Certain Activities Carried Out by Nicaragua in the Border Area (Costa Rica v. Nicaragua)   Construction of a Road in Costa Rica along the San Juan River (Nicaragua v. Costa Rica) - Examination of expe

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

2015/10 No.

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

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

Examination of experts during the public hearings

THE HAGUE, 10 April 2015. During the public hearings due to open on Tuesday
14April2015 at the International Court of Jus tice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the
UnitedNations, experts have been called by th e Parties in the joined cases concerning Certain
Activities carried out by Nicaragua in the Bo rder Area (Costa Ricav. Nicaragua) and the
Construction of a Road in Costa Rica along the San Juan River (Nicaragua v. Costa Rica).

These experts will be examined during the sessions on Tuesday14April, from 3p.m. to
6 p.m., Friday 17 April 2015 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday 20 April 2015 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
and from 3p.m. to 6p.m., and Friday 24April, from 10a.m. to 1p.m. and, if necessary, from
3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The schedule for the hearings can be found in press release No. 2015/9 of 30 March 2015.

History of the proceedings and admission procedures

The history of the proceedings may be found in the Annual Report of the Court for
2013-2014 (paras. 117-129 and 145-155), available on the Court’s website (www.icj-cij.org) under
the heading “The Court”.

All information regarding admission proce dures for members of the diplomatic corps,

members of the public and media representativ es can be found in press release No.2015/7 of
16 February 2015.

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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. Th e Court is composed of 15judges elected for a - 2 -

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 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 Yu goslavia (ICTY, an adhoc court created by the
Security Council), the International Criminal Court (ICC, the first permanent international criminal
court, established by treaty, which does not belo ng 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 a nd 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 fac ilitates their work, in acco rdance 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)