International Court of Justice

In addition to the Statute and the Rules of the Court, some sides of the activities of the Court are run by other legal documents adopted by the Court, by the United Nations or concluded by the Court with the host country.

• Resolution 9 (1946) of the Security Council of the United Nations, 15 October 1946
• Resolution 264 (III) of the General Assembly of the United Nations, 8 October 1948
• Resolution 2520(XXIV) of the General Assembly of the United Nations, 4 December 1969

CONVENTION ON THE PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES OF THE UNITED NATIONS, ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE UNITED NATIONS ON 13 FEBRUARY 1946

Whereas Article 104 of the Charter of the United Nations provides that the Organization shall enjoy in the territory of each of its Members such legal capacity as may be necessary for the exercise of its functions and the fulfilment of its purposes; and

Whereas Article 105 of the Charter of the United Nations provides that the Organization shall enjoy in the territory of each of its Members such privileges and immunities as are necessary for the fulfilment of its purposes and that representatives of the Members of the United Nations and officials of the Organization shall similarly enjoy such privileges and immunities as are necessary for the independent exercise of their functions in connection with the Organization;

Consequently the General Assembly by a Resolution adopted on 13 February 1946, approved the following Convention and proposed it for accession by each Member of the United Nations.

Article I

JURIDICAL PERSONALITY

Section 1. The United Nations shall possess juridical personality. It shall have the capacity:

(a) to contract;

(b) to acquire and dispose of immovable and movable property; (c) to institute legal proceedings.

Article II

PROPERTY, FUNDS AND ASSETS

Section 2. The United Nations, its property and assets wherever located and by whomsoever held, shall enjoy immunity from every form of legal process except in so far as in any particular case it has expressly waived its immunity. It is, however, understood that no waiver of immunity shall extend to any measure of execution.

Section 3. The premises of the United Nations shall be inviolable. The property and assets of the United Nations, wherever located and by whom soever held, shall be immune from search, requisition, confiscation, expropriation and any other form of interference, whether by executive, administrative, judicial or legislative action.

Section 4. The archives of the United Nations, and in general all documents belonging to it or held by it, shall be inviolable wherever located.

Section 5. Without being restricted by financial controls, regulations or moratoria of any kind,

(a) the United Nations may hold funds, gold or currency of any kind and operate accounts in any currency;

(b) the United Nations shall be free to transfer its funds, gold or currency from one country to another or within any country and to convert any currency held by it into any other currency.

Section 6. In exercising its rights under Section 5 above, the United Nations shall pay due regard to any representations made by the government of any Member in so far as it is considered that effect can be given to such representations without detriment to the interests of the United Nations.

Section 7. The United Nations, its assets, income and other property shall be:

(a) exempt from all direct taxes; it is understood, however, that the United Nations will not claim exemption from taxes which are, in fact, no more than charges for public utility services;

(b) exempt from customs duties and prohibitions and restrictions on imports and exports in respect of articles imported or exported by the United Nations for its official use. It is understood, however, that articles imported under such exemption will not be sold in the country into which they were imported except under conditions agreed with the government of that country;

(c) exempt from customs duties and prohibitions and restrictions on imports and exports in respect of its publications.

Section 8. While the United Nations will not, as a general rule, claim exemption from excise duties and from taxes on the sale of movable and immovable property which form part of the price to be paid, nevertheless when the United Nations is making important purchases for official use of property on which such duties and taxes have been charged or are chargeable, Members will, whenever possible, make appropriate administrative arrangements for the remission or return of the amount of duty or tax.

Article III

FACILITIES IN RESPECT OF COMMUNICATIONS

Section 9. The United Nations shall enjoy in the territory of each Member for its official communications treatment not less favourable than that accorded by the government of that Member to any other government including its diplomatic mission in the matter of priorities, rates and taxes on mails, cables, telegrams, radiograms, telephotos, telephone and other communications; and press rates for information to the press and radio. No censorship shall be applied to the official correspondence and other official communications of the United Nations.

Section 10. The United Nations shall have the right to use codes and to despatch and receive its correspondence by courier or in bags, which shall have the same immunities and privileges as diplomatic couriers and bags.

