Reply of Austria to question posed by Judge Cançado Trindade
at the close of the oral proceedings

22-12-2009 17:ss P.02

INTERîNA.TIONAI~COURT OltJUSTlCE

R~ëst,fir:·an Advisory Opinion

:r.'ls:JlYnîlatettl ëclaranonof-1ndepe1Ule,itëby th:e'Provisional

ln~tîtütioniQfSeljJGtJvemmen tf Kosovo·inaccotdance. with

.intirrttatioiw.l ?''

l(EPJJµ()Fl1iE GoVERNMENT OF AUSTRIA TO AiDDJTION~~

QIJÈS1:I0NS BYTHE COURT

Vienna,,: ecember 200922-12-2009 17:59 P.03

With rèferepce cp,the:Registr.ar'snote of 11.December 2009 A).l.Striawolild Iike to submitthe
followingreply,to.the guestronsaddressed hy Judge Cança.do,Trindade to aU participant1in
the·oral proceedings. white referrîitoits,previous written and oralstaterb.ents:

The: first question put bJud~~ C~çatici Triildade relatesto the ~ferenŒ by United Nations

Security Ccmncil:Resolmion 1244 UWX,) i).itsparagraph 11 (a), to "su.bstantialautonomy
ànd self-gove~nt in .KéS'ovo ,aking fun account ... of the Rambouillet accords'?_ [n
pmticil!ar~ it asks for the mèanm2 tifthis:renvioi ta the Rambouillet Accord._i..

Austria w~shes t.;replyto this. qq~tiŒ;i.by teferring tothe meeting records of the,Security

è:ciuncirelati:c-tot·e prepâratioziand_:ajioptioof Resolution 1244, which help toclarifythe
niè~ning of therèferênc ·tei:HhR.ambeii#lleAt ccords.Forex.amplei ,n hi.sstatemencafterthe
·adoption of th~ Resolt.itiorC the ·~p~s~tative of France, Alain Dejammet. explained the
· relevance of tfj.eRambotiillëAcco~s :~ich.: despite Belgrade' s rejection "laid out a future
for Kosovo"'. Allli.oughthe Rainoou.i'.i :eçords did not enter into force a,; anautonomous

t(eaty because of Belgratlé~s r:e:jettion~:th~y didacquire legal.effect for the purposes of
·Resolution 1244 through thë·:rèferêncë~! the Accords in paragraph 11 (a) of the Resolution.
The renvoi td .the R.ambciùillè·tACC9:(:dts h.refore, t!:X.pressetshat the establishment of
. substantialautonomy~d-;self:..go:ye~f!tlt, ,pcnd.ing a final settlement foKosovo, shall take
fulf aècount of these Accords~ ndti,ith.s~ding any opposition to this agreement existing at

· the··tirrie. ;\part· frthe!·;·ptjndplesbf. cessation of hostilities and of democratic self
govemroent, the Accordir:réfè(to·tbe.''tbewil lf the people'·2. which is robe respected in a
· finalsettlement,irr,e!;pectivof any otll,e.requirement set out in Article l paragraph 3 of
Chapter8 of these AcccWi J)ùrmg thc(negotiationsof the RambouiHetAccords rhe phrai;;e
··thewill of the people;,whrch was subsequently included, was proposed by the delegation
3
ftom Kosovo. Given the irnpossibfüty of iofo'rpreting the meaning of this phrase in the lighr
of dbject and purpo~e in, adcordance w.~t Ahrt.31 ofthe Vienna Convention on the Law of
·T.reatie..V;CLTt one has t(,resorftoArt. 32 VCLT.accordingm whichthe preparatory work
and circumstanc~s of conclµsion of !lµ-eatyserve as supplement.ary means of interpretation .
. For theser~ason the,phralie."thè willof the people'' is[O be interpreted as the will of the

Kosovar pe.oplè w,hichmus:t be re1oected :inafinalsettlement.

·Jupg~'~çado Ttindade further.asked whether the renvoi to the, Rambquillet Acco~ds has a
b~g ontbe.'issueo sf selfHletennmanon and/orsecession.Wjthregardi:.ochisquestion. itis
. important to ~~e n mind that neïtlier t.hèRambouillet Accords nor Security Council

Rêsolution 1244 contain ·a reference; to sèlf-dererminationor secession (apart from a
. premnbular refereuce in Respluti~n 1244 r.othe Helsinki Final Act, which refers to the
' ~riJJèiplef seJf.:.çleterminatinlongside wjth other principles).In view of Ùle silenceof the
··RrunbouiJlec Accords with tegarâ :ro.secession or self-decerminacion, the renyoj ro these

. Aècqrds in Resohition ·1244: câmiot hâve any effect on these two issues. However, neither
silence witl!·régardto seJf-dètèrininatiotj:.àsecession nor the absence of any effed on the1,e
rwo elemèntscan delegitiriiize ;deèJâracion o. independence by the representatives of the
Kosovar people.

1Vërba~imRecordofùie40,ll'mèetin2.\ofUJèSeçutiy,ouncilof 10Juae-1999. UDpc S/PV.4011.p.1L
2
.Çh~p(ei: Articlep,a.ragrà's9[;thJ;oteriilq\grèliajent for Peace nnd Self-GoinKosovo,UN Doc:.
S/Î999/648, June1999-
JCf.Weller. MThe ltirnbc!wllciConfen:n011Kosovo,75 International Affamis 2. 21 l-25 1.22-12-2009 1s:00 P.04

A furi:herquesiion·of Judge Cançm!D 1'.mndad raised the issµè of the pr,erequisitesfor a
·people's,elfgibifüyi.ntq sŒtehOod inthe framework of Resol#ti,9n1244. Àu~t:riaholds the
·v:ie nattbls·R~cilution'doeirnot-spec.ifyhy"suchprerequisites~: :

À.1io:the lait question of füdge.Canç.adoTri,ndadeconcerningi,lie factualpreconditionsfor
the:coofigurationof ·apeot>lea.,d:of'iteligibility into statehoô,diundgeneri iùtrnational
law,Austn.a:recàllsthata1generaldefinitioh:of a people has not l;)eena~ in international"

l~w; Nevertheless~the Court tnay,find relevant a passage of the UNMÏK IConstitutionaJ
fî:ramèworkfor Kosovo .whicll.rea.$:.'!Kosovois an entity ... which. witb.ir.p:eople~)las
uhiqu~-historicaL. legal, èultuial and.-linguistic attr.This reference co historical. legat
cultural apd lingüistic cdtêrlcou.Idserve as a means to clarifythe UN approach to the
soeciffo;quèstioanthand.

TOTALP.04