III. | The International Court of Justice |
3. | THE PROCEDURE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE |
3.11. | Intervention |
3.11.4. | Procedural Rights of the Intervening State |
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Land, Island and
Maritime Frontier Dispute
(El Salvador/Honduras)
Application to Intervene,
Judgment of 13 September 1990,
I.C.J. Reports 1990, p. 92
[pp. 135-136] Since this is the first case in the history of the two
Courts in which a State will have been accorded permission to intervene under
Article 62 of the Statute, it appears appropriate to give some indication of the
extent of the procedural rights acquired by the intervening State as a result of
that permission. This is particularly desirable since the intervention permitted
relates only to certain issues of the many submitted to the Chamber. In the
first place, as has been explained above, the intervening State does not become
party to the proceedings, and does not acquire the rights, or become subject to
the obligations, which attach to the status of a party, under the Statute and
Rules of Court, or the general principles of procedural law. Nicaragua, as an
intervener, has of course a right to be heard by the Chamber. That right is
regulated by Article 85 of the Rules of Court, which provides for submission of
a written statement, and participation in the hearings. Time-limits will be
fixed for a written statement by Nicaragua, and observations thereon by the
Parties, in accordance with Article 85, so soon after the delivery of the
present Judgment as the appropriate consultations can be held.
The scope of the intervention in this particular case, in relation to the
scope of the case as a whole, necessarily involves limitations of the right of
the intervener to be heard. An initial limitation is that it is not for the
intervener to address argument to the Chamber on the interpretation of the
Special Agreement concluded between the Parties on 24 May 1986, because the
Special Agreement is, for Nicaragua, res inter alios acta.