INTERNATIONAL C O U R T O F JUSTICE REPORTS O F JUDGMENTS ADVISORY OPINIONS AND ORDERS CASE CONCEKNING THE AERIAL INCIDENT C F 10 AUGUST 1999 PAKISTAN il INDIA JURISDICTION O F THE COURT JUDCMENT OF 21 JUNE 2000 C O U R INTERNATIONALE DE JUSTICE RECUEIL DES ARRÊTS AVIS CONSULTATIFS ET ORDONNANCES AFFAIRE DE L'INCIDENT AÉRIEN DU 10 AOÛT 1999 PAKISTAN c INDE ARRÊT DU 21 JUIN 2000 Officia1 citation Arviul Incident o f 1 0 Augu t1999 Pukisran v India Jurisdiction of the Court Judgment I C J Reports 2000 p 12 Mode officiel de citation Incident aérien du I O août 1999 Pakistun c Inde con pétenccde lu Cour urrêt C I J Recueil 2000 p 12 ISSN 0074-444 1 ISBN 92-1 -070852-0 salesnun ber Nu de vente 777 8 21 JUNE 2000 JUDGMENT AERIAL INCIDENT O F 10 AUGUST 1999 PAKISTAN v INDIA JURISDICTION O F THE COURT INCIDENT AÉRIEN DU 10 AOÛT 1999 PAKISTAN c INDE COMPÉTENCE DE LA COUR 21 JUlN 2000 ARRÊT INTERNATIONAL COURT O F JUSTICE Y EAR 2000 2000 21 June General List No 119 21 June 2000 CASE CONCERNING THE AERIAL INCIDENT O F 10 AUGUST 1999 PAKISTAN v INDIA JURISDICTION O F THE COURT Jurisdiction of the Courr Article 17 of the General Act of 1928 and Article 37 of the Statute of the Court Article 17 us hasis qf'jurisdiction challenged on diverse grounds Freedom of the Court to select the ground on whicli it fiunds i f s decision - India's communication of 18 Septemher 1974 that it has never been party to Cornmunication to br considerrd in the General Act us an indepencient Stutc the circumstance of the present case as having served the same legal ends as notijïcation of rlenunciation under Article 45 of fhe General Act - Declarations of acceptancr of the cornpulsory jurisdictio o f the Court hy the Purties under Article 36 paragrupll 2 o f the Statute Common vealtlzreservution ubparugruph 2 of jrsr paragraph of India's declurution Pukistun's contention tlzut the Commonir eulthreservution should he regarded as un r'ctra-statutory rcJservution going hq'ond the conditions of Article 36 parugruph 3 of the Statute - Court's jurisdiction esisting only ivithin the limits rithin i i c it has been uccepted - Paragruph 3 of Article 36 o f the Statute never regurcled as luying doivn in un exhaustive rnunner the conditions under ii liicA dec1arution s may be made - Recognition in the pructice of States of their right to uttuch to declurations of acceptunce of the jurisdiction of the Court reservutions dejining the parameters qf that acceptance Pakistan's contention that the Commonivealth reservation should be regarded us a discriminatory uct constituting an abuse of right - Reservation referring generally to States ivhich are or have been members of the Common cealth- Freedom of States to limit the scope ratione personae of' their acceptance o f the Court S jurisdiction Pakistan's contention that the Commonit ealthreservution i 7 obsolete - Change or disappearunce of historical reasons for the uppearance of the reservution Considerations ivhich cannot prevail over the intention of a declarant Stare as e'rpressed in the te ut of its declaration - Limitation of the scope ratione personae q f acceptance qf the jurisdiction of the Court binding on the lutter - Pakistun's contentiori that India is estopped from ini'oking the Commoncvealth reservution again st it Article 1 paragraph i i uf the Simla Accord of 1972 constituting an obligation generally on the tivo States to settle tlieir diferences by pcuceful means to he ugreed by them - Provision in no ivay modrfying the specijic rules governing recourse to uny suc11means including judicial settlement - Multilateral treaty reservution subparagruph 7 o f j r s t parugraph of Indiu's declaration No necessity to consider in the present case - Article 36 puragruph 1 of the Statute Absence from the United Nations Charter of uny specijc provision of itself conferring cornpulsory jurisdiction on the Court Reliance by Pakistun on Articles 1 puragraph 1 2 parugruph s 3 and 4 33 36 paragraph 3 and Y2 of the Cliarter Reliunce by Pukistun on Article 1 puragraph i of' the Simla Accord Obligation oj'the Parties to respect the principles und purposes of the Charter in their fvrutua relatiorrs Provision trot u s sucli ctztai irzg any ohligution of7 the tivo States tu submit their disputes to the Court - - - Obligation of the Parties to settle their disputes by peacrful means and in particular the dispute arising out qf the aerial incident of 10 August 1999 in accordance icith the provisions q f the Charter and ivith tlie other obligations iclzich they have undertuken JUDGMENT Present President GUILLAUME Vice-President SHI Judges ODA BEDJAOU RANJEVA HERCZEGH FLEISCHHAUER KOROMA VERESHCHETIN HICGINS PARRA-ARANGUREN KOOIJMANS AL-KHASAWNEH BUERGENTHAL Juclges ad hoc PIRZADA REDDY Registru COUVREUR 14 AERlAL INCIDENT JUDGMENT In the case of the aerial incident of 10 August 1999 the Islamic Republic of Pakistan represented by Mr Amir A Shadani Cl argéd'affaires a i Embassy of Pakistan in the Netherlands as Acting Agent Mr Jamshed A Hamid Legal Adviser Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Co-Agent Mr Moazzam A Khan First Secretary Embassy of Pakistan in the Netherlands as Deputy Agent H E Mr Aziz A Munshi Attorney General for Pakistan and Minister of Law as Chief Counsel Sir Elihu Lauterpacht C B E Q C Honorary Professor of International Law University of Cambridge Member of the Institut de droit international Dr Fathi Kemicha Doctor of Law of Paris University avocat at the Paris Bar Mr Zahid Said Barrister-at-Law Ministry of Law Justice and Human Rights Mr Ross Masud Deputy Legal Adviser Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr Shair Bahadur Khan Deputy Legal Adviser Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Counsel Miss Norah Gallagher Solicitor and the Republic of India represented by H E Mr Prabhakar Menon Ambassador of lndia to the Netherlands as Agent Dr P Sreenivasa Rao Joint Secretary Legal Treaties and Legal Adviser Ministry of External Affairs as Co-Agent and Advocate Ms M Manimekalai Counsellor Political Embassy of India in the Netherlands as Deputy Agent H E Mr Soli J Sorabjee Attorney General of India as Chief Counsel and Advocate Mr Ian Brownlie C B E Q C F B A Member of the International Law Commission Emeritus Chichele Professor of Public International Law University of Oxford Member of the Institut de droit international Mr Alain Pellet Professor University of Paris X-Nanterre Member and former Chairman of the International Law Commission as Counsel and Advocates Dr B S Murty Formerly Professor and Dean of Law Andhra and Osmania Universities Advocate Hyderabad Mr B Sen Senior Advocate Supreme Court of India Dr V S Mani Professor of International Space Law Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi Dr M Gandhi Legal Officer Grade 1 Ministry of External Affairs as Counsel and Experts Mr Vivek Katju Joint Secretary IPA Ministry of External Affairs Mr D P Srivastava Joint Secretary UNP Ministry of External Affairs as Advisers Ms Marie Dumée Temporary Research and Teaching Assistant University of Paris X-Nanterre as Research Assistant THECOURT composed