Article IV

THE REPRESENTATIVES OF MEMBERS

Section 11. Representatives of Members to the principal and subsidiary organs of the United Nations and to conferences convened by the United Nations, shall, while exercising their functions and during the journey to and from the place of meeting, enjoy the following privileges and immunities :

(a) immunity from personal arrest or detention and from seizure of their personal baggage, and, in respect of words spoken or written and all acts done by them in their capacity as representatives, immunity from legal process of every kind;

(b) inviolability for all papers and documents;

(c) the right to use codes and to receive papers or correspondence by courier or in sealed bags;

(d) exemption in respect of themselves and their spouses from immigration restrictions, aliens registration or national service obligations in the State they are visiting or through which they are passing in the exercise of their functions;

(e) the same facilities in respect of currency or exchange restrictions as are accorded to representatives of foreign governments on temporary official missions;

(f) the same immunities and facilities in respect of their personal baggage as are accorded to diplomatic envoys; and also

(g) such other privileges, immunities and facilities not inconsistent with the foregoing as diplomatic envoys enjoy, except that they shall have no right to claim exemption from customs duties on goods imported (otherwise than as part of their personal baggage) or from excise duties or sales taxes,

Section 12. In order to secure, for the representatives of Members to the principal and subsidiary organs of the United Nations and to conferences convened by the United Nations, complete freedom of speech and independence in the discharge of their duties, the immunity from legal process in respect of words spoken or written and all acts done by them in discharging their duties shall continue to be accorded, notwithstanding that the persons concerned are no longer the representatives of Members.

Section 13. Where the incidence of any form of taxation depends upon residence, periods during which the representatives of Members to the principal and subsidiary organs of the United Nations and to conferences convened by the United Nations are present in a State for the discharge of their duties shall not be considered as periods of residence.

Section 14. Privileges and immunities are accorded to the representatives of Members not for the personal benefit of the individuals themselves, but in order to safeguard the independent exercise of their functions in connection with the United Nations. Consequently a Member not only has the right but is under a duty to waive the immunity of its representative in any case where in the opinion of the Member the immunity would impede the course of justice, and it can be waived without prejudice to the purpose for which the immunity is accorded.

Section 15. The provisions of Sections 11, 12 and 13 are not applicable as between a representative and the authorities of the State of which he is a national or of which he is or has been the representative.

Section 16. In this article the expression "representatives" shall be deemed to include all delegates, deputy delegates, advisers, technical experts and secretaries of delegations.

Article V

OFFICIALS

Section 17. The Secretary-General will specify the categories of officials to which the provisions of this Article and Article VII shall apply. He shall submit these categories to the General Assembly. Thereafter these cate gories shall be communicated to the governments of all Members. The names of the officials included in these categories shall from time to time be made known to the governments of Members.

Section 18. Officials of the United Nations shall:

(a) be immune from legal process in respect of words spoken or written and all acts performed by them in their official capacity;

(b) be exempt from taxation on the salaries and emoluments paid to them by the United Nations;

(c) be immune from national service obligations;

(d) be immune, together with their spouses and relatives dependent on
them, from immigration restrictions and alien registration;

(e) be accorded the same privileges in respect of exchange facilities as are accorded to the officials of comparable ranks forming part of diplomatic missions to the government concerned;

(f) be given, together with their spouses and relatives dependent on them, the same repatriation facilities in time of international crisis as diplomatic envoys;

(g) have the right to import free of duty their furniture and effects at the time of first taking up their post in the country in question.

Section 19. In addition to the immunities and privileges specified in Section 18, the Secretary-General and all Assistant Secretaries-General shall be accorded in respect of themselves, their spouses and minor children, the privileges and immunities, exemptions and facilities accorded to diplomatic envoys, in accordance with international law.

Section 20. Privileges and immunities are granted to officials in the interests of the United Nations and not for the personal benefit of the individuals themselves. The Secretary-General shall have the right and the duty to waive the immunity of any official in any case where, in his opinion, the immunity would impede the course of justice and can be waived without prejudice to the interests of the United Nations. In the case of the Secretary-General, the Security Council shall have the right to waive immunity.

Section 21. The United Nations shall co-operate at all times with the appropriate authorities of Members to facilitate the proper administration of justice, secure the observance of police regulations and prevent the occurrence of any abuse in connection with the privileges, immunities and facilities mentioned in this Article.

