1 of 4 DOCUMENTS

INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE

CASE CONCERNING MILITARY AND PARAMILITARY ACTIVITIES IN AND AGAINST NICARAGUA

(NICARAGUA v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)

MERITS

General List No. 70

INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE

1986 ICJ LEXIS 4

27 June 1986

TYPE: [*1] Judgment

JUDGES: Present: President NAGENDRA SINGH; Vice-President DE LACHARRIERE; Judges LACHS, RUDA, ELIAS, ODA, AGO, SETTE-CAMARA, SCHWEBEL, Sir Robert JENNINGS, MBAYE, BEDJAOUI, NI, EVENSEN; Judge ad hoc COLLIARD; Registrar TORRES BERNARDEZ.

TEXT: Failure of Respondent to appear -- Statute of the Court, Article 53 -- Equality of the parties.

Jurisdiction of the Court -- Effect of application of multilateral treaty reservation to United States declaration of acceptance of jurisdiction under Statute, Article 36, paragraph 2 -- Third State "affected" by decision of the Court on dispute arising under a multilateral treaty -- Character of objection to jurisdiction not exclusively preliminary -- Rules of Court, Article 79.

Justiciability of the dispute -- "Legal dispute" (Statute, Article 36, paragraph 2).

Establishment of facts -- Relevant period -- Powers of the Court -- Press information and matters of public knowledge -- Statements by representatives of States -- Evidence of witnesses -- Implicit admissions -- Material not presented in accordance with Rules of Court.

Acts imputable to respondent State -- Mining of ports -- Attacks on oil installations [*2] and other objectives -- Overflights -- Support of armed bands opposed to Government of applicant State -- Encouragement of conduct contrary to principles of humanitarian law -- Economic pressure -- Circumstances precluding international responsibility -- Possible justification of imputed acts -- Conduct of Applicant during relevant period.

Applicable law -- Customary international law -- Opinio juris and State practice -- Significance of concordant views of Parties -- Relationship between customary international law and treaty law -- United Nations Charter -- Significance of Resolutions of United Nations General Assembly and Organization of American States General Assembly.

Principle prohibiting recourse to the threat or use of force in international relations -- Inherent right of self-defence -- Conditions for exercise -- Individual and collective self-defence -- Response to armed attack -- Declaration of having been the object of armed attack and request for measures in the exercise of collective self-defence.

Principle of non-intervention -- Content of the principle -- Opinio juris -- State practice -- Question of collective counter-measures in response to conduct [*3] not amounting to armed attack.

State sovereignty -- Territory -- Airspace -- Internal and territorial waters -- Right of access of foreign vessels.

Principles of humanitarian law -- 1949 Geneva Conventions -- Minimum rules applicable -- Duty of States not to encourage disrespect for humanitarian law -- Notification of existence and location of mines.

Respect for human rights -- Right of States to choose political system, ideology and alliances.

1956 Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation -- Jurisdiction of the Court -- Obligation under customary international law not to commit acts calculated to defeat object and purpose of a treaty -- Review of relevant treaty provisions.

Claim for reparation.

Peaceful settlement of disputes.

JUDGMENT

In the case concerning military and paramilitary activities in and against Nicaragua,

between

the Republic of Nicaragua,

represented by

H.E. Mr. Carlos Arguello Gomez, Ambassador,

as Agent and Counsel,

Mr. Ian Brownlie, Q.C., F.B.A., Chichele Professor of Public International Law in the University of Oxford; Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford,

Hon. Abram Chayes, Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Harvard Law [*4] School; Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences,

Mr. Alain Pellet, Professor at the University of Paris-Nord and the Institut d'etudes politiques de Paris,

Mr. Paul S. Reichler, Reichler and Appelbaum, Washington, D.C.; Member of the Bar of the United States Supreme Court; Member of the Bar of the District of Columbia,

as Counsel and Advocates,

Mr. Augusto Zamora Rodriguez, Legal Adviser to the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Nicaragua,

Miss Judith C. Appelbaum, Reichler and Appelbaum, Washington, D.C.; Member of the Bars of the District of Columbia and the State of California,

Mr. David Wippman, Reichler and Appelbaum, Washington, D.C.,

as Counsel,

and

the United States of America,

THE COURT,

composed as above,

delivers the following Judgment:

1. On 9 April 1984 the Ambassador of the Republic of Nicaragua to the Netherlands filed in the Registry of the Court an Application instituting proceedings against the United States of America in respect of a dispute concerning responsibility for military and paramilitary activities in and against Nicaragua. In order to found the jurisdiction of the Court the Application relied on declarations made by the Parties accepting [*5] the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court under Article 36 of the Statute.

2. Pursuant to Article 40, paragraph 2, of the Statute, the Application was at once communicated to the Government of the United States of America. In accordance with paragraph 3 of that Article, all other States entitled to appear before the Court were notified of the Application.

3. At the same time as the Application was filed, the Republic of Nicaragua also filed a request for the indication of provisional measures under Article 41 of the Statute. By an Order dated 10 May 1984, the Court rejected a request made by the United States for removal of the case from the list, indicated, pending its final decision in the proceedings, certain provisional measures, and decided that, until the Court delivers its final judgment in the case, it would keep the matters covered by the Order continuously under review.

4. By the said Order of 10 May 1984, the Court further decided that the written proceedings in the case should first be addressed to the questions of the jurisdiction of the Court to entertain the dispute and of the admissibility of the Application. By an Order dated 14 May 1984, the President of the Court [*6] fixed 30 June 1984 as time-limit for the filing of a Memorial by the Republic of Nicaragua and 17 August 1984 as time-limit for the filing of a Counter-Memorial by the United States of America on the questions of jurisdiction and admissibility and these pleadings were duly filed within the time-limits fixed.

5. In its Memorial on jurisdiction and admissibility, the Republic of Nicaragua contended that, in addition to the basis of jurisdiction relied on in the Application, a Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation signed by the Parties in 1956 provides an independent basis for jurisdiction under Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Statute of the Court.

6. Since the Court did not include upon the bench a judge of Nicaraguan nationality, Nicaragua, by a letter dated 3 August 1984, exercised its right under Article 31, paragraph 2, of the Statute of the Court to choose a judge ad hoc to sit in the case. The person so designated was Professor Claude-Albert Colliard.

7. On 15 August 1984, two days before the closure of the written proceedings on the questions of jurisdiction and admissibility, the Republic of El Salvador filed a Declaration of Intervention in the case under Article [*7] 63 of the Statute. Having been supplied with the written observations of the Parties on the Declaration pursuant to Article 83 of the Rules of Court, the Court, by an Order dated 4 October 1984, decided not to hold a hearing on the Declaration of Intervention, and decided that that Declaration was inadmissible inasmuch as it related to the phase of the proceedings then current.

8. On 8-10 October and 15-18 October 1984 the Court held public hearings at which it heard the argument of the Parties on the questions of the jurisdiction of the Court to entertain the dispute and the admissibility of the Application.

9. By a Judgment dated 26 November 1984, the Court found that it had jurisdiction to entertain the Application on the basis of Article 36, paragraphs 2 and 5, of the Statute of the Court; that it had jurisdiction to entertain the Application in so far as it relates to a dispute concerning the interpretation or application of the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation between the United States and Nicaragua of 21 January 1956, on the basis of Article XXIV of that Treaty; that it had jurisdiction to entertain the case; and that the Application was admissible.

10. By a letter [*8] dated 18 January 1985 the Agent of the United States referred to the Court's Judgment of 26 November 1984 and informed the Court as follows:

"the United States is constrained to conclude that the judgment of the Court was clearly and manifestly erroneous as to both fact and law. The United States remains firmly of the view, for the reasons given in its written and oral pleadings that the Court is without jurisdiction to entertain the dispute, and that the Nicaraguan application of 9 April 1984 is inadmissible. Accordingly, it is my duty to inform you that the United States intends not to participate in any further proceedings in connection with this case, and reserves its rights in respect of any decision by the Court regarding Nicaragua's claims."

11. By an Order dated 22 January 1985 the President of the Court, after referring to the letter from the United States Agent, fixed 30 April 1985 as time-limit for a Memorial of Nicaragua and 31 May 1985 as time-limit for a Counter-Memorial of the United States of America on the merits of the dispute. The Memorial of Nicaragua was filed within the time-limit so fixed; no pleading was filed by the United States of America, nor did it [*9] make any request for extension of the time-limit. In its Memorial, communicated to the United States pursuant to Article 43 of the Statute of the Court, Nicaragua invoked Article 53 of the Statute and called upon the Court to decide the case despite the failure of the Respondent to appear and defend.