as above after deliberation delivrrs tlzr fOlloioirig Judgn rrzt 1 On 21 September 1999 the Islamic Republic of Pakistan hereinafter called Pakistan filed in the Registry of the Court an Application instituting proceedings against the Republic of lndia hereinafter called India in respect of a dispute relating to the destruction on 10 August 1999 of a Pakistani aircraft In its Application Pakistan founded the jurisdiction of the Court on Article 36 paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Statute and the declarations whereby the two Parties have recognized the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court 2 Pursuant to Article 40 paragraph 2 of the Statute the Application was forthwith communicated to the Indian Government by the Registrar and pursuant to paragraph 3 of that Article al1 States entitled to appear before the Court were notified of the Application 3 By letter of 2 November 1999 the Agent of India notified the Court that his Government wish ed to indicate its preliminary objections to the assumption ofjurisdiction by the Court on the basis of Pakistan's Application Those objections set out in a note appended to the letter were as follows i That Pakistan's Application did not refer to any treaty or convention in force between India and Pakistan which confers jurisdiction upon the Court under Article 36 1 ii That Pakistan's Application fails to take into consideration the reservations to the Declaration of India dated 15 September 1974 filed under Article 36 2 of its Statute In particular Pakistan being a Commonwealth country is not entitled to invoke the jurisdiction of the Court as subparagraph 2 of paragraph 1 of that Declaration excludes al1 disputes involving India from the jurisdiction of this Court in respect of any State which 'is or has been a Member of the Commonwealth of Nations' 16 AERIAL INCIDENT JUDGMENT iii The Government of India also submits that subparagraph 7 of paragraph 1 of its Declaration of 15 September 1974 bars Pakistan from invoking the jurisdiction of this Court against India concerning any dispute arising from the interpretation or application of a multilateral treaty unless at the same time al1 the parties to such a treaty are also joined as parties to the case before the Court The reference to the UN Charter which is a multilateral treaty in the Application of Pakistan as a basis for its claim would clearly fall within the ambit of this reservation India further asserts that it has not provided any consent or concluded any special agreement with Pakistan which waives this requirement 4 At a meeting held between the President of the Court and the representatives of the Parties on 10 November 1999 pursuant to Article 31 of the Rules of Court the Parties provisionally agreed to request the Court to determine separately the question of its jurisdiction in this case before any proceedings on the merits on the understanding that Pakistan would first present a Memorial dealing exclusively with this question to which India would have the opportunity of replying in a Counter-Memorial confined to the same question By letters of 12 November 1999 and 25 November 1999 respectively the Agent of Pakistan and the Deputy Agent of lndia confirmed the agreement to the procedure given ad rqferendurn on 10 November 1999 By Order of 19 November 1999 the Court taking into account the agreement reached between the Parties decided that the written pleadings should first be addressed to the question of the jurisdiction of the Court to entertain the Application and fixed 10 January 2000 and 28 February 2000 respectively as the time-limits for the filing of a Memorial by Pakistan and a CounterMemorial by India on that question The Memorial and the Counter-Memorial were duly filed within the timelimits so prescribed 5 Since the Court included upon the Bench no judge of the nationality of the Parties each of them availed itself of the right conferred by Article 31 paragraph 3 of the Statute to proceed to choose a judge url lioc to sit in the case Pakistan chose Mr Syed Sharif Uddin Pirzada for this purpose and India Mr B P Jeevan Reddy 6 In accordance with Article 53 paragraph 2 of the Rules of Court the Court after ascertaining the views of the Parties decided that copies of the pleadings and documents annexed should be made accessible to the public on the opening of the oral proceedings 7 Public sittings were held from 3 to 6 April 2000 at which the Court heard the oral arguments and replies of Foi Pukistun Mr Hamid H E Mr Munshi Sir Elihu Lauterpacht Dr Kemicha For Indiu H E Mr Menon H E Mr Sorabjee Mr Brownlie Mr Pellet Dr Sreenivasa Rao 17 AERIAL I N C I D E N T JUDGMENT 8 In the Application the following requests were made by Pakistan On the basis of the foregoing statement of facts and considerations of law and while reserving its right to supplement and or to amend this Application and subject to the presentation to the Court of the relevant evidence and legal argument Pakistan requests the Court to judge and declare as follows u that the acts of lndia as stated above constitute breaches of the various obligations under the Charter of the United Nations customary international law and treaties specified in the body of this Application for which the Republic of lndia bears exclusive legal responsibility h that India is under an obligation to make reparations to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan for the loss of the aircraft and as compensation t o the heirs of those killed as a result of the breaches of the obligations committed by it under the Charter of the United Nations and relevant rules of customary international law and treaty provisions 9 In the note attached to its letter of 2 November 1999 the following submissions were presented by India In view of the above the Government of India respectfully requests the Court i to adjudge and declare that Pakistan's Application is without any merit to invoke the jurisdiction of the Court against India in view of its status as a Member of the Commonwealth of Nations and ii to adjudge and declare that Pakistan cannot invoke the jurisdiction of the Court in respect of any claims concerning various provisions of the United Nations Charter particularly Article 2 4 as it is evident that al1 the States parties to the Charter have not been joined in the Application and that under the circumstances the reservation made by India in subparagraph 7 of paragraph 1 of its declaration would bar the jurisdiction of this Court 10 In the written proceedings the Parties presented the following submissions in the Memorial In view of the above submissions the Government of Pakistan respectfully requests the Court to exercise jurisdiction and proceed to decide the case on merits On hehalf of the Goilernmrrzt o f India in the Counter-Memorial For the reasons advanced in this Counter-Memorial India requests the Court - to adjudge and declare that it lacks jurisdiction over the claims brought against India by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan 11 At the oral proceedings the Parties presented the