INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE DECLINES JURISDICTIONIN FISHERIES JURISDICTION CASE (SPAIN V. CANADA)

December 4, 1998 (6:10 a.m. EST) No. 284

INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE DECLINES JURISDICTION

IN FISHERIES JURISDICTION CASE (SPAIN v. CANADA)

The International Court of Justice today decided that it does not have jurisdiction to hear Spain's application against Canada concerning the 1995 seizing of the Spanish fishing vessel Estai. The Court accepted the arguments made by Canada on jurisdiction, and the decision means that Spain may not proceed with its case.

The Court held that it could not hear the application because the dispute falls within the terms of Canada's reservation to its general acceptance of the Court's jurisdiction. Every country has the right to make a "reservation" about which matters the Court will not have jurisdiction to hear. In 1994, even before the Estai case was brought to the Court by Spain, Canada had registered such a reservation, which excluded from the Court's jurisdiction those disputes concerning or arising out of conservation and management measures taken by Canada with respect to foreign vessels fishing in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) Regulatory Area, and the enforcement of those measures.

"We welcome the Court's decision, which affirms the importance of the consent of States to the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice in The Hague," said Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Anne McLellan.

"The International Court of Justice is one excellent tool to resolve disputes between States, but we prefer when we can negotiate a good settlement, as we have already done on the Northwest Atlantic fishery with the European Union," said Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy. "Even better is to agree on a good set of rules to enforce conservation of straddling Atlantic fish stocks so that disputes don't arise in the first place. This we have done by negotiating a United Nations multilateral agreement of straddling stocks, which Canada hopes to ratify soon."

Legislation for the implementation of the United Nations agreement on straddling stocks is currently being considered by Parliament.

The decision of the Court may be found at the Court's Internet site:

http://www.icj-cij.org

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A backgrounder is attached.

For further information, media representatives may contact:

Pierre Gratton Debora Brown

Office of the Minister of Justice Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs

(613) 992-4621 (613) 995-1851

Media Relations Office Media Relations Office

Department of Justice Department of Foreign Affairs and

(613) 957-4207 International Trade (613) 995-1874

This document is also available on the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Internet site: http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca

Backgrounder

On May 10, 1994, Canada deposited a new reservation to its general acceptance of the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice, excluding from the Court's jurisdiction "disputes arising out of or concerning conservation and management measures taken by Canada with respect to vessels fishing in the NAFO Regulatory Area...and the enforcement of such measures."

On the same day, amendments to the Coastal Fisheries Protection Act were introduced in Parliament authorizing the enforcement of Canadian conservation and management measures in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) Regulatory Area. The NAFO Regulatory Area is that portion of the Northwest Atlantic falling outside Canada's 200-mile zone that is regulated by the NAFO. The amendments were adopted by Parliament and given Royal Assent on May 12, 1994.

On March 3, 1995, Spain and Portugal were added to the list of countries whose vessels were subject to the Coastal Fisheries Protection Act. On March 9, 1995, the Spanish fishing vessel Estai was seized and its master arrested by Canadian officials in the NAFO Regulatory Area for violations of the Coastal Fisheries Protection Act.

Spain then filed an application against Canada at the International Court of Justice, claiming that the Court had jurisdiction under Canada's general acceptance of the Court's compulsory jurisdiction. Canada immediately objected to the application on the basis that the Court was without jurisdiction because of the terms of the reservation to Canada's acceptance of the Court's jurisdiction.

Spain and Portugal were removed from the list of countries subject to the Coastal Fisheries Protection Act in May of 1995, pursuant to an agreement with the European Union. The charges against the master of the Estai were also stayed.

With the parties' agreement, the Court ordered that the first phase of the Fisheries Jurisdiction Case (Spain v. Canada) be devoted to the question of the Court's jurisdiction. Spain filed its memorial in September of 1995, and Canada its counter-memorial in February of 1996. The Court denied Spain's request for a second round of written pleadings, and the oral pleadings took place in June of 1998.

Throughout the written and oral pleadings, Canada maintained its position that the Court was without jurisdiction because of the plain wording of the reservation to Canada's acceptance of the Court's compulsory jurisdiction. Meanwhile, Spain argued that its application was outside the scope of Canada's reservation, principally on the grounds that the dispute was not about conservation and management measures and their enforcement, but rather on Canada's jurisdiction to enforce its laws on the high seas and about the illegal use of force on the high seas.