Latest developments | Interhandel (Switzerland v. United States of America)

Interhandel (Switzerland v. United States of America)

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Switzerland
United States of America

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Provisional measures
Preliminary objections

Overview of the case

In 1942 the Government of the United States vested almost all the shares of the General Aniline and Film Corporation (GAF), a company incorporated in the United States, on the ground that those shares, which were owned by Interhandel, a company registered in Basel, belonged in reality to I.G. Farbenindustrie of Frankfurt, or that GAF was in one way or another controlled by the German company. On 1 October 1957, Switzerland applied to the Court for a declaration that the United States was under an obligation to restore the vested assets to Interhandel or, alternatively, that the dispute on the matter between Switzerland and the United States was one fit for submission for judicial settlement, arbitration or conciliation. Two days later Switzerland filed a Request for the indication of provisional measures to the effect that the Court should call upon the United States not to part with the assets in question so long as proceedings were pending before the Court. On 24 October 1957, the Court made an Order noting that, in the light of the information furnished, there appeared to be no need for provisional measures. The United States raised preliminary objections to the Court’s jurisdiction, and in a Judgment delivered on 21 March 1959 the Court found the Swiss application inadmissible, because Interhandel had not exhausted the remedies available to it in the United States courts.

This overview is provided for information only and in no way involves the responsibility of the Court.

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Overview of the case

Institution of proceedings

2 October 1957

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Written proceedings

3 October 1957

Procedure(s): Provisional measures

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11 October 1957

Procedure(s): Preliminary objections

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Memorial submitted by the Federal Government of Switzerland (French version only)

3 March 1958

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16 June 1958

Procedure(s): Preliminary objections

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Observations and Submissions of the Government of the Swiss Confederation on Preliminary Objections (French version only)

20 September 1958

Procedure(s): Preliminary objections

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Oral proceedings

Minutes of the Public Sittings held at the Peace Palace, The Hague, on 12 and 14 October 1957, the Vice-President, Mr. Badawi, acting as President

Procedure(s): Provisional measures

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Minutes of the Public Sittings held at the Peace Palace, The Hague, from 5 to 17 November 1958, and on 21 March 1959, the President, Mr. Klaestad, presiding

Procedure(s): Preliminary objections

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Orders

Request for the indication of interim measures of protection (including the text of the declarations of Judges Hackworth, Read, Wellington Koo et Kojevnikov)

Procedure(s): Provisional measures

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Fixing of time-limits: Memorial and Counter-Memorial

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Extension of time-limits: Memorial and Counter-Memorial

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Memorial submitted by the Federal Government of Switzerland
(French version only)

Observations and Submissions of the Government of the Swiss Confederation on Preliminary Objections
(French version only)