WORLD COURT TO HOLD HEARINGS ON PROVISIONAL MEASURES IN CAMEROON, NIGERIA BOUNDARY CASE
Press Release
ICJ/542
WORLD COURT TO HOLD HEARINGS ON PROVISIONAL MEASURES IN CAMEROON, NIGERIA BOUNDARY CASE
19960228 THE HAGUE, 27 February (ICJ) -- The Registry of the International Court of Justice announced today that public sittings to hear the oral arguments of Cameroon and Nigeria on Cameroon's request for the indication of provisional measures in the case concerning the land and maritime boundaries between the two countries, which was made by Cameroon on 12 February, will open at 10 a.m. Tuesday, 5 March. The public sittings will be held in the Great Hall of Justice of the Peace Palace at The Hague. The hearings are expected to conclude on Friday, 8 March.The request for the indication of provisional measures made by Cameroon referred to "serious armed incidents" that have taken place between Cameroonian and Nigerian forces in the Bakassi Peninsula beginning on 3 February. In its request Cameroon refers to the submissions made in its Application of 29 March 1994, supplemented by an Additional Application of 6 June of that year, as also summed up in its Memorial of 16 March 1995. It requests the Court to indicate the following provisional measures: the armed forces of the Parties shall withdraw to the position they were occupying before the Nigerian armed attack of 3 February; the Parties shall abstain from all military activity along the entire boundary until the judgment of the Court is given; and the Parties shall abstain form any act or action which might hamper the gathering of evidence in the present case.
In the main proceedings, the Court, by an Order of 10 January, fixed 15 May as the time-limit within which Cameroon may present a written statement of its observations and submissions on the preliminary objections relating to the jurisdiction of the Court and to the admissibility of the claims of Cameroon, which Nigeria filed on 13 December 1995.
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