following submissions On hrhulfof the Governmrnt of Pukistun At the close of the sitting of 5 April 2000 For the reasons developed in the written pleadings and in the oral proceedings Pakistan requests the Court i to dismiss the preliminary objections raised by India ii to adjudge and declare that it has jurisdiction to decide on the Application filed by Pakistan on 21 September 1999 and iii to fix time-limits for the further proceedings in the case On behulfof the Government of Indiu At the close of the sitting of 6 April 2000 The Government of India therefore respectfully submits that the Court adjudge and declare that it has no jurisdiction to consider the Application of the Government of Pakistan 12 T o found the jurisdiction of the Court in this case Pakistan relied in its Memorial o n 1 Article 17 of the General Act for Pacific Settlement of International Disputes signed at Geneva on 26 September 1928 hereinafter called the General Act of 1928 2 the declarations made by the Parties pursuant to Article 36 paragraph 2 of the Statute of the Court 3 paragraph 1 of Article 36 of the said Statute India disputes each one of these bases of jurisdiction the Court will examine them in turn 13 Pakistan begins by citing Article 17 of the General Act of 1928 which provides Al1 disputes with regard to which the parties are in conflict as to their respective rights shall subject to any reservations which may be made under Article 39 be submitted for decision to the Permanent Court of International Justice unless the parties agree in the manner hereinafter provided to have resort to an arbitral tribunal It is understood that the disputes referred to above include in particular those mentioned in Article 36 of the Statute of the Permanent Court of International Justice Pakistan goes on to point out that under Article 37 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice Whenever a treaty o r convention in force provides for reference of a matter to the Permanent Court of International Justice the matter shall as between the parties to the present Statute be referred to the International Court of Justice 19 AERIAL INCIDENT JUDGMENT Finally Pakistan recalls that on 21 May 1931 British lndia had acceded to the General Act of 1928 It considers that India and Pakistan subsequently became parties to the General Act It followed that the Court had jurisdiction to entertain Pakistan's Application on the basis of Article 17 of the General Act read with Article 37 of the Statute 14 In reply India contends in the first place that the General Act of 1928 is no longer in force and that even if it were it could not be effectively invoked as a basis for the Court's jurisdiction It argues that numerous provisions of the General Act and in particular Articles 6 7 9 and 43 to 47 thereof refer to organs of the League of Nations or to the Permanent Court of International Justice that in consequence of the demise of those institutions the General Act has lost its original efficacy that the United Nations General Assembly so found when in 1949 it adopted a new General Act that those parties to the old General Act which have not ratified the new act cannot rely upon the old Act except 'in so far as it might still be operative' that is in so far as the amended provisions are not involved that Article 17 is among those amended in 1949 and that as a result Pakistan cannot invoke it today India adds that British India had in 1931 expressly made its acceptance of Chapter I I of the General Act and in particular Article 17 subject to the possibility of 'requir ing that the procedure prescribed in Chapter II of the said Act be suspended in respect of any dispute submitted to the Council of the League of Nations' pending a decision of that Council That condition would preclude the General Act of 1928 from remaining in force at least in relation to India after the demise of the League of Nations 15 Pakistan contends on the contrary that the General Act survived the demise of the League of Nations Referring to the joint dissenting opinion of Judges Onyeama Dillard Jiménez de Aréchaga and Sir Humphrey Waldock in the case concerning Nuclear Tests A w t r u l i a v France I C J Reports 1974 pp 327 et secl Pakistan stresses that the General Act of 1928 was independent of the League of Nations both organically and ideologically that the disappearance of certain provisions of the General Act or in certain cases the impairment of their efficacy did not affect its application that finally the 1949 revision did not extinguish the original treaty 16 Secondly the Parties disagree on the conditions under which they succeeded in 1947 to the rights and obligations of British India assuming as Pakistan contends that the General Act was then still in force and binding on British India 17 In this regard India argues that the General Act was an agreement of a political character which by its nature was not transmissible It 20 AERIAL INCIDENT JUDGMENT adds that in any event it made no noti cation of succession as provided for in the case of newly independent States by Articles 17 and 22 of the Vienna Convention of 1978 on Succession of States in respect of Treaties which on this point is considered by India to have codi ed customary law Furthermore India points out that it clearly stated in its communi- cation of 18 September 1974 to the Secretary-General of the United Nations that t he Government of India never regarded themselves as bound by the General Act of 1928 since her Independence in 1947 whether by succession or otherwise Accordingly India has never been and is not a party to the General Act of 1928 ever since her Independence Nor continues India could Pakistan have succeeded to British India in 1947 as party to a political treaty such as the General Act Nor more over was Pakistan the continuator of British India it accordingly fol- lowed in India s view that Pakistan could not become party to the Gen eral Act because under Article 43 of that Act only States Members of the League of Nations could accede or non-Member States to which the Council of the League of Nations has communicated a copy of the Act for this purpose 18 Pakistan recalling that up to 1947 British India was party to the General Act of 1928 argues on the contrary that having become inde pendent India remained party to the Act for in its case there was no succession There was continuity and that consequently the views on non-transmission of the so called political treaties were not relevant here Thus the communication of 18 September 1974 was a subjective statement which had no objective validity Pakistan for its part is said to have acceded to the General Act in 1947 by automatic succession by virtue of international customary law Further according to Pakistan the question was expressly settled in relation to both States by Article 4 of the Schedule to the Indian Inde- pendence International Arrangements Order issued by the Governor- General of India on 14 August 1947 which was stated to have the effect from 15 August 1947 of an agreement between India and Pakistan that provision