12. On 10 September 1985, immediately prior to the opening of the oral proceedings, the Agent of Nicaragua submitted to the Court a number of documents referred to as "Supplemental Annexes" to the Memorial of Nicaragua. In application of Article 56 of the Rules of Court, these documents were treated as "new documents" and copies were transmitted to the United States of America, which did not lodge any objection to their production.

13. On 12-13 and 16-20 September 1985 the Court held public hearings at which it was addressed by the following representatives of Nicaragua: H.E. Mr. Carlos Arguello Gomez, Hon. Abram Chayes, Mr. Paul S. Reichler, Mr. Ian Brownlie, and Mr. Alain Pellet. The United States was not represented at the hearing. The following witnesses were called by Nicaragua and gave evidence: Commander Luis Carrion, Vice-Minister of the Interior of Nicaragua (examined by Mr. [*10] Brownlie); Dr. David MacMichael, a former officer of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) (examined by Mr. Chayes); Professor Michael John Glennon (examined by Mr. Reichler); Father Jean Loison (examined by Mr. Pellet); Mr. William Huper, Minister of Finance of Nicaragua (examined by Mr. Arguello Gomez). Questions were put by Members of the Court to the witnesses, as well as to the Agent and counsel of Nicaragua, and replies were given either orally at the hearing or subsequently in writing. On 14 October 1985 the Court requested Nicaragua to make available certain further information and documents, and one Member of the Court put a question to Nicaragua. The verbatim records of the hearings and the information and documents supplied in response to these requests were transmitted by the Registrar to the United States of America.

14. Pursuant to Article 53, paragraph 2, of the Rules of Court, the pleadings and annexed documents were made accessible to the public by the Court as from the date of opening of the oral proceedings.

15. In the course of the written proceedings, the following submissions were presented on behalf of the Government of Nicaragua: in the Application: [*11]

"Nicaragua, reserving the right to supplement or to amend this Application and subject to the presentation to the Court of the relevant evidence and legal argument, requests the Court to adjudge and declare as follows:

(a)That the United States, in recruiting, training, arming, equipping, financing, supplying and otherwise encouraging, supporting, aiding, and directing military and paramilitary actions in and against Nicaragua, has violated and is violating its express charter and treaty obligations to Nicaragua, and in particular, its charter and treaty obligations under:

-- Article 2 (4) of the United Nations Charter;

-- Articles 18 and 20 of the Charter of the Organization of American States;

-- Article 8 of the Convention on Rights and Duties of States;

-- Article I, Third, of the Convention concerning the Duties and Rights of States in the Event of Civil Strife.

(b) That the United States, in breach of its obligation under general and customary international law, has violated and is violating the sovereignty of Nicaragua by:

-- armed attacks against Nicaragua by air, land and sea;

-- incursions into Nicaraguan territorial waters;

-- aerial trespass into Nicaraguan [*12] airspace;

-- efforts by direct and indirect means to coerce and intimidate the Government of Nicaragua.

(c) That the United States, in breach of its obligation under general and customary international law, has used and is using force and the threat of force against Nicaragua.

(d) That the United States, in breach of its obligation under general and customary international law, has intervened and is intervening in the internal affairs of Nicaragua.

(e) That the United States, in breach of its obligation under general and customary international law, has infringed and is infringing the freedom of the high seas and interrupting peaceful maritime commerce.

(f) That the United States, in breach of its obligation under general and customary international law, has killed, wounded and kidnapped and is killing, wounding and kidnapping citizens of Nicaragua.

(g) That, in view of its breaches of the foregoing legal obligations, the United States is under a particular duty to cease and desist immediately: from all use of force -- whether direct or indirect, overt or covert -- against Nicaragua, and from all threats of force against Nicaragua;

from all violations of the [*13] sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of Nicaragua, including all intervention, direct or indirect, in the internal affairs of Nicaragua;

from all support of any kind -- including the provision of training, arms, ammunition, finances, supplies, assistance, direction or any other form of support -- to any nation, group, organization, movement or individual engaged or planning to engage in military or paramilitary actions in or against Nicaragua;

from all efforts to restrict, block or endanger access to or from Nicaraguan ports;

and from all killings, woundings and kidnappings of Nicaraguan citizens.

(h) That the United States has an obligation to pay Nicaragua, in its own right and as parens patriae for the citizens of Nicaragua, reparations for damages to person, property and the Nicaraguan economy caused by the foregoing violations of international law in a sum to be determined by the Court. Nicaragua reserves the right to introduce to the Court a precise evaluation of the damages caused by the United States";

in the Memorial on the merits:

"The Republic of Nicaragua respectfully requests the Court to grant the following relief:

First: the [*14] Court is requested to adjudge and declare that the United States has violated the obligations of international law indicated in this Memorial, and that in particular respects the United States is in continuing violation of those obligations.

Second: the Court is requested to state in clear terms the obligation which the United States bears to bring to an end the aforesaid breaches of international law.

Third: the Court is requested to adjudge and declare that, in consequence of the violations of international law indicated in this Memorial, compensation is due to Nicaragua, both on its own behalf and in respect of wrongs inflicted upon its nationals; and the Court is requested further to receive evidence and to determine, in a subsequent phase of the present proceedings, the quantum of damages to be assessed as the compensation due to the Republic of Nicaragua.

Fourth: without prejudice to the foregoing request, the Court is requested to award to the Republic of Nicaragua the sum of 370,200,000 United States dollars, which sum constitutes the minimum valuation of the direct damages, with the exception of damages for killing nationals of Nicaragua, resulting from the violations [*15] of international law indicated in the substance of this Memorial.

With reference to the fourth request, the Republic of Nicaragua reserves the right to present evidence and argument, with the purpose of elaborating the minimum (and in that sense provisional) valuation of direct damages and, further, with the purpose of claiming compensation for the killing of nationals of Nicaragua and consequential loss in accordance with the principles of international law in respect of the violations of international law generally, in a subsequent phase of the present proceedings in case the Court accedes to the third request of the Republic of Nicaragua."

16. At the conclusion of the last statement made on behalf of Nicaragua at the hearing, the final submissions of Nicaragua were presented, which submissions were identical to those contained in the Memorial on the merits and set out above.

17. No pleadings on the merits having been filed by the United States of America, which was also not represented at the oral proceedings of September 1985, no submissions on the merits were presented on its behalf.

18. The dispute before the Court between Nicaragua and the United States concerns events in [*16] Nicaragua subsequent to the fall of the Government of President Anastasio Somoza Debayle in Nicaragua in July 1979, and activities of the Government of the United States in relation to Nicaragua since that time. Following the departure of President Somoza, a Junta of National Reconstruction and an 18-member government was installed by the body which had led the armed opposition to President Somoza, the Frente Sandinista de Liberacion Nacional (FSLN). That body had initially an extensive share in the new government, described as a "democratic coalition", and as a result of later resignations and reshuffles, became almost its sole component. Certain opponents of the new Government, primarily supporters of the former Somoza Government and in particular ex-members of the National Guard, formed themselves into irregular military forces, and commenced a policy of armed opposition, though initially on a limited scale.

19. The attitude of the United States Government to the "democratic coalition government" was at first favourable; and a programme of economic aid to Nicaragua was adopted. However by 1981 this attitude had changed. United States aid to Nicaragua was suspended in January 1981 [*17] and terminated in April 1981. According to the United States, the reason for this change of attitude was reports of involvement of the Government of Nicaragua in logistical support, including provision of arms, for guerrillas in El Salvador. There was however no interruption in diplomatic relations, which have continued to be maintained up to the present time. In September 1981, according to testimony called by Nicaragua, it was decided to plan and undertake activities directed against Nicaragua.

20. The armed opposition to the new Government in Nicaragua, which originally comprised various movements, subsequently became organized into two main groups: the Fuerza Democratica Nicaraguense (FDN) and the Alianza Revolucionaria Democratica (ARDE). The first of these grew from 1981 onwards into a trained fighting force, operating along the borders with Honduras; the second, formed in 1982, operated along the borders with Costa Rica. The precise extent to which, and manner in which, the United States Government contributed to bringing about these developments will be studied more closely later in the present Judgment. However, after an initial period in which the "covert" operations of [*18] United States personnel and persons in their pay were kept from becoming public knowledge, it was made clear, not only in the United States press, but also in Congress and in official statements by the President and high United States officials, that the United States Government had been giving support to the contras, a term employed to describe those fighting against the present Nicaraguan Government. In 1983 budgetary legislation enacted by the United States Congress made specific provision for funds to be used by United States intelligence agencies for supporting "directly or indirectly, military or paramilitary, operations in Nicaragua". According to Nicaragua, the contras have caused it considerable material damage and widespread loss of life, and have also committed such acts as killing of prisoners, indiscriminate killing of civilians, torture, rape and kidnapping. It is contended by Nicaragua that the United States Government is effectively in control of the contras, that it devised their strategy and directed their tactics, and that the purpose of that Government was, from the beginning, to overthrow the Government of Nicaragua.

21. Nicaragua claims furthermore [*19] that certain military or paramilitary operations against it were carried out, not by the contras, who at the time claimed responsibility, but by persons in the pay of the United States Government, and under the direct command of United States personnel, who also participated to some extent in the operations. These operations will also be more closely examined below in order to determine their legal significance and the responsibility for them; they include the mining of certain Nicaraguan ports in early 1984, and attacks on ports, oil installations, a naval base, etc. Nicaragua has also complained of overflights of its territory by United States aircraft, not only for purposes of intelligence-gathering and supply to the contras in the field, but also in order to intimidate the population.

22. In the economic field, Nicaragua claims that the United States has withdrawn its own aid to Nicaragua, drastically reduced the quota for imports of sugar from Nicaragua to the United States, and imposed a trade embargo; it has also used its influence in the Inter-American Development Bank and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development to block the provision of loans to [*20] Nicaragua.

23. As a matter of law, Nicaragua claims, inter alia, that the United States has acted in violation of Article 2, paragraph 4, of the United Nations Charter, and of a customary international law obligation to refrain from the threat or use of force; that its actions amount to intervention in the internal affairs of Nicaragua, in breach of the Charter of the Organization of American States and of rules of customary international law forbidding intervention; and that the United States has acted in violation of the sovereignty of Nicaragua, and in violation of a number of other obligations established in general customary international law and in the inter-American system. The actions of the United States are also claimed by Nicaragua to be such as to defeat the object and purpose of a Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation concluded between the Parties in 1956, and to be in breach of provisions of that Treaty.

24. As already noted, the United States has not filed any pleading on the merits of the case, and was not represented at the hearings devoted thereto. It did however make clear in its Counter-Memorial on the questions of jurisdiction and admissibility that [*21] "by providing, upon request, proportionate and appropriate assistance to third States not before the Court" it claims to be acting in reliance on the inherent right of self-defence "guaranteed... by Article 51 of the Charter" of the United Nations, that is to say the right of collective self-defence.

25. Various elements of the present dispute have been brought before the United Nations Security Council by Nicaragua, in April 1984 (as the Court had occasion to note in its Order of 10 May 1984, and in its Judgment on jurisdiction and admissibility of 26 November 1984, I.C.J. Reports 1984, p. 432, para. 91), and on a number of other occasions. The subject-matter of the dispute also forms part of wider issues affecting Central America at present being dealt with on a regional basis in the context of what is known as the "Contadora Process" (I.C.J. Reports 1984, pp. 183-185, paras. 34-36; pp. 438-441, paras. 102-108).

26. The position taken up by the Government of the United States of America in the present proceedings, since the delivery of the Court's Judgment of 26 November 1984, as defined in the letter from the United States Agent dated 18 January 1985, brings into operation [*22] Article 53 of the Statute of the Court, which provides that "Whenever one of the parties does not appear before the Court, or fails to defend its case, the other party may call upon the Court to decide in favour of its claim". Nicaragua, has, in its Memorial and oral argument, invoked Article 53 and asked for a decision in favour of its claim. A special feature of the present case is that the United States only ceased to take part in the proceedings after a Judgment had been given adverse to its contentions on jurisdiction and admissibility. Furthermore, it stated when doing so "that the judgment of the Court was clearly and manifestly erroneous as to both fact and law", that it "remains firmly of the view . . . that the Court is without jurisdiction to entertain the dispute" and that the United States "reserves its rights in respect of any decision by the Court regarding Nicaragua's claims".

27. When a State named as party to proceedings before the Court decides not to appear in the proceedings, or not to defend its case, the Court usually expresses regret, because such a decision obviously has a negative impact on the sound administration of justice (cf. Fisheries Jurisdiction, [*23] I.C.J. Reports 1973, p. 7, para. 12; p. 54, para. 13; I.C.J. Reports 1974, p. 9, para. 17; p. 181, para. 18; Nuclear Tests, I.C.J. Reports 1974, p. 257, para. 15; p. 461, para. 15; Aegean Sea Continental Shelf, I.C.J. Reports 1978, p. 7, para. 15; United States Diplomatic and Consular Staff in Tehran, I.C.J. Reports 1980, p. 18, para. 33). In the present case, the Court regrets even more deeply the decision of the respondent State not to participate in the present phase of the proceedings, because this decision was made after the United States had participated fully in the proceedings on the request for provisional measures, and the proceedings on jurisdiction and admissibility. Having taken part in the proceedings to argue that the Court lacked jurisdiction, the United States thereby acknowledged that the Court had the power to make a finding on its own jurisdiction to rule upon the merits. It is not possible to argue that the Court had jurisdiction only to declare that it lacked jurisdiction. In the normal course of events, for a party to appear before a court entails acceptance of the possibility of the court's finding against that party. Furthermore the Court [*24] is bound to emphasize that the non-participation of a party in the proceedings at any stage of the case cannot, in any circumstances, affect the validity of its judgment. Nor does such validity depend upon the acceptance of that judgment by one party. The fact that a State purports to "reserve its rights" in respect of a future decision of the Court, after the Court has determined that it has jurisdiction, is clearly of no effect on the validity of that decision. Under Article 36, paragraph 6, of its Statute, the Court has jurisdiction to determine any dispute as to its own jurisdiction, and its judgment on that matter, as on the merits, is final and binding on the parties under Articles 59 and 60 of the Statute (cf. Corfu Channel, Judgment of 15 December 1949, I.C.J. Reports 1949, p. 248).

28. When Article 53 of the Statute applies, the Court is bound to "satisfy itself, not only that it has jurisdiction in accordance with Articles 36 and 37, but also that the claim" of the party appearing is well founded in fact and law. In the present case, the Court has had the benefit of both Parties pleading before it at the earlier stages of the procedure, those concerning the request for [*25] the indication of provisional measures and to the questions of jurisdiction and admissibility. By its Judgment of 26 November 1984, the Court found, inter alia, that it had jurisdiction to entertain the case; it must however take steps to "satisfy itself" that the claims of the Applicant are "well founded in fact and law". The question of the application of Article 53 has been dealt with by the Court in a number of previous cases, referred to above, and the Court does not therefore find it necessary to recapitulate the content of these decisions. The reasoning adopted to dispose of the basic problems arising was essentially the same, although the words used may have differed slightly from case to case. Certain points of principle may however be restated here. A State which decides not to appear must accept the consequences of its decision, the first of which is that the case will continue without its participation; the State which has chosen not to appear remains a party to the case, and is bound by the eventual judgment in accordance with Article 59 of the Statute. There is however no question of a judgment automatically in favour of the party appearing, since the Court is required, [*26] as mentioned above, to "satisfy itself" that that party's claim is well founded in fact and law.

29. The use of the term "satisfy itself" in the English text of the Statute (and in the French text the term "s'assurer") implies that the Court must attain the same degree of certainty as in any other case that the claim of the party appearing is sound in law, and, so far as the nature of the case permits, that the facts on which it is based are supported by convincing evidence. For the purpose of deciding whether the claim is well founded in law, the principle jura novit curia signifies that the Court is not solely dependent on the argument of the parties before it with respect to the applicable law (cf. "Lotus", P.C.I.J., Series A, No. 10, p. 31), so that the absence of one party has less impact. As the Court observed in the Fisheries Jurisdiction cases:

"The Court . . ., as an international judicial organ, is deemed to take judicial notice of international law, and is therefore required in a case falling under Article 53 of the Statute, as in any other case, to consider on its own initiative all rules of international law which may be relevant to the settlement of the [*27] dispute. It being the duty of the Court itself to ascertain and apply the relevant law in the given circumstances of the case, the burden of establishing or proving rules of international law cannot be imposed upon any of the parties, for the law lies within the judicial knowledge of the Court." (I.C.J. Reports 1974, p. 9, para. 17; p. 181, para. 18.)

Nevertheless the views of the parties to a case as to the law applicable to their dispute are very material, particularly, as will be explained below (paragraphs 184 and 185), when those views are concordant. In the present case, the burden laid upon the Court is therefore somewhat lightened by the fact that the United States participated in the earlier phases of the case, when it submitted certain arguments on the law which have a bearing also on the merits.