Article VI

EXPERTS ON MISSIONS FOR THE UNITED NATIONS

Section 22. Experts (other than officials coming within the scope of Ar ticle V) performing missions for the United Nations shall be accorded such privileges and immunities as are necessary for the independent exercise of their functions during the period of their missions, including the time spent on journeys in connection with their missions. In particular they shall be accorded :

(a) immunity from personal arrest or detention and from seizure of their personal baggage;

(b) in respect of words spoken or written and acts done by them in the course of the performance of their mission, immunity from legal process of every kind. This immunity from legal process shall con tinue to be accorded notwithstanding that the persons concerned are no longer employed on missions for the United Nations;

(c) inviolability for all papers and documents;

(d) for the purpose of their communications with the United Nations, the right to use codes and to receive papers or correspondence by courier or in sealed bags;

(e) the same facilities in respect of currency or exchange restrictions as are accorded to representatives of foreign governments on temporary official missions;

(f) the same immunities and facilities in respect of their personal baggage as are accorded to diplomatic envoys.

Section 23. Privileges and immunities are granted to experts in the interests of the United Nations and not for the personal benefit of the individuals themselves. The Secretary-General shall have the right and the duty to waive the immunity of any expert in any case where, in his opinion, the immunity would impede the course of justice and it can be waived without prejudice to the interests of the United Nations.

Article VII

UNITED NATIONS LAISSEZ-PASSER

Section 24. The United Nations may issue United Nations laissez passer to its officials. These laissez-passer shall be recognized and accepted as valid travel documents by the authorities of Members, taking into account the provisions of Section 25.

Section 25. Applications for visas (where required) from the holders of United Nations laissez-passer, when accompanied by a certificate that they are travelling on the business of the United Nations, shall be dealt with as speedily as possible. In addition, such persons shall be granted facilities for speedy travel.

Section 26. Similar facilities to those specified in Section 25 shall be accorded to experts and other persons who, though not the holders of United Nations laissez-passer, have a certificate that they are travelling on the business of the United Nations.

Section 27. The Secretary-General, Assistant Secretaries-General and Directors travelling on United Nations laissez-passer on the business of the United Nations shall be granted the same facilities as are accorded to diplomatic envoys.

Section 28. The provisions of this Article may be applied to the com parable officials of specialized agencies if the agreements for relationship made under Article 63 of the Charter so provide.

Article VIII

SETTLEMENTS OF DISPUTES

Section 29. The United Nations shall make provisions for appropriate modes of settlement of:

(a) disputes arising out of contracts or other disputes of a private law character to which the United Nations is a party;

(b) disputes involving any official of the United Nations who by reason of his official position enjoys immunity, if immunity has not been waived by the Secretary-General.

Section 30. All differences arising out of the interpretation or appli cation of the present convention shall be referred to the International Court of Justice, unless in any case it is agreed by the parties to have recourse to another mode of settlement. If a difference arises between the United Nations on the one hand and a Member on the other hand, a request shall be made for an advisory opinion on any legal question in volved in accordance with Article 96 of the Charter and Article 65 of ihe Statute of the Court. The opinion given by the Court shall be accepted as decisive by the parties.

Final

Article

Secrion 31. This convention is submitted to every Member of the United Nations for accession.

Secrion 32. Accession shall be effected by deposit of an instrument with the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the convention shall come into force as regards each Member on the date of deposit of each instrument of accession.

Section 33. The Secretary-General shall inform all Members of the United Nations of the deposit of each accession.

Section 34. It is understood that, when an instrument of accession is deposited on behalf of any Member, the Member will be in a position under its own law to give effect to the terms of this convention.

Section 35. This convention shall continue in force as between the United Nations and every Member which has deposited an instrument of accession for so long as that Member remains a Member of the United Nations, or until a revised general convention has been approved by the General Assembly and that Member has become a party to this revised convention.

Section 36. The Secretary-General may conclude with any Member or Members supplementary agreements adjusting the provisions of this convention so far as that Member or those Members are concerned. These supplementary agreements shall in each case be subject to the approval of the General Assembly.

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RESOLUTION 22 C(I) OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE UNITED NATIONS,

13 FEBRUARY 1946

PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES OF THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE

1. The General Assembly, with a view to ensuring that the International Court of Justice shall enjoy the privileges, immunities and facilities necessary for the exercise of its functions and the fulfilment of its purposes, in the country of its seat and elsewhere, invites the members of the Court at their first session to consider this question and to inform the Secretary-General of their recommendations.

