After being sworn in by Secretary-General Alex Middlewood, the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) first order of business was electing Justices to serve as President and Vice-President. The ICJ is happy to announce the Honorable Aaron Mounts will serve as President for the 32nd session of the American Model United Nations and the Honorable Mackenzie Gibson will be serving as Vice-President.

The next order of business was setting the format of the oral arguments and the order of the cases. Each party will be given 20 minutes to present their arguments, the first five minutes to be uninterrupted by the Justices, five minutes for a rebuttal, and five minutes of answering closing questions from the Justices.

Finally, the Justices set the order of the cases. The first case, Temple of Preah Vihear (Cambodia v. Thailand), will be heard Sunday at 8:30 am. The Temple lies on the border between Cambodia and Thailand. The Buddhist temple was constructed as early as the 9th century and it’s construction is attributed to the Khmer Empire. As of the date of the oral arguments, 1 June 1961, Thailand has armed forces occupying the Temple. Cambodia has asked the Court to answer the question if the temple lies on the territory of Cambodia or Thailand, and if it lies on Cambodian territory to enjoin Thailand to remove its armed forces and return artifacts removed from the temple. The Justices will read their opinion Sunday at 6:00 pm.

The second case, Pulp Mills on the River Uruguay (Argentina v. Uruguay), will be heard Sunday at 7:30 pm. In Argentina v. Uruguay, a dispute arose due to Uruguay’s construction of pulp mills on the River Uruguay. The pulp mills are located on the shared border of Argentina and Uruguay. Argentina is seeking the suspension of the pulp mill operations, claims Uruguay failed to provide sufficient prior notice and is concerned about the environmental impacts as a result of the operations. However, Uruguay claims to have followed the outlines of the mutually agreed Statute of the River Uruguay of 1975 and notified Argentina about the construction of the pulp mills. The ecological standards were found satisfactory by the Administrative Commission of the River Uruguay. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) dismissed environmental concerns. The Justices will read their opinion Monday at 6:00 pm.  

The final case, Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Advisory Opinion), will be heard Monday at 6:30 pm. At its Tenth Special Emergency Session, the General Assembly has submitted to the Court a request for the issuance of an Advisory Opinion on the legal implications of the construction of a barrier wall constructed by occupying Israel in and around Palestinian territories. Concerned with international security, adverse effects on the human condition, and lasting ramifications for the Middle East Peace Process, the driving questions in this case revolve around the obligations of parties under international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, as well as previous relevant resolutions adopted by the Security Council and General Assembly. The Justices will read their opinion Tuesday at 2:15 pm.

The ICJ encourages all participants to observe the oral arguments and reading of the opinions. The ICJ is located one floor below the lobby in Superior A & B.