30. As to the facts of the case, in principle the Court is not bound to confine its consideration to the material formally submitted to it by the parties (cf. Brazilian Loans, P.C.I.J., Series A, No. 20/21, p. 124; Nuclear Tests, I.C.J. Reports 1974, pp. 263-264, paras. 31, 32). Nevertheless, the Court cannot by its own enquiries entirely make up for the absence of [*28] one of the Parties; that absence, in a case of this kind involving extensive questions of fact, must necessarily limit the extent to which the Court is informed of the facts. It would furthermore be an over-simplification to conclude that the only detrimental consequence of the absence of a party is the lack of opportunity to submit argument and evidence in support of its own case. Proceedings before the Court call for vigilance by all. The absent party also forfeits the opportunity to counter the factual allegations of its opponent. It is of course for the party appearing to prove the allegations it makes, yet as the Court has held:

"While Article 53 thus obliges the Court to consider the submissions of the Party which appears, it does not compel the Court to examine their accuracy in all their details; for this might in certain unopposed cases prove impossible in practice." (Corfu Channel, I.C.J. Reports 1949, p. 248.)

31. While these are the guiding principles, the experience of previous cases in which one party has decided not to appear shows that something more is involved. Though formally absent from the proceedings, the party in question frequently submits to the Court [*29] letters and documents, in ways and by means not contemplated by the Rules. The Court has thus to strike a balance. On the one hand, it is valuable for the Court to know the views of both parties in whatever form those views may have been expressed. Further, as the Court noted in 1974, where one party is not appearing "it is especially incumbent upon the Court to satisfy itself that it is in possession of all the available facts" (Nuclear Tests, I.C.J. Reports 1974, p. 263, para. 31; p. 468, para. 32). On the other hand, the Court has to emphasize that the equality of the parties to the dispute must remain the basic principle for the Court. The intention of Article 53 was that in a case of non-appearance neither party should be placed at a disadvantage; therefore the party which declines to appear cannot be permitted to profit from its absence, since this would amount to placing the party appearing at a disadvantage. The provisions of the Statute and Rules of Court concerning the presentation of pleadings and evidence are designed to secure a proper administration of justice, and a fair and equal opportunity for each party to comment on its opponent's contentions. The treatment [*30] to be given by the Court to communications or material emanating from the absent party must be determined by the weight to be given to these different considerations, and is not susceptible of rigid definition in the form of a precise general rule. The vigilance which the Court can exercise when aided by the presence of both parties to the proceedings has a counterpart in the special care it has to devote to the proper administration of justice in a case in which only one party is present.

32. Before proceeding further, the Court considers it appropriate to deal with a preliminary question, relating to what may be referred to as the justiciability of the dispute submitted to it by Nicaragua. In its Counter-Memorial on jurisdiction and admissibility the United States advanced a number of arguments why the claim should be treated as inadmissible: inter alia, again according to the United States, that a claim of unlawful use of armed force is a matter committed by the United Nations Charter and by practice to the exclusive competence of other organs, in particular the Security Council; and that an "ongoing armed conflict" involving the use of armed force contrary to the Charter is [*31] one with which a court cannot deal effectively without overstepping proper judicial bounds. These arguments were examined by the Court in its Judgment of 26 November 1984, and rejected. No further arguments of this nature have been submitted to the Court by the United States, which has not participated in the subsequent proceedings. However the examination of the merits which the Court has now carried out shows the existence of circumstances as a result of which, it might be argued, the dispute, or that part of it which relates to the questions of use of force and collective self-defence, would be non-justiciable.

33. In the first place, it has been suggested that the present dispute should be declared non-justiciable, because it does not fall into the category of "legal disputes" within the meaning of Article 36, paragraph 2, of the Statute. It is true that the jurisdiction of the Court under that provision is limited to "legal disputes" concerning any of the matters enumerated in the text. The question whether a given dispute between two States is or is not a "legal dispute" for the purposes of this provision may itself be a matter in dispute between those two States; and if so, [*32] that dispute is to be settled by the decision of the Court in accordance with paragraph 6 of Article 36. In the present case, however, this particular point does not appear to be in dispute between the Parties. The United States, during the proceedings devoted to questions of jurisdiction and admissibility, advanced a number of grounds why the Court should find that it had no jurisdiction, or that the claim was not admissible. It relied inter alia on proviso (c) to its own declaration of acceptance of jurisdiction under Article 36, paragraph 2, without ever advancing the more radical argument that the whole declaration was inapplicable because the dispute brought before the Court by Nicaragua was not a "legal dispute" within the meaning of that paragraph. As a matter of admissibility, the United States objected to the application of Article 36, paragraph 2, not because the dispute was not a "legal dispute", but because of the express allocation of such matters as the subject of Nicaragua's claims to the political organs under the United Nations Charter, an argument rejected by the Court in its Judgment of 26 November 1984 (I.C.J. Reports 1984, pp. 431-436). Similarly, [*33] while the United States contended that the nature of the judicial function precludes its application to the substance of Nicaragua's allegations in this case -- an argument which the Court was again unable to uphold (ibid., pp. 436-438) --, it was careful to emphasize that this did not mean that it was arguing that international law was not relevant or controlling in a dispute of this kind. In short, the Court can see no indication whatsoever that, even in the view of the United States, the present dispute falls outside the category of "legal disputes" to which Article 36, paragraph 2, of the Statute applies. It must therefore proceed to examine the specific claims of Nicaragua in the light of the international law applicable.

34. There can be no doubt that the issues of the use of force and collective self-defence raised in the present proceedings are issues which are regulated both by customary international law and by treaties, in particular the United Nations Charter. Yet it is also suggested that, for another reason, the questions of this kind which arise in the present case are not justiciable, that they fall outside the limits of the kind of questions a court can deal with. [*34] It is suggested that the plea of collective self-defence which has been advanced by the United States as a justification for its actions with regard to Nicaragua requires the Court to determine whether the United States was legally justified in adjudging itself under a necessity, because its own security was in jeopardy, to use force in response to foreign intervention in El Salvador. Such a determination, it is said, involves a pronouncement on political and military matters, not a question of a kind that a court can usefully attempt to answer.

35. As will be further explained below, in the circumstances of the dispute now before the Court, what is in issue is the purported exercise by the United States of a right of collective self-defence in response to an armed attack on another State. The possible lawfulness of a response to the imminent threat of an armed attack which has not yet taken place has not been raised. The Court has therefore to determine first whether such attack has occurred, and if so whether the measures allegedly taken in self-defence were a legally appropriate reaction as a matter of collective self-defence. To resolve the first of these questions, the Court [*35] does not have to determine whether the United States, or the State which may have been under attack, was faced with a necessity of reacting. Nor does its examination, if it determines that an armed attack did occur, of issues relating to the collective character of the self-defence and the kind of reaction, necessarily involve it in any evaluation of military considerations. Accordingly the Court can at this stage confine itself to a finding that, in the circumstances of the present case, the issues raised of collective self-defence are issues which it has competence, and is equipped, to determine.

36. By its Judgment of 26 November 1984, the Court found that it had jurisdiction to entertain the present case, first on the basis of the United States declaration of acceptance of jurisdiction, under the optional clause of Article 36, paragraph 2, of the Statute, deposited on 26 August 1946 and secondly on the basis of Article XXIV of a Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation between the Parties, signed at Managua on 21 January 1956. The Court notes that since the institution of the present proceedings, both bases of jurisdiction have been terminated. On 1 May 1985 the United States [*36] gave written notice to the Government of Nicaragua to terminate the Treaty, in accordance with Article XXV, paragraph 3, thereof; that notice expired, and thus terminated the treaty relationship, on 1 May 1986. On 7 October 1985 the United States deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations a notice terminating the declaration under the optional clause, in accordance with the terms of that declaration, and that notice expired on 7 April 1986. These circumstances do not however affect the jurisdiction of the Court under Article 36, paragraph 2, of the Statute, or its jurisdiction under Article XXIV, paragraph 2, of the Treaty to determine "any dispute between the Parties as to the interpretation or application" of the Treaty. As the Court pointed out in the Nottebohm case:

"When an Application is filed at a time when the law in force between the parties entails the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court... the filing of the Application is merely the condition required to enable the clause of compulsory jurisdiction to produce its effects in respect of the claim advanced in the Application. Once this condition has been satisfied, the Court must deal with the claim; [*37] it has jurisdiction to deal with all its aspects, whether they relate to jurisdiction, to admissibility or to the merits. An extrinsic fact such as the subsequent lapse of the Declaration [or, as in the present case also, the Treaty containing a compromissory clause], by reason of the expiry of the period or by denunciation, cannot deprive the Court of the jurisdiction already established." (I.C.J. Reports 1953, p. 123.)