2. The General Assembly decides that the question of the privileges and immunities of the Court shall be considered as soon as possible after the receipt of the recommendations of the Court.

3. The General Assembly recommends that, until further action has been taken, the rules which have been applied to the Permanent Court of International Justice should be observed by Members in relation to the International Court of Justice.

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LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE TO THE MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE NETHERLANDS, 26 JUNE 1946

[Translation]

As Your Excellency is aware, the General Assembly of the United Nations, on 19 January 1946, instructed its Sixth Commission to consider the question of the privileges, immunities and facilities to be granted to the United Nations. In accordance with these instructions, the Sixth Committee prepared a number of draft resolutions. One of these relates to the adoption of a general convention, containing an Article V, in which the privileges, immunities, exemptions and facilities to be enjoyed as a general rule by the officials of the Organization are set out.

As regards the International Court of Justice, the Sixth Committee devoted to it a special resolution. After considering the question of the privileges and immunities to be accorded to members of the Court, to the Registrar and the Court's staff, and to the agents, counsel and advocates of the parties, the resolution recommended that, to ensure that the Court shall enjoy the privileges, immunities and facilities necessary for the exercise of its functions and the fulfilment of its purpose, in the country of its seat and elsewhere, the Court shall make recommendations, to be forwarded to the Secretary-General.

The Assembly's reason for dealing separately with the case of the International Court of Justice and for asking it to formulate proposals was that the Court's Statute, which is annexed to, and forms an integral part of, the Charter, provides in Article 19 that, when engaged on the business of the Court, the members of the Court shall enjoy diplomatic privileges and immunities; while Article 42 lays down that the agents, counsel and advocates of the parties before the Court shall enjoy the privileges and immunities necessary to the independent exercise of their duties. Another reason was, doubtless, that the Court is an organism whose members, with their small staff, perform duties of a special character and whose requirements are consequently different from those of the other organs of the United Nations.

In any case, as regards Netherlands territory, negotiations have taken place between representatives of the Netherlands Foreign Ministry and representatives of the Court, with a view to giving effect in the most satisfactory way possible to the above-mentioned Assembly resolution. In accordance with the excellent relations that have always existed between international judicial bodies and the Government of the Netherlands, these conversations led to an agreement on the general principles that should govern the matter.

These principles are set out in the annex to the present note. In communicating this document to Your Excellency, I have the honour to ask you to confirm that its content is in accordance with the agreement reached.

I would add the following: In the report in which the Court forwards its recommendations on privileges and immunities, the Secretary-General is requested to ask the General Assembly to declare the agreement reached between the Netherlands Government and the Court to be satisfactory. Special mention is made of the traditional liberality of the Netherlands in this matter.

On the other hand, I trust that you will agree with me that the question of precedence, formerly dealt with in paragraph IV of the General Principles annexed to the letters exchanged on 22 May 1928 between the President of the Permanent Court of International Justice and the Netherlands Minister for Foreign Affairs, remains outside the present Agreement. I should be grateful if you would confirm your agreement on this point.

(Signed) J. G. GUERRERO.

 

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GENERAL PRINCIPLES

I. As concerns the privileges, immunities, facilities and prerogatives, within the territory of the Netherlands, of members and staff of the International Court of Justice, of other than Dutch nationality:

(a) The members of the Court will, in a general way, be accorded the same treatment as heads of diplomatic missions accredited to Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands.

As regards the privileges, immunities and facilities above mentioned, this provision applies also to the Registrar of the Court and to the Deputy Registrar when acting for the Registrar.

(b) The Deputy-Registrar of the Court will, in a general way, be ac corded the same treatment as counsellors attached to diplomatic missions at The Hague.

The higher officials of the Court-first secretaries and secretaries-will, in a general way, be accorded the same treatment as secretaries attached to diplomatic missions at The Hague.

(c) The other officials of the Court will be treated as officials of com parable rank attached to diplomatic missions at The Hague.

II. Members of the Court, the Registrar and higher officials of the Court who are of Netherlands nationality, are not answerable to the local jurisdiction for acts performed by them in their official capacity and within the limits of their duties.

Netherlands nationals of whatever rank are exempt from direct taxation on the salaries allotted to them from the Court's budget.

III. The wives and unmarried children of members of the Court, the Registrar and the higher officials of the Court, when of non-Netherlands nationality, shall receive the same treatment as the head of the family, if they live with him and are without profession. The household of the family (governesses, private secretaries, servants, etc.) occupy the same position as is accorded in each case to the domestic staff of diplomatic persons of comparable rank.

