International Court of Justice: Certain Property (Liechtenstein v. Germany) – Fixing of time-limits for the filing of written pleadings

THE HAGUE, 29 June 2001. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has fixed time-limits for the filing of written pleadings in the case concerning Certain Property (Liechtenstein v. Germany).

At a meeting held by the President of the Court with the Parties on 25 June 2001, Liechtenstein, citing the complexity of the case, stated that it wished to be allowed a period of between nine and ten months to prepare its Memorial. For its part, Germany indicated that this proposal was acceptable and that, while reserving the right to raise preliminary objections, it wished to have the same time for the preparation of its Counter-Memorial as that accorded to Liechtenstein.

By an Order of 28 June 2001, and taking account of the agreement of the Parties, the Court fixed 28 March 2002 as the time-limit for the filing of a Memorial by Liechtenstein and 27 December 2002 as the time-limit for the filing of a Counter-Memorial by Germany.

In its Order the Court made it clear that the time-limit fixed for the filing of Germany’s Counter-Memorial was subject to the possible application of Article 79, paragraph 1, of the Rules of Court, in its version applicable with effect from 1 February 2001.

The subsequent procedure has been reserved for further decision.

History of the proceedings

On 1 June 2001 Liechtenstein instituted proceedings against Germany relating to a dispute concerning “decisions of Germany, in and after 1998, to treat certain property of Liechtenstein nationals as German assets having been ‘seized for the purposes of reparation or restitution, or as a result of the state of war’ ¾ i.e., as a consequence of World War II ¾ , without ensuring any compensation for the loss of that property to its owners, and to the detriment of Liechtenstein itself”.

In its Application, Liechtenstein requests the Court “to adjudge and declare that Germany has incurred international legal responsibility and is bound to make appropriate reparation to Liechtenstein for the damage and prejudice suffered”. Liechtenstein further requests “that the nature and amount of such reparation should, in the absence of agreement between the parties, be assessed and determined by the Court, if necessary, in a separate phase of the proceedings”.

As a basis for the Court’s jurisdiction, Liechtenstein invokes Article 1 of the European Convention for the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes, signed at Strasbourg on 29 April 1957.

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The full text of the Court’s Order will shortly be available on the Court’s website at the following address: http://www.icj-cij.org