World Court Digest

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III.	The International Court of Justice
3.	THE PROCEDURE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
3.1.	General Questions

¤ Case Concerning Armed Activities
on the Territory of the Congo
(New Application: 2002)
(Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Rwanda)
Request for the Indication of Provisional Measures
Order of 10 July 2002

[p. 249] 91. Whereas in the absence of a manifest lack of jurisdiction, the Court cannot grant Rwanda’s request that the case be removed from the List;

[p. 268 S.O. Dugard] 7. In the present case the Court has rightly held that the instruments invoked by the Applicant, prima facie, provide no basis for jurisdiction. It does not, however, go so far as to hold that there is a “manifest lack of jurisdiction” warranting the removal of the Application from the List (Order, para. 91). The Court gives no clear reason for this finding, but suggests that the failure of the Applicant to meet preconditions for the establishment of jurisdiction or to show a connection between the dispute before the Court and the treaties relied upon for jurisdiction “at this stage in the proceedings” (ibid., paras. 79, 82 and 88) might remedied at a later stage of the proceedings (ibid., para. 90). In my view, such a finding sets too low a threshold for “manifest lack of jurisdiction” in the circumstances of the present case, and sets a dangerous precedent for the Court.

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