Obligations concerning Negotiations relating to Cessation of the Nuclear Arms Race and to Nuclear Disarmament (Marshall Islands v. United Kingdom) - Conclusion of public hearings on the preliminary ob

INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
Peace Palace, Carnegieplein 2, 2517 KJ The Hague, Netherlands
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Press Release

Unofficial

No. 2016/7
16 March 2016

Obligations concerning Negotiations relating to Cessation of the Nuclear Arms Race and to
Nuclear Disarmament (Marshall Islands v. United Kingdom)

Conclusion of public hearings on the preliminary objections
raised by the United Kingdom

THE HAGUE, 16 March 2016. The public hearings on the preliminary objections raised by
the United Kingdom in the case of Obligations concerning Negotiations relating to Cessation of the
Nuclear Arms Race and to Nuclear Disarmament (Marshall Islands v. United Kingdom) were
concluded today. The Court will now begin its deliberation.

During the hearings, which opened on Wednesday 9 March 2016 at the Peace Palace, seat of

the Court, the delegation of the United Kingdom was led by Mr. Iain Macleod, as Agent; and the
delegation of the Republic of the Marshall Islands was led by H.E. Mr. Tony deBrum and
Mr. Phon van den Biesen, Attorney at Law, van den Biesen Kloostra Advocaten, Amsterdam, as
Co-Agents.

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 United Kingdom:

“The United Kingdom requests the Court to adjudge and declare that:

 it lacks jurisdiction over the claim brought against the United Kingdom by the
Marshall Islands

and/or

 the claim brought against the United Kingdom by the Marshall Islands is
inadmissible.” - 2 -

For the Republic of the Marshall Islands:

“The Marshall Islands respectfully requests the Court:

(a) to reject the preliminary objections to its jurisdiction and to the admissibility of the
Marshall Islands’ claims, as submitted by the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland in its Preliminary Objections of 15 June 2015;

(b) to adjudge and declare that the Court has jurisdiction over the claims of the
Marshall Islands submitted in its Application of 24 April 2014; and

(c) to adjudge and declare that the Marshall Islands’ claims are admissible.”

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History of the proceedings

The history of the proceedings may be found in the Annual Report of the Court for

2014-2015 (paras. 218-223), available on the Court’s website (www.icj-cij.org).

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 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.

___________

Note: The Court’s press releases do not constitute official documents. The complete
verbatim records of the hearings held from 9 to 16 March 2016 are published on the website of the
Court (www.icj-cij.org).

___________

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
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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 - 3 -

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
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International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY, an ad hoc court created by the
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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,
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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)