JKX 2006

Nothing new there then.



Romania continues the dispute with Ukraine over the Serpents Island in The Hague

Romania filed an action with the International Court of Justice in 2004 against Ukraine, further to the failure of over 20 rounds of bilateral negotiations.
published in issue 3835 page 11 at 2006-12-20

Bucharest - Romania tabled yesterday, with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) from The Hague the document Reply to the Counter-memoir of Ukraine in the lawsuit initiated by our country in September 2004 for the delimitation of the continental plateau southeast of the Serpents Island. According to a press release of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, quoted by Rompres, the Reply of Romania includes the argued reaction countering the stand of the Ukrainian party from the Counter-memoir. According to the decision of the Court from June 2006, the Ukrainian party will submit until June 15, 2007 a document called Duplique, through which it will answer the elements from the Reply of the Romanian party. Considering the rich jurisprudence of the Court in this domain, and the authority and impartiality enjoyed by the institution from the Hague, the settlement of the problem by ICJ represents, in the opinion of Romania, the guarantee to obtain an equitable result, in conformity with the international law, also states the communiqué of the Foreign Affairs Ministry. Romania filed with ICJ on September 16, 2004 the case against Ukraine, further to the failure of over 20 rounds of bilateral negotiations for the delimitation of the maritime platform Southeast of the Serpents’ Island. Ukraine relies on the quality of inhabited island of the Serpents Island, characteristic through which, according to the international law, it is entitled to the majority of the sea platform perimeter around it. On another hand, Romania explains its request through the fact that the island has the characteristics of a sea rock, not of a continental territory.