LeurinternationeeJustice
EnregistrauGreffel:
InternatioClourtofJustice.
FiledintheRegistryo:j O JAN ~. ~~4/29
ROYAL MINISTRY
OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
I
H.E. Mr.Mppe Couvreur
The Registrarofthe InternationalCourtofJustice
Peace Palace
25i7 KJThe Hague
TheNetherlands
Youref oilrrd Date
30January2004
Request for anadvisoryopinion pursuant foUnited Nations Gend Assembly
Resolution ALRE?3/ES 1-0/14
Actinguponinstructions,1have thehonour tohereby submitwithinthe tirne-limitof30
January 2004a writtenstatementonbehalfofthe Governent of Nmay, subsequent
tothe invitationcontainin theorder dated19December2003ofthe International
CourtofJustice regardingtherequestforanadvisoryopiniononthe questionofthe
Legal ConsequenceosftheConsrîuctioofa Wallin theOccupiedPalestini T en -toy.
Thepositionofthe GovermnentofNorway withregard tothe questionofthe legalityof
Israel'scanstructionofthwallalsoreferred to asasecuriQfenceorbarrier, inthe
OccupiedPalestinianTerritory,includingiand aroundEastJerusalem,has been made
unequivocallyclearonrepeated occasions.
Norway votedinfavourof GenmalAssemblyresolutionA/RES/lES-10/13w , hichwas
adoptedon21October2003.According to paragraph1ofthatresolution,the
constructionofthewallinthe saidareasisin departureofthe ArmisticeLineof1949
anilis in contradiction torelevant provofinternationallaw.Therefore, the
GeneralAssemblydemandsthat Israelstop andreverseitsconstruction.
Itiinterali alsonoted thatthe tenthprearnbulparagraphofthisresolution
expresses particularconcemthatheroute marked outforthe wallunder construction
byIsrael,the occupyingPower,inthe OccupiedPalestinianTenitory, includin and
lJostdaddress: Officeaddress:Banpaymcnk Tek+42'24300 Reference:
POBox811Deo 7.iuplas1 li345.OSOZS22 Fax47 2224M/81 blf EinarFifcaroundEastJerusalem, couldprejudgefuturenegotiationsandmakethe twoState
solutionphysicallyimpossiWetoimplementandwouldcausefurther humanitarian
hardship tothePalestinians.
Moreover,the GeneralAssemblyreiteratesinthe eleventhpreambula. paragraphits
cd upon Israel,the occupyingPower,tofullandeffectivelyrespect the Geneva
Conventionrelativetothe ProtectionofCiviliaPersonsinTime ofWar of12August
1949(UnitedNations,Treaty Seriesvol.75,No.973).
The positionofthe Governent ofNomayhas aisobeenexpressed inother
statements,includinginNorway'sstatement totheUnitedNations Senuity Councilon
14October2003,whereitwasnotedthatthe rouüngafthe secondphase ofthe wallin
mostplacesillegallyms deepintotheWest Bank.
The consistentpositionofthe Government ofNorwayonthe questionofthelegalityof
the aboveIsraeliactionshas mostrecently beenstatedinthe NorwegianParliamentby
ForeignMinister,Mr. Jan Petersen,on29January 2004.
The NorwegianGovemmenthas alsoexpressedits doubtsand concernsregardingthe
proprietyandpossibleconsequencesofthe submissionbythe GeneralAssemblyofa
request foranadvisoryopinion,asset outinGeneralAssemhiyresolutionA/RES/ES
10/14,which was adopted on8 December 2003.Norwaywastherefore amongthe 74
member Stateswhichabstainedduring the voteonthisresolution.The considerable
number ofabstentiansaddedtonegativevotes,mayrded such doubts andconcerns.
Onitspart.,theviewsofNorwayinthisrespectweremadeknown, asNorwaywas
alignedwiththedeclarationmade by the Presidencyofthe CounciloftheEuropean
Unionafterthe adoptionofthe resolutim.
Inthe viewofNorwaythe requestwasinappropriateandwouldnotheipthe effortsof
the twopartiestorelaunch apoliticaldialogue.
Pariicularreferenceimade, inthiscontext,toeffortto achieva negotiated
settlementbased uponthe roadmap (UNDoc.S/2003/529)drawnupby SieQuartetof
the United Nations,theEuropeanUnion,the hssian Federation andthe UnitedStates
ofAmerica, andendorsedbythe SecurityCouncilinitsunanirnouslyadoptedresolution
1515(2003).Nmay stands by thevisionasstatedinthe resolutionof"aregionwhere
twoStates,Israel and Palestine,Evesiby side withîsecureand recognized
borders".Againstthe abovebackgroundN , omay trusts thal elevantfactorswiUbe takeninto
accouniby the InternationalCouofJusticewhen consideringtheexerciseofits
discretimarypowersunderArticle65,paragraph1 ofits %tute.
Ro E' arFife
~e$&sentativeofthe Kingdomof Norway
Letter dated 30 January 2004 from the Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway