PULP MILLS (JUDGMENT)
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Channel (United Kingdom v. Albania), Merits, Judgment, I.C.J. Reports
1949, p. 22). A State is thus obliged to use all the means at its disposal in
order to avoid activities which take place in its territory, or in any area
under its jurisdiction, causing significant damage to the environment of
another State. This Court has established that this obligation “is now
part of the corpus of international law relating to the environment”
(Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons, Advisory Opinion,
I.C.J. Reports 1996 (I), p. 242, para. 29).
102. In the view of the Court, the obligation to inform CARU allows
for the initiation of co-operation between the Parties which is necessary
in order to fulfil the obligation of prevention. This first procedural stage
results in the 1975 Statute not being applied to activities which would
appear to cause damage only to the State in whose territory they are carried out.
103. The Court observes that with regard to the River Uruguay, which
constitutes a shared resource, “significant damage to the other party”
(Article 7, first paragraph, of the 1975 Statute) may result from impairment of navigation, the régime of the river or the quality of its waters.
Moreover, Article 27 of the 1975 Statute stipulates that :
“[t]he right of each party to use the waters of the river, within its
jurisdiction, for domestic, sanitary, industrial and agricultural purposes shall be exercised without prejudice to the application of the
procedure laid down in Articles 7 to 12 when the use is liable to
affect the régime of the river or the quality of its waters”.
104. The Court notes that, in accordance with the terms of Article 7,
first paragraph, the information which must be provided to CARU, at
this initial stage of the procedure, has to enable it to determine swiftly
and on a preliminary basis whether the plan might cause significant damage to the other party. For CARU, at this stage, it is a question of deciding whether or not the plan falls under the co-operation procedure laid
down by the 1975 Statute, and not of pronouncing on its actual impact
on the river and the quality of its waters. This explains, in the opinion of
the Court, the difference between the terminology of the first paragraph
of Article 7, concerning the requirement to inform CARU, and that of
the third paragraph, concerning the content of the notification to be
addressed to the other party at a later stage, enabling it “to assess the
probable impact of such works on navigation, the régime of the river or
the quality of its waters”.
105. The Court considers that the State planning activities referred to
in Article 7 of the Statute is required to inform CARU as soon as it is in
possession of a plan which is sufficiently developed to enable CARU to
make the preliminary assessment (required by paragraph 1 of that provision) of whether the proposed works might cause significant damage to
the other party. At that stage, the information provided will not neces46