IV. Privileges and immunities are granted in the interests of the administration of international justice and not in the persona1 interest of the beneficiary.

As concerns officials of the Registry, the Registrar, with the President's approval, may withdraw their immunities, with due regard to the principle laid down in the previous paragraph. In the case of the Registrar, this duty shall rest with the Court.

V. The assessors of the Court and the agents, counsel and advocates of the parties, shall be accorded such privileges, immunities and facilities for residence and travel as may be required for the independent exercise of their functions.

Witnesses and experts shall be accorded the immunities and facilities necessary for the fulfilment of their mission.

 

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LETTER FROM THE MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE NETHERLANDS TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE, 26 JUNE 1946

[Translation]

I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of Your Excellency's letter of 26 June in which you draw my attention to the resolution of the Sixth Committee of the United Nations Genera1 Assembly, concerning privileges and immunities to be granted to the International Court of Justice.

I was much pleased to note that Your Excellency was good enough to mention that the conversations that took place between representatives of the Court and representatives of my Ministry were marked by a continuance of the excellent relations that prevail by tradition between international judicial organizations and Her Majesty's Government, and I hasten to assure Your Excellency that Her Majesty's Government also has a happy recollection of the relations that existed between it and the Permanent Court of International Justice.

In accordance with Your Excellency's request, I wish to confirm that the annex attached to your above-mentioned letter fully corresponds to the agreement reached during the conversations and exactly reproduces the Netherlands Government's views on the subject.

I note with much satisfaction that in the report in which the Court forwards its recommendations concerning privileges and immunities-re questing the Secretary-General of the United Nations to beg the General Assembly to declare the agreement reached between the Netherlands Government and the Court entirely satisfactory-special mention is made of the liberal traditions of the Netherlands in this matter.

With reference to the last paragraph of Your Excellency's letter above mentioned, I beg to confirm that it is understood that the question of precedence, formerly dealt with in paragraph IV of the General Principles attached to the exchange of letters between the President of the Permanent Court of International Justice and the Foreign Minister of the Netherlands, dated 22 May 1928, remains outside the present Agreement.

(Signed) J. H. VAN ROIJEN.

 

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RESOLUTION 90 (I) OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE UNITED NATIONS, II DECEMBER 1946

PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES OF MEMBERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE, THE REGISTRY, ASSESSORS, AND AGENTS AND COUNSEL OF THE PARTIES AND OF WITNESSES AND EXPERTS

By a resolution adopted on 13 February 1946, the General Assembly, with a view to ensuring that the International Court of Justice should enjoy the privileges, immunities and facilities necessary for the exercise of its functions and the fulfilment of its purposes, in the country of its seat and elsewhere, invited the Court at its first session to consider this question and to inform the Secretary-General of its recommendations.

The Court has accordingly examined the problem in its various aspects during its first session, held at The Hague from 3 April to 6 May 1946, and has transmitted to the General Assembly its conclusions.

The General Assembly considered the recommendations of the Court during the second part of its first session, and the report of the Sixth Committee.

The General Assembly,

1. Approves the agreements concluded between the International Court of Justice and the Netherlands Government, as recorded in the exchange of letters between the President of the Court and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

2. Recommends that if a judge, for the purpose of holding himself permanently at the disposal of the Court, resides in some country other than his own, he should be accorded diplomatic privileges and immunities during the period of his residence there.

3. Recommends that judges should be accorded every facility for leaving the country where they may happen to be, for entering the country where the Court is sitting, and again for leaving it. On journeys in connection with the exercise of their functions, they should, in all countries through which they may have to pass, enjoy all the privileges, immunities and facilities granted by these countries to diplomatic envoys.

This provision should also apply to the Registrar and to any officer of the Court acting as Registrar.

4. Recommends that:

(a) Officials of the Court should enjoy in any country where they may be on the business of the Court, or in any country through which they may pass on such business, such privileges, immunities and facilities for residence and travel as may be necessary for the independent exercise of their functions.

The Registrar, and any officer of the Court acting as Registrar, should, while on the business of the Court, be accorded diplomatic privileges and immunities.

