómez, Ambassador of the Republic of Nicaragua to the Kingdom
of the Netherlands, as Agent and Counsel.

The Court’s judgment on the preliminary objections will be delivered at a public sitting, the
date of which will be announced in due course.

Submissions of the Parties

At the end of the hearings, the Agents of the Parties presented the following submissions to

the Court:

For the Republic of Colombia:

“For the reasons set forth in our written and oral pleadings on preliminary objections, the
Republic of Colombia requests the Court to adjudge and declare that it lacks jurisdiction over the
proceedings brought by Nicaragua in its Application of 26 November 2013 and that said
Application should be dismissed.” - 2 -

For the Republic of Nicaragua:

“In view of the reasons Nicaragua has presented in its Written Observations and during the
hearings, the Republic of Nicaragua requests the Court to reject the preliminary objections of the
Republic of Colombia and to proceed with the examination of the merits of the case.”

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Internal judicial practice of the Court with respect to deliberations

Deliberations take place in private in accordance with the following procedure. The Court
first holds a preliminary deliberation, during which the President outlines the issues which, in his
opinion, require discussion and decision by the Court. A full deliberation is subsequently held, at
the end of which a drafting committee is chosen by secret ballot, taking account of the views

expressed. That committee consists in principle of two judges holding the majority view of the
Court, together with the President, unless it appears that his views are in the minority. The
committee prepares a preliminary draft text, which is the subject of written amendments. Two
further drafts are then produced in turn, each of which is subject to a detailed reading. In the
meantime, judges who wish to do so may prepare a declaration, a separate opinion or a dissenting
opinion, which are communicated to the other judges. The final vote is taken after adoption of the
final text of the judgment at the second reading.

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Note: The Court’s press releases do not constitute official documents. The complete
verbatim records of the hearings held from 28 September to 2 October 2015 are published on the
website of the Court (www.icj-cij.org).

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History of the proceedings

The history of the proceedings may be found in the Annual Report of the Court for
2013-2014 (paras. 175-183) and press releases 2014/34 of 22 December 2014 and 2015/20 of
31 July 2015, all of which are available on the Court’s website (www.icj-cij.org).

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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 - 3 -

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 international judicial body with an independent legal personality,
established by the United Nations Security Council upon the request of the Lebanese Government
and composed of Lebanese and international judges), 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)