GUIA DE ESTUDOS / STUDY GUIDE / GUIA DE ESTUDIOS - Faap

ing a decision on a particular dispute, it may send a
request to the International Court, which will respond
with an advisory opinion; in other words, the Court will
give influential advice on how to decide on the issue,
always in consonance with international law.
Statement of the Issue
FACTS
1966 to 1975: France conducted 41 atmospheric tests
on the Muruoa atoll, located on the French Polynesia.
1973: Australia and New Zealand, the closest neighbors
of the French Polynesia, instituted legal proceedings
against France to the ICJ. The consequence was
that France could continue with the nuclear tests in
French Polynesia, but they must be no longer atmospheric.
France switched the tests to underground tests.
1976 to 1991: France conducted 134 underground
tests in boreholes. The last test was in 1996.
1996: France agreed to pay a 10-year compensation
package to French Polynesia.
Greenpeace created a worldwide non-nuclear tests
movement against France and its nuclear tests in
French Polynesia, having The Rainbow Warrior as the
main ship of its navy. 10 On 10 th July of 1985, two days
before The Rainbow Warrior anchored to the Muruoa
atoll, an explosion occurred and the ship sunk, killing
one member of the crew.
The explosion was caused by two bombs planted by
two agents of France’s secret service, Mr. Dominique
Prieur and Mr. Alain Mafart. They were sent to a military
base in French Polynesia and released in less than
two years.
France’s Prime Minister, Mr. Laurent Fabius, assumed the
responsibility of the crime and said that the agents of
the DGSE (Direction Generale de la Securite Exterieure/
General Directorate for External Security) sank The Rainbow
Warrior as they were instructed to do so.
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VIII Fórum FAAP de Discussão Estudantil – 2012
There was also a spy infiltrated in the Greenpeace, Mrs.
Christine Cabon, also from the DGSE, who evaded arrest
in Israel and has been missing until present days. 11
JURISDICTION
The ICJ is an international court, hence the name, that
discusses disputes between countries around the
world; therefore, it acts as a world court. The Court has
a dual jurisdiction; it may decide contentious cases or
give advisory opinions.
The Court’s role is to settle, in accordance with international
law, legal disputes submitted to it by States and
to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred
to it by authorized United Nations organs and specialized
agencies.” 12 (…)“It decides, in accordance with
international law, disputes of a legal nature that are
submitted to it by States (jurisdiction in contentious
cases); and it gives advisory opinions on legal questions
at the request of the organs of the United Nations
or specialized agencies authorized to make such
a request (advisory jurisdiction). 13
In the contentious cases, the court has to rule a decision
based on international law; it has do decide a legal
dispute submitted to it by a State. The definition of
an “international legal dispute” is: “A disagreement on a
question of law or fact, a conflict, a clash of legal views or
of interests.” 14
Nevertheless, it is important to stress that International
Organizations cannot appear before the Court;
when it comes to contentious cases, only States have
such authorization. However, International Organizations
do have a specific procedure to obtain aid from
the Court, the so called “advisory opinion”. An advisory
opinion is a function that the Court has, in which only
International Organizations may request one. Once an
organization requests an advisory opinion 15 , the Court
advises which State or other Organization may be likely
to have important information to provide and the
chosen one will proceed with an oral or written statement,
containing the useful information. 16