(b) Inasmuch as these privileges and immunities are granted to officials of the Court in the interests of the International Court of Justice, and not for the personal benefit of the individuals themselves, the Registrar of the Court, with the President's approval, should have the right and the duty to waive the immunity in any case where, in his opinion, the immunity would impede the course of justice, and can be waived without prejudice to the interests of the Court. In the case of the Registrar, the Court should have the right to waive immunity.

5. Recommends that:

(a)

(i) The agents, counsel and advocates before the Court should be accorded, during the period of their missions, including the time spent on journeys in connexion with their missions, the privileges and immunities provided for in Article IV, sections 11, 12 and 13 of the Convention on the privileges and immunities of the United Nations under the conditions of Article IV, section 15, of that Convention.

(ii) Assessors of the Court should be accorded, during the period of their missions, including the time spent on journeys in connexion with their missions, the privileges and immunities provided for in Article VI, section 22, of the Convention on the privileges and immunities of the United Nations.

(iii) Witnesses, experts and persons performing missions by order of the Court should be accorded, during the period of their missions, including the time spent on journeys in connexion with their missions, the privileges and immunities provided for in Article VI, section 22, of the Convention on the privileges and immunities of the United Nations.

(b) Inasmuch as the privileges and immunities referred to above under (a) are granted in the interests of the good administration of justice and not for the personal benefit of the individuals themselves, the appropriate authority should have the right and the duty to waive the immunity in any case where, in its opinion, the immunity would impede, and can be waived without prejudice to, the course of justice.

For this purpose, the competent authority in the case of agents, counsel and advocates representing a State will be the State concerned. In other cases (including those of assessors of the Court, persons performing missions by order of the Court and witnesses or experts), the competent authority will be the International Court of Justice or, when the Court is not sitting, the President of the Court.

6. Recommends that :

(a) The authorities of Members should recognize and accept United Nations laissez-passer, issued by the International Court of Justice to the members of the Court, the Registrar and the officials of the Court, as valid travel documents, taking into account the provisions of subparagraph (b).

(b) Applications for visas (where required) from the judges of the Court and the Registrar should be dealt with as speedily as possible. All other holders of laissez-passer should receive the same facilities when the applications for visas are accompanied by a certificate that they are travelling on the business of the Court. In addition, all holders of laissez passer should be granted facilities for speedy travel.

(c) Similar facilities to those specified in subparagraph (b) should be accorded to experts and other persons who, though not the holders of United Nations laissez-passer delivered by the International Court ofJustice, have a certificate that they are travelling on the business of the Court.

 

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LETTER FROM THE MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE NETHERLANDS TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE, 26 FEBRUARY 1971

I have the honour to refer to Your Excellency's aide-memoire on the order of precedence that you handed to me on June 15th, 1970. By that memorandum you proposed that following the precedent established in Washington, the President of the International Court of Justice would take precedence over all diplomats, ambassadors and ministers, accre dited to Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands, including the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps.

The Dean of the Diplomatic Corps would come immediately after the President of the Court and would be followed by the Vice-President of the Court and thereafter the precedence would proceed alternately between the regular diplomatic corps and the members of the Court, it being recognized that in the event of a vacancy on either side the next Judge or Ambassador, as the case might be, would be promoted to the vacancy, depending upon whether the vacancy resulted from the completion of the term of office of a Judge or of that of a diplomat. A Judge would be replaced by the Judge next in order of precedence and a diplomat would be replaced by the diplomat next in order of precedence.

This would work out as follows:

1. the President of the International Court of Justice,

2. the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps,

3. the Vice-President of the International Court of Justice,

4. diplomat 1,

5. judge 1,

and thereafter alternately till :

28. diplomat 13,

29. judge 13,

30. diplomat 14.

I have the pleasure to inform you that the Netherlands Government agrees to this proposal. I would add to this that in case the President of the International Court of Justice has left the Netherlands, the Vice President shall take the President's place and if the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps is absent the acting Dean shall take the Dean's place. The same rule applies in cases where the President of the International Court of Justice or the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps have been invited in their quality but, though being in the country, are unable to attend the function for which they have been invited.

The Dean of the Diplomatic Corps has been informed of this decision.

(Signed) J. M. A. H. LUNS .