reads as follows Subject to Articles 2 and 3 of this agreement rights and obliga- tions under all international agreements to which India is a party immediately before the appointed day will devolve upon the Domin- ion of India and upon the Dominion of Pakistan and will if neces- sary be apportioned between the two Dominions Pakistan points out that Article 2 of the agreement deals with member- ship of international organizations while Article 3 concerns treaties having territorial application that neither of these Articles is applicable here and that the proviso of Article 4 does not apply and that accord- 12 ingly under the agreement of 1947 Pakistan became a successor State to the General Act of 1928 Moreover in order to dispel al1 doubts in this connection on 30 May 1974 Pakistan addressed a notification of succession to the Secretary-General of the United Nations stating that the Government of Pakistan continues to be bound by the accession of British India of the General Act of 1928 while adding that it did not affirm the reservations made by British India 19 India disputes this interpretation of the Indian Independence International Arrangements Order of 14 August 1947 and of the agreement in the Schedule thereto lt points out that Article 4 of the agreement is subject to the provisions of Article 2 Yet this latter Article provides that m embership of al1 international organisations together with the rights and obligations attaching to such membership will devolve solely upon the Dominion of India In the same Article it is stated that tlhe Dominion of Pakistan will take such steps as may be necessary to apply for membership of such international organisations as it chooses to join It followed according to India that Pakistan could not have succeeded under the Order and agreement of 14 August 1947 to the rights and obligations acquired by British India by virtue of her membership of the League of Nations 20 In support of this argument lndia relies on a judgment rendered by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on 6 June 1961 in which that Court referring to the provisions of the Schedule to the Order of 1947 stated inter uliu that u nder these provisions Pakistan did not automatically become a member of the United Nations nor did she succeed to the rights and obligations which attached to India by reason of her membership of the League of Nations at Geneva or the United Nations The Supreme Court accordingly held that Pakistan could not have become a party t o the instrument at issue before it namely the 1927 Convention for the Execution of Foreign Arbitral Awards which had been ratified by British India in 1937 In India's view tlhis reasoning was transposable in al1 respects to the General Act of 1928 For its part Pakistan observes that the judgment in question was given in a case in which the Government of Pakistan was not involved and had had no opportunity to express its views to the Court adding we are unaware of the extent to which the Court was sufficiently assisted in the development of its international law argument I n the absence o f knowledge about the true nature of the relationship between Pakistan and lndia after Independence and with India before Independence the Court could be understood not to have got matters right 21 India also relies on the report of Expert Committee No IX on Foreign Relations which in 1947 had been instructed in connection with the preparation of the above-mentioned Order to examine and make recommendations on the effect of partition on inter alia the existing treaties and engagements between British India and other countries and tribes India refers in particular to Annexure V to the said report which contained a list of those treaties and engagements It notes that the General Act of 1928 does not appear on that list Pakistan however observes that other important treaties d o not appear on the list which has certain very significant omissions India further observes that in any event even assuming that the 1947 agreement does have the scope claimed for it by Pakistan it cannot take precedence over the provisions of customary law as codified in the 1978 Vienna Convention on Succession of States in respect of Treaties as Article 8 of the Convention makes clear In short and as lndia stated on 18 September 1974 in its communication to the United Nations Secretary-General with regard to Pakistan's notification of succession of 30 May 1974 Pakistan could not have and did not become party to the General Act of 1928 22 Each of the Parties further relies in support of its position on the practice since 1947 In this regard Pakistan recalls inter alia that under the agreement signed at Simla on 2 July 1972 which entered into force on 4 August of that same year hereinafter called the Simla Accord the two States declared themselves resolved to settle their differences by peaceful means through bilateral negotiations or by any other peucejul means mutually agreed zrpon hetiileen them emphasis added in Pakistan's Memorial According to Pakistan als Chapter 11 of the General Act of 19281 was a 'peaceful means' already 'agreed upon' by both Plarties before the relevant date 2nd July 1972 and created mutually binding obligations between them the aforementioned provision of the Simla Accord reaffirms and makes the procedure under Article 17 of the General Act of 1928 truly efficacious That procedure accordingly continued to be available in any case till 18 September 1974 23 For its part India argues that the Simla Accord is no more than an arrangement between India and Pakistan first to enter into negotiations in case of any difference and following such negotiations to refer the matter to any other method of settlement to the extent that there is any further and specific agreement between the parties It adds that in any event India's communication to the United Nations Secretary-General of 18 September 1974 is a clear manifestation of its will not to be bound by the General Act of 1928 stating more particularly in this regard while Article 45 of the General Act states that denunciation 'shall be effected by a written notification addressed' to the depository it does not require this notification to take any particular form India addressed such notification to the Secretary-General of the United Nations it goes beyond a simple denunciation but it is not reasonable not to recognize that it is that at least Pakistan for its part is of the opinion that the said communication not having been made in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 45 does not amount to a forma1 denunciation of the Act 24 Lastly lndia recalls that when British India acceded to the General Act on 21 May 1931 it attached various reservations to that accession Thus it was stated that the following disputes are excluded from the procedure described in the General Act iii Disputes between the Government of India and the Government of any other Member of the League which is a Member of the British Commonwealth of Nations al1 of which disputes shall be settled in such a manner as the parties have agreed or shall agree v Disputes with any Party to the General Act who is not a Member of the League of Nations India argues that Pakistan was not and did not become a Member of the League of Nations and that this latter reservation accordingly excludes any jurisdiction of the Court in this case It adds that even assuming that Pakistan were to be regarded as having belonged or belonging to the League of Nations then the first reservation would become applicable since the dispute before the Court is between two countries which are members of the Commonwealth 25 Pakistan for its part contends in its Memorial that the reservations made by India while becoming a party to the General Act on 2 1 May 1931 d o not fall under the permissible reservations exlîaustively set out in Article 39 of the General Act They are inadmissible and have no legal effect original emphasis 26 The Court would observe that the question whether the General Act of 1928 is to be regarded as a convention in force for the purposes of Article 37 of the Statute of the Court has already been raised but not settled in previous proceedings before the Court see 1 C J Pleadings Nucleur Tests Vol II p 348 1 C J Plrudings Triul of Pakistani Prisoners of Wur Pukistun v India p 143 case concerning the Aegeun Sea Continental Sllelf Greecc v Turkey 1 C J R p o r 1978 ts Judg- ment of 19 December 1978 p 17 In the present case as recalled above the Parties have made lengthy submissions on this question as well as on the question whether British India was bound in 1947 by the General Act and if so whether India and Pakistan became parties to the Act on their accession to independence Further relying on its communication to the United Nations Secretary-General of 18 September 1974 and on the British India reservations of 1931 India denies that the General Act can afford a basis of jurisdiction enabling the Court to entertain a dispute between the two Parties Clearly if the Court were to uphold India's position on any one of these grounds it would no longer be necessary for it to rule on the others As the Court pointed out in the case concerning Cerruin Nor i'egian Louns when its jurisdiction is challenged on diverse grounds the Court is free to base its decision on the ground which in its judgment is more direct and conclusive 1 C J Reports 1957 p 25 Thus in the Aegean Seu Continental Shelf case the Court stated that a lthough under Article 59 of the Statute 'the decision of the Court has no binding force except between the parties and in respect of that particular case' it is evident that any pronouncement of the Court as to the status of the 1928 Act whether it were found to be a convention in force or to be no longer in force may have implications in the relations between States other than the Parties in the case I C J Reports 1978 pp 16-17 para 39 The Court went on to rule on the effect of a reservation by Greece to the General Act of 1928 without deciding the issue whether that convention was still in force In the present case the Court will proceed in similar fashion and begin by examining the communication addressed by India to the United Nations Secretary-General on 18 September 1974 27 In that communication the Minister of External Affairs of India declared the following 1 have the honour to refer to the General Act of 26th September 1928 for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes which was accepted for British India by the then His Majesty's Secretary of State for India by a communication addressed to the Secretariat of the League of Nations dated 21st May 1931 and which was later revised on 15th February 1939 The Government of India never regarded themselves as bound by the General Act of 1928 since her Independence in 1947 whether by succession or otherwise Accordingly India has never been and is not a party to the General Act of 1928 ever since her Independence 1 write this to make our position absolutely clear on this point so that there is no doubt in any quarter 28 Thus India considered that it had never been party to the General Act of 1928 as an independent State hence it could not have been expected formally to denounce the Act Even if argurndo the General Act was binding on India the communication of 18 September 1974 is to be considered in the circumstances of the present case as having served the same legal ends as the notification of denunciation provided for in Article 45 of the Act On 18 October 1974 the Legal Counsel of the United Nations acting on instructions from the Secretary-General informed the member States of the United Nations together with Liechtenstein San Marino and Switzerland of India's notification It follows from the foregoing that India in any event would have ceased to be bound by the General Act of 1928 at the latest on 16 August 1979 the date on which a denunciation of the General Act under Article 45 thereof would have taken effect India cannot be regarded as party to the said Act at the date when the Application in the present case was filed by Pakistan It follows that the Court has no jurisdiction to entertain the Application on the basis of the provisions of Article 17 of the General Act of 1928 and of Article 37 of the Statute 29 Pakistan seeks secondly to found the jurisdiction of the Court on the declarations made by the Parties under Article 36 paragraph 2 of the Statute Pakistan's current declaration was filed with the United Nations Secretary General on 13 September 1960 India's current declaration was filed on 18 September 1974 India disputes that the Court has jurisdiction in this case on the basis of these declarations It invokes in support of its position the reservations contained in subparagraphs 2 and 7 of the first paragraph of its declaration those reservations are formulated as follows 1 have the honour to declare on behalf of the Government of the Republic of India that they accept in conformity with paragraph 2 of Article 36 of the Statute of the Court until such time as notice may be given to terminate such acceptance as compulsory ipsofucto and without special agreement and on the basis and condition of reciprocity the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice over al1 disputes other than 2 disputes with the government of any State which is or has been a Member of the Commonwealth of Nations 7 disputes concerning the interpretation or application of a multilateral treaty unless al1 the parties to the treaty are also parties to the case before the Court or Government of India specially agree to jurisdiction 30 With respect to the first of these reservations relating to States which are or have been members of the Commonwealth hereinafter called the Commonwealth reservation Pakistan contended in its written pleadings that it ha d no legal effect on the grounds that it was in conflict with the principle of sovereign equality and the universality of rights and obligations of members of the United Nations it was in breach of good faith and that it was in breach of various provisions of the United Nations Charter and of the Statute of the Court In its Memorial Pakistan claimed in particular that the reservation in question was in excess of the conditions permitted under Article 36 3 of the Statute under which according to Pakistan the permissible conditions to which a declaration may be made subject have been exhaustively set out as i on condition of reciprocity on the part of several or certain states or ii for a certain time This reservation was accordingly illicit It was however not so central as to constitute 'an essential basis of the consent of India' to be bound by its declaration under the optional clause Hence acceptance of the Court's jurisdiction under Article 36 paragraph 2 of the Statute would remain valid the aforementioned reservation not being applicable Pakistan contended in the alternative citing Article 1 of the Simla Accord that even if the reservation were to be regarded as valid India would in any case be prevented from invoking it against Pakistan by the operation of estoppel In its oral pleadings Pakistan developed its argument based on Article 36 paragraph 3 of the Statute contending that reservations which like the Commonwealth reservation did not faIl within the categories authorized by that provision should be considered extra-statutory On this point it argued that an extra-statutory reservation made by a defendant State may be applied by the Court against a plaintiff State only if there is something in the case which allows the Court to conclude that the plaintiff has accepted the reservation Such acceptance can be inferred in two situations One is where the plaintiff State has itself made the same or a comparable reservation The other is when the plaintiff being confronted by the invocation of the reservation by the defendant State has shown itself willing to join issue on the interpretation of the content of the reservation without challenging its opposability to itself But if the plaintiff challenges the applicability of the reservation then the Court must decide by reference to its content and the circumstances whether it is applicable or opposable as against the plaintiff Pakistan further claimed at the hearings that the reservation was in any event inapplicable not because it was extra-statutory and unopposable to Pakistan but because it was obsolete In support of this position Pakistan inter alia gave the following account of the historical origins of this reservation it grew out of a conception of what was then called 'the British Commonwealth of Nations' This was based on the idea that international law was not applicable in relations between the Commonwealth members The idea was called the 'inter s r doctrine' The Commonwealth was a close-knit family Disputes between its members were not governed by international law and were not appropriate for settlement in an international court They were intended to be dealt with in other 'family tribunals' which in fact never came into existence the original idea of the inter se doctrine has withered away and the Commonwealth members including India have come to regard each other as ordinary States between whom the normal rules of international law apply and between whom litigation may take place upon an international level in the ordinary way Finally Pakistan claimed that India's Commonwealth reservation having thus lost its raison d'être could today only be directed at Pakistan In Pakistan's view the Commonwealth reservation was maintained by India only as a bar to actions by Pakistan This discrimination against Pakistan in India's acceptance of the optional clause really amount ed to a n abuse of right 31 lndia rejects Pakistan's line of reasoning In its Counter-Memorial it disputed in the following terms the argument in Pakistan's Memorial that the Commonwealth reservation was contrary to the provisions of Article 36 paragraph 3 of the Statute None of the commentators on the jurisdiction of the Court have suggested that the reservation is invalid on this or any other ground Article 36 3 was envisaged from the beginning as allowing a choice of partners in regard to which a government was prepared to accept the jurisdiction of the Court O n this point India in its oral pleadings stressed the particular importance to be attached in its view to ascertaining the intention of the declarant State It contended that there is no evidence whatsoever that the reservation in question is ultrcr vires Article 36 paragraph 3 of the Statute and referred to tlhe fact that it has for long been recognized that within the system of the optional clause a State can select its partners lndia accordingly concluded that the challenge to the validity of the reservation had no legal basis that the reservation in question was a classical reservation rutionc personac that it was stated in unambiguous terms and that it involve d no subversion of Article 36 paragraph 6 o r any other provision of the Statute India also queried the correctness of the theory of extra-statutory reservations put forward by Pakistan pointing out that any State against which the reservation were invoked could escape from it by merely stating that it was extra-statutory in character As to Pakistan's argument that the Court might hold itself to have jurisdiction on the basis of India's declaration even if the reservation were inapplicable India contends that this is unsustainable because a reservation cannot be severed from the declaration of which it is a n integral part The pertinent unilateral act is undoubtedly the Indian declaration as a single instrument as a unity and not the reservation taken in isolation India also rejects Pakistan's alternative argument based on estoppel saying that in any event no estoppel relating to the Court's jurisdiction could arise in relation to the Simla Accord as it does not contain a compromissory clause Finally in relation to Pakistan's argument that the Commonwealth reservation is obsolete lndia points out that there is no support for it in doctrine and that elven if for the sake of argument it were to be conceded that the doctrine of obsolescence was applicable to unilateral acts it could not apply to the circumstances of a reservation made in 1974 and which has for long been a part of the practice of the Indian Government 32 As to the second reservation relied on by India in this case namely that concerning multilateral treaties Pakistan in the final version of its argument States that it is not arguing that the reservation is void o r inapplicable o r not opposable to it It does not need to The multilateral treaty reservation is simply irrelevant and Pakistan relies on the view that the Court took of the multilateral treaty reservation in the Nicaragua case In this connection Pakistan explains that it does not need to invoke the Charter as the substantive basis for its case which really rests on considerations of customary international law The fact that customary international law is embodied in the Charter does not weaken the strength of Pakistan's case 33 For its part India in the final version of its argument rejects Pakistan's thesis in the following terms Even if as Pakistan now