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 Twitter Account: @CIJ_ICJ YouTube Channel: CIJ ICJ
LinkedIn page: International Court of Justice (ICJ)
Press Release
Unofficial
No. 2019/2
1 February 2019
Certain Iranian Assets
(Islamic Republic of Iran v. United States of America)
Preliminary Objections
The Court to deliver its Judgment on Wednesday 13 February 2019 at 3 p.m.
THE HAGUE, 1 February 2019. On Wednesday 13 February 2019, the International Court
of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, will deliver its Judgment on the
preliminary objections raised by the United States of America in the case concerning Certain
Iranian Assets (Islamic Republic of Iran v. United States of America).
A public sitting will take place at 3 p.m. at the Peace Palace in The Hague, during which
Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf, President of the Court, will read the Court’s decision.
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History of the proceedings
The history of the proceedings can be found in paragraphs 176-182 of the Court’s Annual
Report for 2017-2018, and press release No. 2018/52 available on the Court’s website.
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Multimedia
The sitting will be streamed live and on demand (VOD) on the Court’s website
(www.icj-cij.org/en/multimedia-index) as well as on UN Web TV, the United Nations online
television channel. Still photographs of the sitting will be posted on the same day, on the ICJ
website and the Court’s Twitter feed (@CIJ_ICJ). Selected high-resolution video footage (b-roll) of
the event will be available for TV use on the Court’s website on the same day.
All the photographs and videos made available to the media by the ICJ are free of charge and
free of copyright for editorial, non-commercial use.
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For information regarding the accreditation/admission procedures for this reading, as well as
the video streaming options (low and high resolution) and practical information for the media,
please see below.
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A. Admission procedures
Owing to the limited number of seats available in the Great Hall of Justice, priority access
will be given to representatives of the States Parties to the case, and to members of the diplomatic
corps.
1. Members of the diplomatic corps
The Information Department requests members of the diplomatic corps who plan to attend
the reading to notify it accordingly before midnight on Sunday 10 February 2019 (The Hague
time), by e-mail to [email protected].
2. Members of the public
A number of seats will be allocated to members of the public on a first-come, firstserved
basis. There will be no advance registration procedure, and admission requests submitted
beforehand will not be considered.
3. Media representatives
Media representatives are subject to a compulsory online accreditation procedure, which will
close at midnight on Sunday 10 February 2019 (The Hague time). Requests submitted after this
deadline will not be considered.
B. Further practical information for the media
1. Entry to the Peace Palace
The Press Room will be open from 1.30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Accredited media representatives
must bring with them their personal ID and press card. They are asked to arrive at the Peace Palace
gates between 1.30 p.m. and 2 p.m. Only duly accredited individuals with valid identification
will be permitted to enter the Peace Palace grounds.
2. Parking at the Peace Palace, satellite vehicles
No parking is allowed in the Peace Palace grounds apart from satellite vehicles. Media
wishing to park satellite vehicles are requested to fill in the appropriate fields in the online
accreditation form. Televised media wishing to broadcast the sitting live should contact the
Information Department as soon as possible to make the necessary arrangements. Satellite vehicle
technicians/drivers will be informed in due course of the access times for the Peace Palace grounds.
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3. Access to the courtroom
Photographers and camera crews will only be permitted to enter the courtroom a few minutes
before the start of the sitting. They will be accompanied by a member of the Information
Department and must keep to the right-hand side of the room.
4. Press Room
The reading will be transmitted live on a large screen, in English and French, in a press room
equipped with a shared Internet access (Wi-Fi, Ethernet). TV crews can connect to the Court’s PAL
(HD and SD) and NTSC (SD) audiovisual system and radio reporters to the audio system.
5. Videos, still photographs
Video files (SD/MPEG2 and HD/MPEG4) and still photos produced by the Registry during
the sitting on 13 February 2019 will be available free of charge, for non-commercial use, at the
close of the session (to download, click on www.icj-cij.org/en/multimedia-index).
6. Other media services
For further practical information (on requests for interviews, TV stand-up positions, audio
and video outputs available, etc.), please visit the Court’s website. Click on “Press Room”, and
then on “Media Services”.
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Note: The Court’s press releases are prepared by its Registry for information purposes only
and 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
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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 International Residual Mechanism for Criminal
Tribunals (IRMCT, 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)
Certain Iranian Assets (Islamic Republic of Iran v. United States of America) - Preliminary Objections - The Court to deliver its Judgment on Wednesday 13 February 2019 at 3 p.m.