The Court to hold public hearings on the preliminary objections raised by the Russian Federation from Monday 18 to Wednesday 27 September 2023

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
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Press Release
Unofficial
No. 2023/45 22 August 2023
Allegations of Genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Ukraine v. Russian Federation: 32 States intervening)
The Court to hold public hearings on the preliminary objections raised by the Russian Federation from Monday 18 to Wednesday 27 September 2023
THE HAGUE, 22 August 2023. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, will hold public hearings on the preliminary objections raised by the Russian Federation in the case concerning Allegations of Genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Ukraine v. Russian Federation: 32 States intervening) from Monday 18 to Wednesday 27 September 2023, at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the seat of the Court.
Schedule for the hearings
First round of oral argument
Monday 18 September 2023 10 a.m.-1 p.m.: Russian Federation
Tuesday 19 September 2023 10 a.m.-1 p.m.: Ukraine
Statements of the intervening States
Wednesday 20 September 2023 10 a.m.-1 p.m.: Germany
Australia
Austria, Slovakia and Czechia (jointly)
Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg and Sweden (jointly)
Bulgaria
Canada and the Netherlands (jointly)
Break
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Cyprus
Spain
France
Greece
Italy
Latvia
1 p.m.-3 p.m.: Break
3 p.m.-6 p.m.: Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Malta
Norway
New Zealand
Poland
Break
Portugal
Romania
United Kingdom
Slovenia
Second round of oral argument
Monday 25 September 2023 10 a.m.-1 p.m.: Russian Federation
3 p.m.-6 p.m.: Russian Federation
Wednesday 27 September 2023 3 p.m.-6 p.m.: Ukraine
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History of the proceedings
On 26 February 2022, Ukraine filed in the Registry of the Court an Application instituting proceedings against the Russian Federation concerning “a dispute . . . relating to the interpretation, application and fulfilment of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide”.
In its Application, Ukraine seeks to base the Court’s jurisdiction on Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Statute of the Court and on Article IX of the Genocide Convention. A summary of the Application instituting proceedings can be found in press release 2022/4 on the Court’s website.
Together with the Application, Ukraine submitted a Request for the indication of provisional measures with reference to Article 41 of the Statute of the Court and to Articles 73, 74 and 75 of the Rules of Court.
By an Order dated 16 March 2022, the Court indicated the following provisional measures:
“(1) The Russian Federation shall immediately suspend the military operations that it commenced on 24 February 2022 in the territory of Ukraine;
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(2) The Russian Federation shall ensure that any military or irregular armed units which may be directed or supported by it, as well as any organizations and persons which may be subject to its control or direction, take no steps in furtherance of the military operations referred to in point 1 above;
(3) Both Parties shall refrain from any action which might aggravate or extend the dispute before the Court or make it more difficult to resolve.”
By an Order dated 23 March 2022, the Court fixed 23 September 2022 and 23 March 2023 as the respective time-limits for the filing of the Memorial of Ukraine and the Counter-Memorial of the Russian Federation. The Memorial of Ukraine was filed on 1 July 2022.
On 3 October 2022, the Russian Federation raised preliminary objections to the jurisdiction of the Court and to the admissibility of the Application. Consequently, in accordance with Article 79bis, paragraph 3, of the Rules of Court, the proceedings on the merits were suspended. By an Order dated 7 October 2022, the Court fixed 3 February 2023 as the time-limit within which Ukraine could present a written statement of its observations and submissions on the preliminary objections raised by the Russian Federation. Ukraine filed its written statement within the time-limit thus fixed.
Between 21 July 2022 and 15 December 2022, 33 States filed declarations of intervention in the case, pursuant to Article 63, paragraph 2, of the Statute of the Court.
By an Order dated 5 June 2023, the Court decided that the declarations submitted by 32 States were admissible at the preliminary objections stage of the proceedings. By the same Order, it fixed 5 July 2023 as the time-limit for the filing of written observations by those States on the subject-matter of the interventions. Thirty-one intervening States filed written observations within this time-limit.
Earlier press releases relating to this case are available on the Court’s website.
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Members of the diplomatic corps, the media and the public will find below practical information regarding the organization of the hearings, which will take place in person.
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A. Practical information and admission procedures
There will be no parking on the Peace Palace grounds.
1. Members of the diplomatic corps
Owing to the limited number of seats available in the Great Hall of Justice, members of the diplomatic corps who wish to attend the hearings will be accommodated in the Small Hall of Justice, where the hearings will be broadcast live on a large screen. Those wishing to attend are requested to kindly notify the Registry’s Information Department by Monday 11 September 2023 at the latest, by email to [email protected] indicating which sitting(s) (date and time) they wish to attend. On presenting that email and a valid diplomatic ID at the main gate of the Peace Palace on the day(s) of
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the hearings, they will be provided with an access badge. Seats in the Small Hall of Justice will be allocated on the basis of availability.
2. Members of the public
A limited number of seats in the public gallery of the Great Hall of Justice will be available for members of the public on a first-come first-served basis. There will be no advance registration procedure and admission requests submitted beforehand will not be considered. Members of the public wishing to attend the hearings are requested to present themselves at the main gate of the Peace Palace 40 minutes before the start of the sitting they wish to attend. They will be provided with a badge giving access to the public gallery on presentation of a valid ID. The security officers at the gate will notify those concerned once all available seats have been filled. Admission to the public gallery will close 20 minutes before the start of the hearings.
3. Media representatives
Media representatives who wish to attend the hearings are subject to an online accreditation procedure, which will close at midnight on Monday 11 September 2023 (The Hague time). Requests submitted after this deadline will not be considered. Accreditation requests will be considered on a first-come first-served basis.
B. Further practical information for the media
1. Entry to the Peace Palace
Only duly accredited individuals with valid identification will be permitted to enter the Peace Palace grounds. Accredited media representatives must bring with them their personal ID and press card. They are asked to arrive at the Peace Palace gates no later than 30 minutes before the start of the hearings. Due to the limited number of seats in the Court’s regular press room, all media representatives will be accommodated in the Auditorium of the Academy Building on the Peace Palace grounds. The Auditorium will be open one and a half hours before the start of the hearings and will close one hour after they conclude.
2. Access to the courtroom
A limited number of photographers and camera crews will be permitted to enter the courtroom for a few minutes before the opening of the oral arguments of each Party and the oral statements of the intervening States. They will be accompanied by a member of the Information Department. Other media representatives will not have access to the courtroom.
3. Press Room
The hearings will be transmitted live on large screens in the two official languages of the Court, English and French, in the Auditorium, which will be equipped with shared internet access (Wi-Fi and 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.
4. Multimedia
The hearings will be streamed live and on demand (VOD) in the two official languages of the Court, English and French, on the Court’s website and on UN Web TV. High-resolution video clips
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and still photos produced by the Registry during the hearings will be available free of charge and free of copyright for editorial, non-commercial use on the Court’s website and X (formerly Twitter) feed (@CIJ_ICJ) (to download, click on
Multimedia).
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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 Court is composed of 15 judges elected for a nine-year term by the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations. The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). The Court has a twofold role: first, to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States; and, second, to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by duly authorized United Nations organs and agencies of the system.
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Information Department:
Ms Monique Legerman, 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
E-mail: [email protected]