contends the claims are based upon customary international law the multilateral convention reservation of India will apply wherever there is a reliance upon causes of action which in the final analysis are based upon the United Nations Charter 34 The Court will begin by examining the reservation contained in subparagraph 2 of the first paragraph of India's declaration namely the Commonwealth reservation 35 In this regard the Court will first address Pakistan's contention that this is an extra-statutory reservation going beyond the conditions allowed for under Article 36 paragraph 3 of the Statute According to Pakistan the reservation is neither applicable nor opposable to it in this case in the absence of acceptance 36 On this point the Court recalls in the first place that its jurisdiction only exists within the limits within which it has been accepted Plzosphutes in Morocco Judgtnent 1938 P C I J Series AIB No 74 p 23 As the Court pointed out in the case concerning Militury and Paramiliturj Activities in ancl ugainst Nicaragua Nicaruguu v United Stutes of' Americu d eclarations of acceptance of the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court are facultative unilateral engagements that States are absolutely free to make or not to make In making the declaration a State is equally free either to d o so unconditionally and without limit of time for its duration or to qualify it with conditions or reservations I C J Rc port 1984 p 418 para 59 37 The Court would further observe that paragraph 3 of Article 36 of its Statute has never been regarded as laying down in an exhaustive manner the conditions under which declarations might be made Already in 1928 the Assembly of the League of Nations in a resolution adopted by it regarding the Optional Clause of Article 36 of the Statute of the Permanent Court of International Justice had indicated that attention should once more be drawn to the possibility offered by the terms of that clause to States which d o not see their way to accede to it without qualification to d o so subject to appropriate reservations limiting the extent of their commitments both as regards duration and as regards scope explaining that the reservations conceivable may relate either generally to certain aspects of any kind of dispute or specifically to certain classes or lists of disputes and these different kinds of reservation can be legitimately combined Resolution adopted on 26 September 1928 Moreover when the Statute of the present Court was being drafted the 30 AERIAL INCIDENT JUDGMENT right of a State to attach reservations to its declaration was confirmed and it was indeed considered unnecessary to clarify the terms of Article 36 paragraph 3 of the Statute on this point The question of reservations calls for an explanation As is well known the article has consistently been interpreted in the past as allowing states accepting the jurisdiction of the Court to subject their declarations to reservations The Subcommittee has considered such interpretation as being henceforth established It has therefore been considered unnecessary to modify paragraph 3 in order to make express reference to the right of the states to make such reservations Report of Sub-Committee D to Committee IV11 on Article 36 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice 31 May 1945 UNCIO Vol XIII p 559 38 The Court notes that this right has been recognized in the practice of States which attach to their declarations of acceptance of the jurisdiction of the Court in accordance with Article 36 paragraph 2 of the Statute reservations enabling them to define the parameters of that acceptance Fisherie Jurisdiction Spuin v Canadu Juvisdiction of thr Court Judgment 1 C J Reports 1998 p 453 para 44 Indeed since 1929 a number of Commonwealth States have formulated reservations concerning other Commonwealth members and such reservations are currently to be found in the declarations of eight of those States 39 For al1 of the above reasons the Court cannot accept Pakistan's argument that a reservation such as India's Commonwealth reservation might be regarded as extra-statutory because it contravened Article 36 paragraph 3 of the Statute It need not therefore pursue further the matter of extra-statutory reservations 40 Nor can the Court accept Pakistan's argument that India's reservation was a discriminatory act constituting an abuse of right because the only purpose of this reservation was to prevent Pakistan from bringing an action against India before the Court It notes in the first place that the reservation refers generally to States which are or have been members of the Commonwealth It would add as it recalled in paragraphs 36 to 39 above that States are in any event free to limit the scope rationepersonae which they wish to give to their acceptance of the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court 41 The Court will address secondly Pakistan's contention that the Commonwealth reservation was obsolete because members of the Commonwealth of Nations were no longer united by a common allegiance to the Crown and the modes of dispute settlement originally contemplated had never come into being 42 The Court at the outset recalls that any declaration must be interpreted as it stands having regard to the words actually used Anglo- Iranian Oil Co Preliminary Objection Judgment I C J Reports 1952 p 105 and that a reservation must be given effect as it stands Certuin Norii egian Loans Judgment 1 C J Reports 1957 p 27 Moreover as the Court stated in the case concerning Fisheries Jurisdiction Spuin v Cunadu it will interpret the relevant words of a declaration including a reservation contained therein in a natural and reasonable way having due regard to the intention of the State concerned at the time when it accepted the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court 1 C J Reports 1998 p 454 para 49 43 The four declarations whereby since its independence in 1947 India has accepted the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court have al1 contained a Commonwealth reservation In its most recent form that of 18 September 1974 the reservation was amended so as to cover disputes with the government of any State which is or has been a Member of the Commonwealth of Nations 44 While the historical reasons for the initial appearance of the Commonwealth reservation in the declarations of certain States under the optional clause may have changed or disappeared such considerations cannot however prevail over the intention of a declarant State as expressed in the actual text of its declaration India has repeatedly made clear that it wishes to limit in this manner the scope ratione personae of its acceptance of the Court's jurisdiction Whatever may have been the reasons for this limitation the Court is bound to apply it 45 Pakistan has further argued in the alternative that if the reservation were held to be valid India would in any event be prevented from relying upon it against Pakistan by the operation of estoppel For this purpose Pakistan has cited Article 1 of the Simla Accord