RESOLUTION 264 (III) OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE UNITED NATIONS, 8 OCTOBER 1948

CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH A STATE, A PARTY TO THE STATUTE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE BUT NOT A MEMBER OF THE UNITED NATIONS, MAY PARTICIPATE IN THE ELECTIONS OF MEMBERS OF THE COURT

The General Assembly,

Having received the recommendations of the Security Council with regard to the conditions under which a State which is a party to the Statute of the International Court of Justice but not a member of the United Nations may participate in electing members of the Court,

Resolves

1. That such a State shall be on an equal footing with the Members of the United Nations in respect to those provisions of the Statute which regulate the nominations of candidates for election by the General Assembly ;

2. That such a State shall participate, in the General Assembly, in electing the members of the Court in the same manner as the Members of the United Nations ;

3. That such a State, when in arrears in the payment of its contribution to the expenses of the Court, shall not participate in electing the members of the Court in the General Assembly if the amount of its arrears equals or exceeds the amount of the contribution due from it for the preceding two full years. The General Assembly may, nevertheless, permit such a State to participate in the elections, if it is satisfied that the failure to pay is due to conditions beyond the control of that State (see Charter, Article 19).

RESOLUTION 2520 (XXIV) OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE UNITED NATIONS, 4 DECEMBER 1969

PARTICIPATION OF STATES WHICH ARE PARTIES TO THE STATUTE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE, BUT ARE NOT MEMBERS OF THE UNITED NATIONS, IN THE PROCEDURE FOR EFFECTING AMENDMENTS TO THE STATUTE

The General Assembly,

Recalling that, under Article 69 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, the Security Council may recommend to the General Assembly for adoption provisions concerning the participation of States which are parties to the Statute, but are not members of the UnitedNations, in the procedure for effecting amendments to the Statute,

Having received the recommendations of the Security Council in this regard, contained in Council resolution 272 (1969) of 23 October 1969,

Decides that :

(a) A State which is a party to the Statute of the International Court of Justice, but is not a member of the United Nations, may participate in the General Assembly in regard to amendments to the Statute in the same manner as the Members of the United Nations ;

(b) Amendments to the Statute of the International Court of Justice shall come into force for all States which are parties to the Statute when they have been adopted by a vote of two-thirds of the States which are parties to the Statute and ratified in accordance with their respective constitutional processes by two-thirds of the States which are parties to the Statute and in accordance with the provisions of Article 69 of the Statute and Article 108 of the Charter of the United Nations.

 

Resolution 9 (1946) of the Security Council of the United Nations, 15 October 1946

Admission of States not Parties to the Statute of the Court

The Security Council,

In virtue of the powers conferred upon it by Article 35, paragraph 2, of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, and subject to the provisions of that Article,

Resolves that :

1. The International Court of Justice shall be open to a State which is not a party to the Statute of the International Court of Justice, upon the following condition, namely, that such State shall previously have deposited with the Registrar of the Court a declaration by which it accepts the jurisdiction of the Court, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and with the terms and subject to the conditions of the Statute and Rules of the Court, and undertakes to comply in good faith with the decision or decisions of the Court and to accept all the obligations of a Member of the United Nations under Article 94 of the Charter;

2. Such declaration may be either particular or general. A particular declaration is one accepting the jurisdiction of the Court in respect only of a particular dispute or disputes which have already arisen. A general declaration is one accepting the jurisdiction generally in respect of all disputes or of a particular class or classes of disputes which have already arisen or which may arise in the future. A State, in making such a general declaration, may, in accordance with Article 36, paragraph 2, of the Statute, recognize as compulsory, ipso facto and without special agreement the jurisdiction of the Court, provided, however, that such acceptance may not, without explicit agreement, be relied upon vis-à-vis States parties to the Statute which have made the declaration in conformity with Article 36, paragraph 2, of the Statute of the International Court of Justice;

3. The original declarations made under the terms of this resolution shall be kept in the custody of the Registrar of the Court, in accordance with the practice of the Court. Certified true copies thereof shall be transmitted, in accordance with the practice of the Court, to all States parties to the Statute of the International Court of Justice, and to such other States as shall have deposited a declaration under the terms of this resolution, and to the Secretary-General of the United Nations;

4. The Security Council reserves the right to rescind or amend this resolution by a resolution which shall be communicated to the Court, and on the receipt of such communication and to the extent determined by the new resolution, existing declarations shall cease to be effective except in regard to disputes which are already before the Court;

5. All questions as to the validity or the effect of a declaration made under the terms of this resolution shall be decided by the Court.