UN International court to hear Ukraine vs Russia lawsuit on March 6-9

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, will hold public hearings in the case concerning Application of the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Ukraine v. Russian Federation), from Monday 6 to Thursday 9 March 2017, at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the seat of the Court. The hearings will be devoted to the Request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by Ukraine (see Press Release No. 2017/2 of 17 January 2017). Schedule for the hearings  First round of oral observations Monday 6 March 10 a.m.-1 p.m.: Ukraine Tuesday 7 March 10 a.m.-1 p.m.: Russian Federation  Second round of oral observations Wednesday 8 March Thursday 9 March 10 a.m.-12 noon: Ukraine 10 a.m.-12 noon: Russian Federation – 2 – Multimedia The hearings will be streamed live and on demand (VOD) on the Court’s website (www.icj-cij.org/multimedia) as well as on UN web TV, the United Nations online television channel. Still photographs of the event will be posted on the first day of the hearings on the ICJ and UN Photo websites, as well as on the Court’s Twitter feed (@CIJ_ICJ). Selected high-resolution video footage (b-roll) of the event will be available for TV use on the Court’s website the same day. The hearings will also be covered by the United Nations television broadcasting service (UNifeed, New York). All the photographs and videos made available to the media by the ICJ are free of charge and free of copyright for editorial, non-commercial use. For information regarding the accreditation/admission procedures for these hearings as well as the video streaming options (low and high resolution) and practical information for the media, please see below. ___________ A. Admission procedures Owing to the limited number of seats available in the Great Hall of Justice, priority access will be given to representatives of the States Parties to the case, and to members of the diplomatic corps. 1. Members of the diplomatic corps The Information Department requests members of the diplomatic corps who plan to attend the hearings to notify it accordingly before midnight on Thursday 23 February 2017 (The Hague time), by e-mail to confirmation@icj-cij.org. 2. Members of the public A number of seats will be allocated to members of the public on a first-come, first-served basis. There will be no advance registration procedure, and admission requests submitted beforehand will not be considered. 3. Media representatives Media representatives are subject to a compulsory online accreditation procedure, which will close at midnight on Thursday 23 February 2017. Requests submitted after this deadline will not be considered. – 3 – B. Further practical information for the media 1. Verbatim records of the hearings Verbatim records of the oral arguments will be published daily on the Court’s website. On the final day of the hearings, a press release will be issued presenting the submissions of the Parties. Note that the Court’s press releases do not constitute official documents. 2. Entry to the Peace Palace The Press Room will be open one hour prior to the start of hearings and will close one hour after they conclude. Accredited media representatives must bring with them their personal ID and press card, and are asked to arrive at the Peace Palace gates between 90 minutes and one hour before the start of the hearings. Only duly accredited individuals with valid identification will be permitted to enter the Peace Palace grounds. 3. Parking at the Peace Palace, satellite vehicles No parking is allowed in the Peace Palace grounds apart from satellite vehicles. Media wishing to park satellite vehicles are requested to fill in the appropriate fields in the online accreditation form. Televised media wishing to broadcast the hearings live should contact the Information Department as soon as possible to make the necessary arrangements. Satellite vehicle technicians/drivers will be informed in due course of the access times for the Peace Palace grounds. 4. Access to the courtroom Photographers and camera crews will only be permitted to enter the room for a few minutes at the start of the first day of each round of oral argument. They will be accompanied by Registry staff members and must keep to the right-hand side of the room. Journalists will be able to follow the hearings from the Press Room. 5. Press Room The hearings will be transmitted live on a large screen, in English and French, in a press room equipped with a shared Internet access (Wi-Fi, Ethernet). TV crews can connect to the Court’s PAL (HD and SD) and NTSC (SD) audio-visual system and radio reporters to the audio system. 6. Other media services For further practical information (on requests for interviews, TV stand-up positions, audio and video outputs available, etc.), please visit the Court’s website. Click on “Press Room”, and then on “Media Services”. ___________ The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It was established by the United Nations Charter in June 1945 and began its activities in April 1946. The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). Of the six principal organs of the United Nations, it is the only one not located in New York. The Court has a twofold role: first, to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by – 4 – States (its judgments have binding force and are without appeal for the parties concerned); and, second, to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by duly authorized United Nations organs and agencies of the system. The Court is composed of 15 judges elected for a nine-year term by the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations. Independent of the United Nations Secretariat, it is assisted by a Registry, its own international secretariat, whose activities are both judicial and diplomatic, as well as administrative. The official languages of the Court are French and English. Also known as the “World Court”, it is the only court of a universal character with general jurisdiction. The ICJ, a court open only to States for contentious proceedings, and to certain organs and institutions of the United Nations system for advisory proceedings, should not be confused with the other  mostly criminal  judicial institutions based in The Hague and adjacent areas, such as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY, an ad hoc court created by the Security Council), the International Criminal Court (ICC, the first permanent international criminal court, established by treaty, which does not belong to the United Nations system), the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL, an international judicial body with an independent legal personality, established by the United Nations Security Council upon the request of the Lebanese Government and composed of Lebanese and international judges), or the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA, an independent institution which assists in the establishment of arbitral tribunals and facilitates their work, in accordance with the Hague Convention of 1899).