paragraph ii of which provides inter aliu that the two countries are resolved to settle their differences by peaceful means through bilateral negotiations or by any other peaceful means mutually agreed upon between them The Court regards this provision as an obligation generally on the two States to settle their differences by peaceful means to be mutually agreed by them The said provision in no way modifies the specific rules governing recourse t o any such means including judicial settlement Thus the Court cannot interpret that obligation as precluding lndia from relying in the present case on the Commonwealth reservation contained in its declaration The Court cannot therefore accept the argument in the present case based on estoppel 46 It follows from the foregoing that the Commonwealth reservation contained in subparagraph 2 of the first paragraph of India's declaration of 18 September 1974 may validly be invoked in the present case Since Pakistan is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations the Court finds that it has n o jurisdiction to entertain the Application under Article 36 paragraph 2 of the Statute Hence it is unnecessary for the Court to consider India's objection based on the reservation concerning multilateral treaties contained in subparagraph 7 of the first paragraph of its declaration 47 Finally Pakistan has sought to found the jurisdiction of the Court on paragraph 1 of Article 36 of the Statute It stated the followiiig in its Memorial The jurisdiction of the Internatioiial Court of Justice is also founded on the provision contained in Article 36 1 of the Statute of the Court which states 'The jurisdiction of the Court comprises al1 cases which the parties refer to it und ull r1itrttcr s vpci iulb proilidc d fi r in t11c C11crr t of' tlic Utiitctl N rtionsor in treaties and conventions in force ' Eniphasis added in the original The said Article of the Statute is to be read with Article 1 1 Article 2 paras 3 and 4 Article 33 Article 36 3 and Article 92 of the United Nations Charter The obligations undertaken under Article 1 of the agreement on bilateral relations between India and Pakistan of 2nd July 1972 reaffirms this basis of jurisdiction in Article 1 which states that 'The principles and purposes of the United Nations Charter shall govern the relations between the two countries' At the hearings Pakistan's counsel expressed hiinself as follows let me very briefly recall the two main grounds on which Pakistan rests jurisdiction i the optional clause ii the General Act 1 will not pursue the argument that the Court has jurisdiction under Article 36 paragraph 1 as the case specially provided for in the Charter 48 The Court observes that the United Nations Charter contains no specific provision of itself conferring compulsory jurisdiction on the Court In particular there is n o such provision in Articles 1 paragraph 1 2 paragraphs 3 and 4 33 36 paragraph 3 and 92 of the Charter relied on by Pakistan 49 Pakistan also relied on Article 1 of the Simla Accord which provides that the Government of lndia and the Government of Pakistan have agreed as follows i That the principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations shall govern the relations between the two countries This provision represents an obligation entered into by the two States to respect the principles and purposes of the Charter in their mutual relations It does not as such entai1 any obligation on India and Pakistan to submit their disputes to the Court 50 It follows that the Court has no jurisdiction to entertain the Application on the basis of Article 36 paragraph 1 of the Statute 51 Finally the Court would recall that tlhere is a fundamental distinction between the acceptance by a State of the Court's jurisdiction and the compatibility of particular acts with international law Whether or not States accept the jurisdiction of the Court they remain in al1 cases responsible for acts attributable to them that violate the rights of other States Fisherirs Juridiction Spain v Canada Jurisdiction of tllc Court Judgment I C J Reports 1998 p 456 paras 55-56 52 As the Permanent Court of International Justice had already observed in 1929 and as the present Court has reaffirmed the judicial settlement of international disputes with a view to which the Court has been established is simply an alternative to the direct and friendly settlement of such disputes between the Parties consequently it is for the Court to facilitate so far as is compatible with its Statute such direct and friendly settlement case concerning the Frer Zoncs of' Upper Savoy und tlzr District of Gex Order of 19 August 1929 P C I J Srries A No 22 p 13 see also Frontier Dispute Burkina Faso V Rrpuhlic of' Mali I C J Reports 1986 p 577 para 46 and Passage through the Great Brlt Finluntl' v Denmark I C J Reports 1991 p 20 53 The Court's lack of jurisdiction does not relieve States of their obligation to settle their disputes by peaceful means The choice of those means admittedly rests with the parties under Article 33 of the United Nations Charter They are nonetheless under an obligation to seek such a settlement and to d o so in good faith in accordance with Article 2 paragraph 2 of the Charter 54 As regards lndia and Pakistan that obligation was restated more particularly in the Simla Accord of 2 July 1972 which provides that the two countries are resolved to settle their differences by peaceful means through bilateral negotiations o r by any other peaceful means mutually agreed upon between them Moreover the Lahore Declaration of 21 February 1999 reiterated the determination of both countries to implementing the Simla Agreement 55 Accordingly the Court reminds the Parties of their obligation to settle their disputes by peaceful means and in particular the dispute arising out of the aerial incident of 10 August 1999 in conformity with the obligations which they have undertaken cf Fisheries Jurisdiction Spuin v Cunudu Jurisdic tion of' the Court Judgment 1 C J Reports 1998 p 456 para 56 56 For these reasons By fourteen votes to two Fin that it has n o jurisdiction to entertain the Application filed by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on 21 September 1999 I N FAVOUR Presiderlt Guillaume Vic3ePrc sir ent Shi Judges Oda Bedjaoui Ranjeva Herczegh Fleischhauer Koroma Vereshchetin Higgins ParraAranguren Kooijmans Buergenthal Judgc ad hoc Reddy AGAINST Judge Al-Khasawneh Judge ad hoc Pirzada Done in English and in French the English text being authoritative at the Peace Palace The Hague this twenty-first day of June two thousand in three copies one of which will be placed in the archives of the Court and the others transmitted to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Government of the Republic of India respectively Signed Gilbert G U I L L A U M E President Signrd Philippe COUVREUR Registrar Judges ODA KOROMAand Judge id hoc REDIIYappend separate opinions to the Judgment of the Court 26 Judge AL-KHASAWNEH and Judge ad hoc PIRZADA append dissenting opinions to the Judgment of the Court Initiulled G G Initialled Ph C