37. In the Judgment of 26 November 1984 the Court however also declared that one objection advanced by the United States, that concerning the exclusion from the United States acceptance of jurisdiction under the optional clause of "disputes arising under a multilateral treaty", raised "a question concerning matters of substance relating to the merits of the case", and concluded:

"That being so, and since the procedural technique formerly available of joinder of preliminary objections to the merits has been done away with since the 1972 revision of the Rules of Court, the Court has no choice but to avail itself of Article 79, paragraph 7, of the present Rules of Court, and declare that the objection based on the multilateral treaty reservation of the United [*38] States Declaration of Acceptance does not possess, in the circumstances of the case, an exclusively preliminary character, and that consequently it does not constitute an obstacle for the Court to entertain the proceedings instituted by Nicaragua under the Application of 9 April 1984." (I.C.J. Reports 1984, pp. 425-426, para. 76.)

38. The present case is the first in which the Court has had occasion to exercise the power first provided for in the 1972 Rules of Court to declare that a preliminary objection "does not possess, in the circumstances of the case, an exclusively preliminary character". It may therefore be appropriate to take this opportunity to comment briefly on the rationale of this provision of the Rules, in the light of the problems to which the handling of preliminary objections has given rise. In exercising its rule-making power under Article 30 of the Statute, and generally in approaching the complex issues which may be raised by the determination of appropriate procedures for the settlement of disputes, the Court has kept in view an approach defined by the Permanent Court of International Justice. That Court found that it was at liberty to adopt

"the principle [*39] which it considers best calculated to ensure the administration of justice, most suited to procedure before an international tribunal and most in conformity with the fundamental principles of international law" (Mavrommatis Palestine Concessions, P.C.I.J., Series A, No. 2, p. 16).

39. Under the Rules of Court dating back to 1936 (which on this point reflected still earlier practice), the Court had the power to join an objection to the merits "whenever the interests of the good administration of justice require it" (Panevezys-Saldutiskis Railway, P.C.I.J., Series A/B, No. 75, p. 56), and in particular where the Court, if it were to decide on the objection, "would run the risk of adjudicating on questions which appertain to the merits of the case or of prejudging their solution" (ibid.). If this power was exercised, there was always a risk, namely that the Court would ultimately decide the case on the preliminary objection, after requiring the parties fully to plead the merits, -- and this did in fact occur (Barcelona Traction, Light and Power Company, Limited, Second Phase, I.C.J. Reports 1970, p. 3). The result was regarded in some quarters as an unnecessary prolongation [*40] of an expensive and time-consuming procedure.

40. Taking into account the wide range of issues which might be presented as preliminary objections, the question which the Court faced was whether to revise the Rules so as to exclude for the future the possibility of joinder to the merits, so that every objection would have to be resolved at the preliminary stage, or to seek a solution which would be more flexible. The solution of considering all preliminary objections immediately and rejecting all possibility of a joinder to the merits had many advocates and presented many advantages. In the Panevezys-Saldutiskis Railway case, the Permanent Court defined a preliminary objection as one

"submitted for the purpose of excluding an examination by the Court of the merits of the case, and being one upon which the Court can give a decision without in any way adjudicating upon the merits" (P.C.I.J., Series A/B, No. 76, p. 22).

If this view is accepted then of course every preliminary objection should be dealt with immediately without touching the merits, or involving parties in argument of the merits of the case. To find out, for instance, whether there is a dispute between the [*41] parties or whether the Court has jurisdiction, does not normally require an analysis of the merits of the case. However that does not solve all questions of preliminary objections, which may, as experience has shown, be to some extent bound up with the merits. The final solution adopted in 1972, and maintained in the 1978 Rules, concerning preliminary objections is the following: the Court is to give its decision

"by which it shall either uphold the objection, reject it, or declare that the objection does not possess, in the circumstances of the case, an exclusively preliminary character. If the Court rejects the objection, or declares that it does not possess an exclusively preliminary character, it shall fix time-limits for the further proceedings." (Art. 79, para. 7.)

41. While the variety of issues raised by preliminary objections cannot possibly be foreseen, practice has shown that there are certain kinds of preliminary objections which can be disposed of by the Court at an early stage without examination of the merits. Above all, it is clear that a question of jurisdiction is one which requires decision at the preliminary stage of the proceedings. The new rule enumerates [*42] the objections contemplated as follows:

"Any objection by the respondent to the jurisdiction of the Court or to the admissibility of the application, or other objection the decision upon which is requested before any further proceedings on the merits . . ." (Art. 79, para. 1.)

It thus presents one clear advantage: that it qualifies certain objections as preliminary, making it quite clear that when they are exclusively of that character they will have to be decided upon immediately, but if they are not, especially when the character of the objections is not exclusively preliminary because they contain both preliminary aspects and other aspects relating to the merits, they will have to be dealt with at the stage of the merits. This approach also tends to discourage the unnecessary prolongation of proceedings at the jurisdictional stage.

42. The Court must thus now rule upon the consequences of the United States multilateral treaty reservation for the decision which it has to give. It will be recalled that the United States acceptance of jurisdiction deposited on 26 August 1946 contains a proviso excluding from its application:

"disputes arising under a multilateral treaty, unless [*43] (1) all parties to the treaty affected by the decision are also parties to the case before the Court, or (2) the United States of America specially agrees to jurisdiction".

The 1984 Judgment included pronouncements on certain aspects of that reservation, but the Court then took the view that it was neither necessary nor possible, at the jurisdictional stage of the proceedings, for it to take a position on all the problems posed by the reservation.

43. It regarded this as not necessary because, in its Application, Nicaragua had not confined its claims to breaches of multilateral treaties but had also invoked a number of principles of "general and customary international law", as well as the bilateral Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation of 1956. These principles remained binding as such, although they were also enshrined in treaty law provisions. Consequently, since the case had not been referred to the Court solely on the basis of multilateral treaties, it was not necessary for the Court, in order to consider the merits of Nicaragua's claim, to decide the scope of the reservation in question: "the claim . . . would not in any event be barred by the multilateral treaty [*44] reservation" (I.C.J. Reports 1984, p. 425, para. 73). Moreover, it was not found possible for the reservation to be definitively dealt with at the jurisdictional stage of the proceedings. To make a judgment on the scope of the reservation would have meant giving a definitive interpretation of the term "affected" in that reservation. In its 1984 Judgment, the Court held that the term "affected" applied not to multilateral treaties, but to the parties to such treaties. The Court added that if those parties wished to protect their interests "in so far as these are not already protected by Article 59 of the Statute", they "would have the choice of either instituting proceedings or intervening" during the merits phase. But at all events, according to the Court, "the determination of the States 'affected' could not be left to the parties but must be made by the Court" (I.C.J. Reports 1984, p. 425, para. 75). This process could however not be carried out at the stage of the proceedings in which the Court then found itself; "it is only when the general lines of the judgment to be given become clear", the Court said, "that the States 'affected' could be identified" (ibid.). The [*45] Court thus concluded that this was "a question concerning matters of substance relating to the merits of the case" (ibid., para. 76). Since "the question of what States may be 'affected' by the decision on the merits is not in itself a jurisdictional problem", the Court found that it

"has no choice but to avail itself of Article 79, paragraph 7, of the present Rules of Court, and declare that the objection based on the multilateral treaty reservation . . . does not possess, in the circumstances of the case, an exclusively preliminary character" (ibid., para. 76).

44. Now that the Court has considered the substance of the dispute, it becomes both possible and necessary for it to rule upon the points related to the United States reservation which were not settled in 1984. It is necessary because the Court's jurisdiction, as it has frequently recalled, is based on the consent of States, expressed in a variety of ways including declarations made under Article 36, paragraph 2, of the Statute. It is the declaration made by the United States under that Article which defines the categories of dispute for which the United States consents to the Court's jurisdiction. If therefore [*46] that declaration, because of a reservation contained in it, excludes from the disputes for which it accepts the Court's jurisdiction certain disputes arising under multilateral treaties, the Court must take that fact into account. The final decision on this point, which it was not possible to take at the jurisdictional stage, can and must be taken by the Court now when coming to its decision on the merits. If this were not so, the Court would not have decided whether or not the objection was well-founded, either at the jurisdictional stage, because it did not possess an exclusively preliminary character, or at the merits stage, because it did to some degree have such a character. It is now possible to resolve the question of the application of the reservation because, in the light of the Court's full examination of the facts of the case and the law, the implications of the argument of collective self-defence raised by the United States have become clear.

45. The reservation in question is not necessarily a bar to the United States accepting the Court's jurisdiction whenever a third State which may be affected by the decision is not a party to the proceedings. According to the actual [*47] text of the reservation, the United States can always disregard this fact if it "specially agrees to jurisdiction". Besides, apart from this possibility, as the Court recently observed: "in principle a State may validly waive an objection to jurisdiction which it might otherwise have been entitled to raise" (I.C.J. Reports 1985, p. 216, para. 43). But it is clear that the fact that the United States, having refused to participate at the merits stage, did not have an opportunity to press again at that stage the argument which, in the jurisdictional phase, it founded on its multilateral treaty reservation cannot be tantamount to a waiver of the argument drawn from the reservation. Unless unequivocally waived, the reservation constitutes a limitation on the extent of the jurisdiction voluntarily accepted by the United States; and, as the Court observed in the Aegean Sea Continental Shelf case,

"It would not discharge its duty under Article 53 of the Statute if it were to leave out of its consideration a reservation, the invocation of which by the Respondent was properly brought to its notice earlier in the proceedings." (I.C.J. Reports 1978, p. 20, para. 47.)

