Guatemala's Territorial, Insular and Maritime Claim (Guatemala/Belize) - Fixing of time-limits for the filing of the initial pleadings

INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
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Press Release
Unofficial
No. 2019/28
21 June 2019
Guatemala’s Territorial, Insular and Maritime Claim (Guatemala/Belize) Fixing of time-limits for the filing of the initial pleadings
THE HAGUE, 21 June 2019. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, has fixed time-limits for the filing of the initial pleadings in the case concerning Guatemala’s Territorial, Insular and Maritime Claim (Guatemala/Belize).
By an Order of 18 June 2019, the Court fixed 8 June 2020 and 8 June 2021 as the respective time-limits for the filing of a Memorial by the Republic of Guatemala and a Counter-Memorial by Belize.
This decision was made taking into account the wishes expressed by the Parties in the Special Agreement notified to the Court.
In Article 3, paragraph 2, of the Special Agreement, the Parties request the Court to authorize the following written procedure:
“(a) The Government of Guatemala shall submit a Memorial within twelve months of the date on which this Special Agreement was notified to the Registrar of the Court;
(b) The Government of Belize shall submit a Counter-Memorial within twelve months of the date on which it was notified of the submission and contents of the Memorial presented by Guatemala;
(c) The Government of Guatemala may submit a Reply within six months of the date on which it was notified of the submission and contents of the Counter-Memorial;
(d) The Government of Belize may submit its Rejoinder within six months of the date on which it was notified of the submission and contents of Guatemala’s Reply;
(e) The Court may, ex officio or if both Parties so agree, prescribe or authorize the presentation of additional pleadings.”
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History of the proceedings
A complete history of the proceedings can be found in press release No. 2019/25 of 12 June 2019, available on the Court’s website (www.icj-cij.org).
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The full text of the Order of 18 June 2019 can be found in the case documents on the Court’s website (under the heading “Cases”/“Pending Cases”).
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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 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)