18
INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
YEAR 2010
2010
20 April
General List
No. 135
20 April 2010
CASE CONCERNING PULP MILLS
ON THE RIVER URUGUAY
(ARGENTINA v. URUGUAY)
Legal framework and facts of the case.
1961 Treaty of Montevideo — 1975 Statute of the River Uruguay — Establishment of the Administrative Commission of the River Uruguay (CARU) —
CMB (ENCE) pulp mill project — Orion (Botnia) pulp mill project — Port
terminal at Nueva Palmira — Subject of the dispute.
*
Scope of the Court’s jurisdiction.
Compromissory clause (Article 60 of the 1975 Statute) — Provisions of the
1975 Statute and jurisdiction ratione materiae — Lack of jurisdiction for the
Court to consider allegations concerning noise and visual pollution or bad
odours (Article 36 of the 1975 Statute) — Air pollution and impact on the quality of the waters of the river addressed under substantive obligations.
Article 1 of the 1975 Statute — Definition of the purpose of the 1975 Statute — Joint machinery necessary for the optimum and rational utilization of the
river — Significance of the reference to the “rights and obligations arising from
treaties and other international agreements in force for each of the parties” —
Original Spanish text — Statute adopted by the parties in observance of their
respective international commitments.
Article 41 (a) of the 1975 Statute — Original Spanish text — Absence of a
“referral clause” having the effect of incorporating within the ambit of the Statute the obligations of the parties under international agreements and other
norms envisaged in the Statute — Obligation for the parties to exercise their
regulatory powers, in conformity with applicable international agreements, for
the protection and preservation of the aquatic environment of the River Uruguay — Rules for interpreting the 1975 Statute — Article 31 of the Vienna
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