The United [*48] States has not in the present phase submitted to the Court any arguments whatever, either on the merits proper or on the question -- not exclusively preliminary -- of the multilateral treaty reservation. The Court cannot therefore consider that the United States has waived the reservation or no longer ascribes to it the scope which the United States attributed to it when last stating its position on this matter before the Court. This conclusion is the more decisive inasmuch as a respondent's non-participation requires the Court, as stated for example in the Fisheries Jurisdiction cases, to exercise "particular circumspection and . . . special care" (I.C.J. Reports 1974, p. 10, para. 17, and p. 181, para. 18).

46. It has also been suggested that the United States may have waived the multilateral treaty reservation by its conduct of its case at the jurisdictional stage, or more generally by asserting collective self-defence in accordance with the United Nations Charter as justification for its activities vis-a-vis Nicaragua. There is no doubt that the United States, during its participation in the proceedings, insisted that the law applicable to the dispute was to be found in [*49] multilateral treaties, particularly the United Nations Charter and the Charter of the Organization of American States; indeed, it went so far as to contend that such treaties supervene and subsume customary law on the subject. It is however one thing for a State to advance a contention that the law applicable to a given dispute derives from a specified source; it is quite another for that State to consent to the Court's having jurisdiction to entertain that dispute, and thus to apply that law to the dispute. The whole purpose of the United States argument as to the applicability of the United Nations and Organization of American States Charters was to convince the Court that the present dispute is one "arising under" those treaties, and hence one which is excluded from jurisdiction by the multilateral treaty reservation in the United States declaration of acceptance of jurisdiction. It is impossible to interpret the attitude of the United States as consenting to the Court's applying multilateral treaty law to resolve the dispute, when what the United States was arguing was that, for the very reason that the dispute "arises under" multilateral treaties, no consent to its determination [*50] by the Court has ever been given. The Court was fully aware, when it gave its 1984 Judgment, that the United States regarded the law of the two Charters as applicable to the dispute; it did not then regard that approach as a waiver, nor can it do so now. The Court is therefore bound to ascertain whether its jurisdiction is limited by virtue of the reservation in question.

47. In order to fulfil this obligation, the Court is now in a position to ascertain whether any third States, parties to multilateral treaties invoked by Nicaragua in support of its claims, would be "affected" by the Judgment, and are not parties to the proceedings leading up to it. The multilateral treaties discussed in this connection at the stage of the proceedings devoted to jurisdiction were four in number: the Charter of the United Nations, the Charter of the Organization of American States, the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States of 26 December 1933, and the Havana Convention on the Rights and Duties of States in the Event of Civil Strife of 20 February 1928 (cf. I.C.J. Reports 1984, p. 422, para. 68). However, Nicaragua has not placed any particular reliance on the latter two treaties [*51] in the present proceedings; and in reply to a question by a Member of the Court on the point, the Nicaraguan Agent stated that while Nicaragua had not abandoned its claims under these two conventions, it believed "that the duties and obligations established by these conventions have been subsumed in the Organization of American States Charter". The Court therefore considers that it will be sufficient to examine the position under the two Charters, leaving aside the possibility that the dispute might be regarded as "arising" under either or both of the other two conventions.

48. The argument of the Parties at the jurisdictional stage was addressed primarily to the impact of the multilateral treaty reservation on Nicaragua's claim that the United States has used force against it in breach of the United Nations Charter and of the Charter of the Organization of American States, and the Court will first examine this aspect of the matter. According to the views presented by the United States during the jurisdictional phase, the States which would be "affected" by the Court's judgment were El Salvador, Honduras and Costa Rica. Clearly, even if only one of these States is found to be "affected", [*52] the United States reservation takes full effect. The Court will for convenience first take the case of El Salvador, as there are certain special features in the position of this State. It is primarily for the benefit of El Salvador, and to help it to respond to an alleged armed attack by Nicaragua, that the United States claims to be exercising a right of collective self-defence, which it regards as a justification of its own conduct towards Nicaragua. Moreover, El Salvador, confirming this assertion by the United States, told the Court in the Declaration of Intervention which it submitted on 15 August 1984 that it considered itself the victim of an armed attack by Nicaragua, and that it had asked the United States to exercise for its benefit the right of collective self-defence. Consequently, in order to rule upon Nicaragua's complaint against the United States, the Court would have to decide whether any justification for certain United States activities in and against Nicaragua can be found in the right of collective self-defence which may, it is alleged, be exercised in response to an armed attack by Nicaragua on El Salvador. Furthermore, reserving for the present the question [*53] of the content of the applicable customary international law, the right of self-defence is of course enshrined in the United Nations Charter, so that the dispute is, to this extent, a dispute "arising under a multilateral treaty" to which the United States, Nicaragua and El Salvador are parties.

49. As regards the Charter of the Organization of American States, the Court notes that Nicaragua bases two distinct claims upon this multilateral treaty: it is contended, first, that the use of force by the United States against Nicaragua in violation of the United Nations Charter is equally a violation of Articles 20 and 21 of the Organization of American States Charter, and secondly that the actions it complains of constitute intervention in the internal and external affairs of Nicaragua in violation of Article 18 of the Organization of American States Charter. The Court will first refer to the claim of use of force alleged to be contrary to Articles 20 and 21. Article 21 of the Organization of American States Charter provides:

"The American States bind themselves in their international relations not to have recourse to the use of force, except in the case of self-defense in accordance [*54] with existing treaties or in fulfillment thereof."

Nicaragua argues that the provisions of the Organization of American States Charter prohibiting the use of force are "coterminous with the stipulations of the United Nations Charter", and that therefore the violations by the United States of its obligations under the United Nations Charter also, and without more, constitute violations of Articles 20 and 21 of the Organization of American States Charter.

50. Both Article 51 of the United Nations Charter and Article 21 of the Organization of American States Charter refer to self-defence as an exception to the principle of the prohibition of the use of force. Unlike the United Nations Charter, the Organization of American States Charter does not use the expression "collective self-defence", but refers to the case of "self-defence in accordance with existing treaties or in fulfillment thereof", one such treaty being the United Nations Charter. Furthermore it is evident that if actions of the United States complied with all requirements of the United Nations Charter so as to constitute the exercise of the right of collective self-defence, it could not be argued that they could nevertheless [*55] constitute a violation of Article 21 of the Organization of American States Charter. It therefore follows that the situation of El Salvador with regard to the assertion by the United States of the right of collective self-defence is the same under the Organization of American States Charter as it is under the United Nations Charter.

51. In its Judgment of 26 November 1984, the Court recalled that Nicaragua's Application, according to that State, does not cast doubt on El Salvador's right to receive aid, military or otherwise, from the United States (I.C.J. Reports 1984, p. 430, para. 86). However, this refers to the direct aid provided to the Government of El Salvador on its territory in order to help it combat the insurrection with which it is faced, not to any indirect aid which might be contributed to this combat by certain United States activities in and against Nicaragua. The Court has to consider the consequences of a rejection of the United States justification of its actions as the exercise of the right of collective self-defence for the sake of El Salvador, in accordance with the United Nations Charter. A judgment to that effect would declare contrary to treaty-law the [*56] indirect aid which the United States Government considers itself entitled to give the Government of El Salvador in the form of activities in and against Nicaragua. The Court would of course refrain from any finding on whether El Salvador could lawfully exercise the right of individual self-defence; but El Salvador would still be affected by the Court's decision on the lawfulness of resort by the United States to collective self-defence. If the Court found that no armed attack had occurred, then not only would action by the United States in purported exercise of the right of collective self-defence prove to be unjustified, but so also would any action which El Salvador might take or might have taken on the asserted ground of individual self-defence.

52. It could be argued that the Court, if it found that the situation does not permit the exercise by El Salvador of its right of self-defence, would not be "affecting" that right itself but the application of it by El Salvador in the circumstances of the present case. However, it should be recalled that the condition of the application of the multilateral treaty reservation is not that the "right" of a State be affected, but that the State [*57] itself be "affected" -- a broader criterion. Furthermore whether the relations between Nicaragua and El Salvador can be qualified as relations between an attacker State and a victim State which is exercising its right of self-defence, would appear to be a question in dispute between those two States. But El Salvador has not submitted this dispute to the Court; it therefore has a right to have the Court refrain from ruling upon a dispute which it has not submitted to it. Thus, the decision of the Court in this case would affect this right of El Salvador and consequently this State itself.

