INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
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Press Release
Unofficial
No. 2018/25
11 June 2018
Immunities and Criminal Proceedings (Equatorial Guinea v. France)
Fixing of time-limit for the filing of the Counter-Memorial of France
THE HAGUE, 11 June 2018. By an Order dated 6 June 2018, the International Court of
Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, has fixed 6 December 2018 as the
time-limit for the filing of the Counter-Memorial of the French Republic in the case concerning
Immunities and Criminal Proceedings (Equatorial Guinea v. France).
This decision follows the Judgment delivered the same day, in which the Court declared that
it had jurisdiction, on the basis of the Optional Protocol to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic
Relations concerning Compulsory Settlement of Disputes, to entertain the Application filed by the
Republic of Equatorial Guinea on 13 June 2016, in so far as it concerns the status of the building
located at 42 Avenue Foch in Paris as premises of its mission, and that this part of the Application
is admissible.
The subsequent procedure has been reserved for further decision.
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History of the proceedings
The history of the proceedings can be found in paragraphs 210-223 of the Court’s Annual
Report for 2016-2017 and press releases No. 2018/13 and No. 2018/24, available on the Court’s
website.
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The full text of the Order made on 6 June 2018 is also available on the Court’s website.
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Note: The Court’s press releases do not constitute official documents.
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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 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 Court (ICC, the only permanent international criminal court, which was
established by treaty and 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), the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT,
mandated to take over residual functions from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia and from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda), the Kosovo Specialist
Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office (an ad hoc judicial institution which has its seat in
The Hague), 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)
Ms Joanne Moore, Information Officer (+31 (0)70 302 2337)
Mr. Avo Sevag Garabet, Associate Information Officer (+31 (0)70 302 2394)
Ms Genoveva Madurga, Administrative Assistant (+31 (0)70 302 2396)
Immunities and Criminal Proceedings (Equatorial Guinea v. France) - Fixing of time-limit for the filing of the Counter-Memorial of France