53. Nor is it only in the case of a decision of the Court rejecting the United States claim to be acting in self-defence that El Salvador would be "affected" by the decision. The multilateral treaty reservation does not require, as a condition for the exclusion of a dispute from the jurisdiction of the Court, that a State party to the relevant treaty be "adversely" or "prejudicially" affected by the decision, even though this is clearly the case primarily in view. In other situations in which the position of a State not before the Court is under consideration (cf. Monetary Gold Removed from Rome [*58] in 1943, I.C.J. Reports 1954, p. 32; Continental Shelf (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya/Malta), Application to Intervene, Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 1984, p. 20, para. 31) it is clearly impossible to argue that that State may be differently treated if the Court's decision will not necessarily be adverse to the interests of the absent State, but could be favourable to those interests. The multilateral treaty reservation bars any decision that would "affect" a third State party to the relevant treaty. Here also, it is not necessary to determine whether the decision will "affect" that State unfavourably or otherwise; the condition of the reservation is met if the State will necessarily be "affected", in one way or the other.

54. There may of course be circumstances in which the Court, having examined the merits of the case, concludes that no third State could be "affected" by the decision: for example, as pointed out in the 1984 Judgment, if the relevant claim is rejected on the facts (I.C.J. Reports 1984, p. 425, para. 75). If the Court were to conclude in the present case, for example, that the evidence was not sufficient for a finding that the United States had used force against Nicaragua, [*59] the question of justification on the grounds of self-defence would not arise, and there would be no possibility of El Salvador being "affected" by the decision. In 1984 the Court could not, on the material available to it, exclude the possibility of such a finding being reached after fuller study of the case, and could not therefore conclude at once that El Salvador would necessarily be "affected" by the eventual decision. It was thus this possibility which prevented the objection based on the reservation from having an exclusively preliminary character.

55. As indicated in paragraph 49 above, there remains the claim of Nicaragua that the United States has intervened in the internal and external affairs of Nicaragua in violation of Article 18 of the Organization of American States Charter. That Article provides:

"No State or group of States has the right to intervene, directly or indirectly, for any reason whatever, in the internal or external affairs of any other State. The foregoing principle prohibits not only armed force but also any other form of interference or attempted threat against the personality of the State or against its political, economic, and cultural elements."

[*60] The potential link, recognized by this text, between intervention and the use of armed force, is actual in the present case, where the same activities attributed to the United States are complained of under both counts, and the response of the United States is the same to each complaint -- that it has acted in self-defence. The Court has to consider what would be the impact, for the States identified by the United States as likely to be "affected", of a decision whereby the Court would decline to rule on the alleged violation of Article 21 of the Organization of American States Charter, concerning the use of force, but passed judgment on the alleged violation of Article 18. The Court will not here enter into the question whether self-defence may justify an intervention involving armed force, so that it has to be treated as not constituting a breach either of the principle of non-use of force or of that of non-intervention. At the same time, it concludes that in the particular circumstances of this case, it is impossible to say that a ruling on the alleged breach by the United States of Article 18 of the Organization of American States Charter would not "affect" El Salvador.

56. The [*61] Court therefore finds that El Salvador, a party to the United Nations Charter and to the Charter of the Organization of American States, is a State which would be "affected" by the decision which the Court would have to take on the claims by Nicaragua that the United States has violated Article 2, paragraph 4, of the United Nations Charter and Articles 18, 20 and 21 of the Organization of American States Charter. Accordingly, the Court, which under Article 53 of the Statute has to be "satisfied" that it has jurisdiction to decide each of the claims it is asked to uphold, concludes that the jurisdiction conferred upon it by the United States declaration of acceptance of jurisdiction under Article 36, paragraph 2, of the Statute does not permit the Court to entertain these claims. It should however be recalled that, as will be explained further below, the effect of the reservation in question is confined to barring the applicability of the United Nations Charter and Organization of American States Charter as multilateral treaty law, and has no further impact on the sources of international law which Article 38 of the Statute requires the Court to apply.

57. One of the Court's chief [*62] difficulties in the present case has been the determination of the facts relevant to the dispute. First of all, there is marked disagreement between the Parties not only on the interpretation of the facts, but even on the existence or nature of at least some of them. Secondly, the respondent State has not appeared during the present merits phase of the proceedings, thus depriving the Court of the benefit of its complete and fully argued statement regarding the facts. The Court's task was therefore necessarily more difficult, and it has had to pay particular heed, as said above, to the proper application of Article 53 of its Statute. Thirdly, there is the secrecy in which some of the conduct attributed to one or other of the Parties has been carried on. This makes it more difficult for the Court not only to decide on the imputability of the facts, but also to establish what are the facts. Sometimes there is no question, in the sense that it does not appear to be disputed, that an act was done, but there are conflicting reports, or a lack of evidence, as to who did it. The problem is then not the legal process of imputing the act to a particular State for the purpose of establishing [*63] responsibility, but the prior process of tracing material proof of the identity of the perpetrator. The occurrence of the act itself may however have been shrouded in secrecy. In the latter case, the Court has had to endeavour first to establish what actually happened, before entering on the next stage of considering whether the act (if proven) was imputable to the State to which it has been attributed.

58. A further aspect of this case is that the conflict to which it relates has continued and is continuing. It has therefore been necessary for the Court to decide, for the purpose of its definition of the factual situation, what period of time, beginning from the genesis of the dispute, should be taken into consideration. The Court holds that general principles as to the judicial process require that the facts on which its Judgment is based should be those occurring up to the close of the oral proceedings on the merits of the case. While the Court is of course very well aware, from reports in the international press, of the developments in Central America since that date, it cannot, as explained below (paragraphs 62 and 63), treat such reports as evidence, nor has it had the benefit [*64] of the comments or argument of either of the Parties on such reports. As the Court recalled in the Nuclear Tests cases, where facts, apparently of such a nature as materially to affect its decision, came to its attention after the close of the hearings:

"It would no doubt have been possible for the Court, had it considered that the interests of justice so required, to have afforded the Parties the opportunity, e.g., by reopening the oral proceedings, of addressing to the Court comments on the statements made since the close of those proceedings." (I.C.J. Reports 1974, p. 264, para. 33; p. 468, para. 34.)

Neither Party has requested such action by the Court; and since the reports to which reference has been made do not suggest any profound modification of the situation of which the Court is seised, but rather its intensification in certain respects, the Court has seen no need to reopen the hearings.

59. The Court is bound by the relevant provisions of its Statute and its Rules relating to the system of evidence, provisions devised to guarantee the sound administration of justice, while respecting the equality of the parties. The presentation of evidence is governed by [*65] specific rules relating to, for instance, the observance of time-limits, the communication of evidence to the other party, the submission of observations on it by that party, and the various forms of challenge by each party of the other's evidence. The absence of one of the parties restricts this procedure to some extent. The Court is careful, even where both parties appear, to give each of them the same opportunities and chances to produce their evidence; when the situation is complicated by the non-appearance of one of them, then a fortiori the Court regards it as essential to guarantee as perfect equality as possible between the parties. Article 53 of the Statute therefore obliges the Court to employ whatever means and resources may enable it to satisfy itself whether the submissions of the applicant State are well-founded in fact and law, and simultaneously to safeguard the essential principles of the sound administration of justice.

60. The Court should now indicate how these requirements have to be met in this case so that it can properly fulfil its task under that Article of its Statute. In so doing, it is not unaware that its role is not a passive one; and that, within [*66] the limits of its Statute and Rules, it has freedom in estimating the value of the various elements of evidence, though it is clear that general principles of judicial procedure necessarily govern the determination of what can be regarded as proved.

61. In this context, the Court has the power, under Article 50 of its Statute, to entrust "any individual, body, bureau, commission or other organization that it may select, with the task of carrying out an enquiry or giving an expert opinion", and such a body could be a group of judges selected from among those sitting in the case. In the present case, however, the Court felt it was unlikely that an enquiry of this kind would be practical or desirable, particularly since such a body, if it was properly to perform its task, might have found it necessary to go not only to the applicant State, but also to several other neighbouring countries, and even to the respondent State, which had refused to appear before the Court.

62. At all events, in the present case the Court has before it documentary material of various kinds from various sources. A large number of documents have been supplied in the form of reports in press articles, and some [*67] also in the form of extracts from books. Whether these were produced by the applicant State, or by the absent Party before it ceased to appear in the proceedings, the Court has been careful to treat them with great caution; even if they seem to meet high standards of objectivity, the Court regards them not as evidence capable of proving facts, but as material which can nevertheless contribute, in some circumstances, to corroborating the existence of a fact, i.e., as illustrative material additional to other sources of evidence.

63. However, although it is perfectly proper that press information should not be treated in itself as evidence for judicial purposes, public knowledge of a fact may nevertheless be established by means of these sources of information, and the Court can attach a certain amount of weight to such public knowledge. In the case of United States Diplomatic and Consular Staff in Tehran, the Court referred to facts which "are, for the most part, matters of public knowledge which have received extensive coverage in the world press and in radio and television broadcasts from Iran and other countries" (I.C.J. Reports 1980, p. 9, para. 12). On the basis of information, [*68] including press and broadcast material, which was "wholly consistent and concordant as to the main facts and circumstances of the case", the Court was able to declare that it was satisfied that the allegations of fact were well-founded (ibid., p. 10, para. 13). The Court has however to show particular caution in this area. Widespread reports of a fact may prove on closer examination to derive from a single source, and such reports, however numerous, will in such case have no greater value as evidence than the original source. It is with this important reservation that the newspaper reports supplied to the Court should be examined in order to assess the facts of the case, and in particular to ascertain whether such facts were matters of public knowledge.

64. The material before the Court also includes statements by representatives of States, sometimes at the highest political level. Some of these statements were made before official organs of the State or of an international or regional organization, and appear in the official records of those bodies. Others, made during press conferences or interviews, were reported by the local or international press. The Court takes the view [*69] that statements of this kind, emanating from high-ranking official political figures, sometimes indeed of the highest rank, are of particular probative value when they acknowledge facts or conduct unfavourable to the State represented by the person who made them. They may then be construed as a form of admission.

65. However, it is natural also that the Court should treat such statements with caution, whether the official statement was made by an authority of the Respondent or of the Applicant. Neither Article 53 of the Statute, nor any other ground, could justify a selective approach, which would have undermined the consistency of the Court's methods and its elementary, duty to ensure equality between the Parties. The Court must take account of the manner in which the statements were made public; evidently, it cannot treat them as having the same value irrespective of whether the text is to be found in an official national or international publication, or in a book or newspaper. It must also take note whether the text of the official statement in question appeared in the language used by the author or on the basis of a translation (cf. I.C.J. Reports 1980, p. 10, para. 13). It [*70] may also be relevant whether or not such a statement was brought to the Court's knowledge by official communications filed in conformity with the relevant requirements of the Statute and Rules of Court. Furthermore, the Court has inevitably had sometimes to interpret the statements, to ascertain precisely to what degree they constituted acknowledgments of a fact.

66. At the hearings in this case, the applicant State called five witnesses to give oral evidence, and the evidence of a further witness was offered in the form of an affidavit "subscribed and sworn" in the United States, District of Columbia, according to the formal requirements in force in that place. A similar affidavit, sworn by the United States Secretary of State, was annexed to the Counter-Memorial of the United States on the questions of jurisdiction and admissibility. One of the witnesses presented by the applicant State was a national of the respondent State, formerly in the employ of a government agency the activity of which is of a confidential kind, and his testimony was kept strictly within certain limits; the witness was evidently concerned not to contravene the legislation of his country of origin. In addition, [*71] annexed to the Nicaraguan Memorial on the merits were two declarations, entitled "affidavits", in the English language, by which the authors "certify and declare" certain facts, each with a notarial certificate in Spanish appended, whereby a Nicaraguan notary authenticates the signature to the document. Similar declarations had been filed by Nicaragua along with its earlier request for the indication of provisional measures.

67. As regards the evidence of witnesses, the failure of the respondent State to appear in the merits phase of these proceedings has resulted in two particular disadvantages. First, the absence of the United States meant that the evidence of the witnesses presented by the Applicant at the hearings was not tested by cross-examination; however, those witnesses were subjected to extensive questioning from the bench. Secondly, the Respondent did not itself present any witnesses of its own. This latter disadvantage merely represents one aspect, and a relatively secondary one, of the more general disadvantage caused by the non-appearance of the Respondent.

68. The Court has not treated as evidence any part of the testimony given which was not a statement of fact, but [*72] a mere expression of opinion as to the probability or otherwise of the existence of such facts, not directly known to the witness. Testimony of this kind, which may be highly subjective, cannot take the place of evidence. An opinion expressed by a witness is a mere personal and subjective evaluation of a possibility, which has yet to be shown to correspond to a fact; it may, in conjunction with other material, assist the Court in determining a question of fact, but is not proof in itself. Nor is testimony of matters not within the direct knowledge of the witness, but known to him only from hearsay, of much weight; as the Court observed in relation to a particular witness in the Corfu Channel case:

"The statements attributed by the witness . . . to third parties, of which the Court has received no personal and direct confirmation, can be regarded only as allegations falling short of conclusive evidence." (I.C.J. Reports 1949, pp. 16-17.)

69. The Court has had to attach considerable significance to the declarations made by the responsible authorities of the States concerned in view of the difficulties which it has had to face in determining the facts. Nevertheless, the Court [*73] was still bound to subject these declarations to the necessary critical scrutiny. A distinctive feature of the present case was that two of the witnesses called to give oral evidence on behalf of Nicaragua were members of the Nicaraguan Government, the Vice-Minister of the Interior (Commander Carrion), and the Minister of Finance (Mr. Huper). The Vice-Minister of the Interior was also the author of one of the two declarations annexed to the Nicaraguan Memorial on the merits, the author of the other being the Minister for Foreign Affairs. On the United States side, an affidavit was filed sworn by the Secretary of State. These declarations at ministerial level on each side were irreconcilable as to their statement of certain facts. In the view of the Court, this evidence is of such a nature as to be placed in a special category. In the general practice of courts, two forms of testimony which are regarded as prima facie of superior credibility are, first the evidence of a disinterested witness -- one who is not a party to the proceedings and stands to gain or lose nothing from its outcome -- and secondly so much of the evidence of a party as is against its own interest. Indeed the latter [*74] approach was invoked in this case by counsel for Nicaragua.

70. A member of the government of a State engaged, not merely in international litigation, but in litigation relating to armed conflict, will probably tend to identify himself with the interests of his country, and to be anxious when giving evidence to say nothing which could prove adverse to its cause. The Court thus considers that it can certainly retain such parts of the evidence given by Ministers, orally or in writing, as may be regarded as contrary to the interests or contentions of the State to which the witness owes allegiance, or as relating to matters not controverted. For the rest, while in no way impugning the honour or veracity of the Ministers of either Party who have given evidence, the Court considers that the special circumstances of this case require it to treat such evidence with great reserve. The Court believes this approach to be the more justified in view of the need to respect the equality of the parties in a case where one of them is no longer appearing; but this should not be taken to mean that the non-appearing party enjoys a priori a presumption in its favour.

71. However, before outlining [*75] the limits of the probative effect of declarations by the authorities of the States concerned, the Court would recall that such declarations may involve legal effects, some of which it has defined in previous decisions (Nuclear Tests, United States Diplomatic and Consular Staff in Tehran cases). Among the legal effects which such declarations may have is that they may be regarded as evidence of the truth of facts, as evidence that such facts are attributable to the States the authorities of which are the authors of these declarations and, to a lesser degree, as evidence for the legal qualification of these facts. The Court is here concerned with the significance of the official declarations as evidence of specific facts and of their imputability to the States in question.

72. The declarations to which the Court considers it may refer are not limited to those made in the pleadings and the oral argument addressed to it in the successive stages of the case, nor are they limited to statements made by the Parties. Clearly the Court is entitled to refer, not only to the Nicaraguan pleadings and oral argument, but to the pleadings and oral argument submitted to it by the United States [*76] before it withdrew from participation in the proceedings, and to the Declaration of Intervention of El Salvador in the proceedings. It is equally clear that the Court may take account of public declarations to which either Party has specifically drawn attention, and the text, or a report, of which has been filed as documentary evidence. But the Court considers that, in its quest for the truth, it may also take note of statements of representatives of the Parties (or of other States) in international organizations, as well as the resolutions adopted or discussed by such organizations, in so far as factually relevant, whether or not such material has been drawn to its attention by a Party.

73. In addition, the Court is aware of the existence and the contents of a publication of the United States State Department entitled "Revolution Beyond Our Borders", Sandinista Intervention in Central America intended to justify the policy of the United States towards Nicaragua. This publication was issued in September 1985, and on 6 November 1985 was circulated as an official document of the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council, at the request of the United States (A/40/858; [*77] S/17612); Nicaragua had circulated in reply a letter to the Secretary-General, annexing inter alia an extract from its Memorial on the Merits and an extract from the verbatim records of the hearings in the case (A/40/907; S/17639). The United States publication was not submitted to the Court in any formal manner contemplated by the Statute and Rules of Court, though on 13 September 1985 the United States Information Office in T